Eye recognition problem

Citizen of Bath

Citizen of Bath

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Pierre
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Yesterday, I took a Halloween portrait and the Z 9's eye recognition function did find my model's left eye (please see attached picture). However, when I checked the picture, I saw that, actually, the focus wasn't on the eye, it was about an inch too close.

After this shot, I switched to the old-school single-point autofocus mode and everything went well, but I'd like to use the eye recognition function. Do you know why it didn't work?


halloween_2023__030_focus_lite.jpg
 
I would have expected the eye recognition of Nikon’s flagship camera to be better than that.

I know they were flagging behind somewhat, but my R6 would have nailed that without a moments hesitation.
 
Phil V said:
I would have expected the eye recognition of Nikon’s flagship camera to be better than that.

I know they were flagging behind somewhat, but my R6 would have nailed that without a moments hesitation.
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I would have expected better of it too! Having to rely upon the old-school single-point autofocus came as a bad surprise.
 
I was just wondering whether the shutter release was in focus priority or release priority - I'm presuming Nikon kept this feature on the Z system but don't even know if it would work with eye recognition option?

You can't beat the old single point - it gives you more control of what to focus on and at least when it goes wrong it's usually the photographer at fault. I've always used single point as it infuriated me when the camera would screw up, plus I hated seeing more than one square in the VF.
 
stuartm1 said:
I was just wondering whether the shutter release was in focus priority or release priority - I'm presuming Nikon kept this feature on the Z system but don't even know if it would work with eye recognition option?

You can't beat the old single point - it gives you more control of what to focus on and at least when it goes wrong it's usually the photographer at fault. I've always used single point as it infuriated me when the camera would screw up, plus I hated seeing more than one square in the VF.
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Your idea could well account for my problem, as the a1 setting was in AF-C Release. According to Thom Hogan's Complete Guide to the Nikon Z 9, V. 4.00, "in some circumstances, the camera may take time to acquire focus for a subject, though it tends to be excellent in maintaining focus once acquired" (p. 858).
 
I shoot Sony but recently bought a Z8. Absolutely loved the camera in every way apart from the AF. The 3d tracking with eye af is great but it loved to jump off what I was focusing on at any opportunity it could. Nikon shooters say thats my fault I should change to single spot and move the focusing point over the persons face. This problem was particularly bad when trying to pick out one person within a crowd. So yes, I could work my way around it but thats like going back to a DSLR. I joined lots of Nikon FB groups and post after post there were people having problems with AF. I think the AF of the Z8 is good as long as you are in the right AF mode and I found me having to change this constantly throughout a shoot, causing me to miss photos. So to cut a long story short, I sold it and today my A1 has arrived. bloody horrible camera to hold but an amazing photographic tool as is my A9 and A7IV . Great thing about Nikon is they do keep improving their top of the range cameras with firmware.
 
Did the focus point turn green before you took the picture? It can be yellow (eye detected, but not focused), or even red.
I know that is image review and the focus point is always shown in red; but it is small (stepped down), and on the eye, which does mean it found the eye.

My best guess is that there wasn't enough light... f/2, 1/20, 800 is an LV of ~ 0. While the Z9 can focus down to an LV of -6.5, it will certainly be slower and more prone to struggle (BS marketing aside). You can turn off "see effect of settings", or enable starlight view to increase its' ability to focus in low light (LV -8.5); but I would suggest using an assist light. Since this was taken w/o flash and from a shorter distance you could have used the built in assist light (when in AF-S).
 
bovey9 said:
I shoot Sony but recently bought a Z8. Absolutely loved the camera in every way apart from the AF. The 3d tracking with eye af is great but it loved to jump off what I was focusing on at any opportunity it could. Nikon shooters say thats my fault I should change to single spot and move the focusing point over the persons face. This problem was particularly bad when trying to pick out one person within a crowd. So yes, I could work my way around it but thats like going back to a DSLR. I joined lots of Nikon FB groups and post after post there were people having problems with AF. I think the AF of the Z8 is good as long as you are in the right AF mode and I found me having to change this constantly throughout a shoot, causing me to miss photos. So to cut a long story short, I sold it and today my A1 has arrived. bloody horrible camera to hold but an amazing photographic tool as is my A9 and A7IV . Great thing about Nikon is they do keep improving their top of the range cameras with firmware.
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Sorry for the late answer, I just found it! I used Single Spot, as you say in your message.

Your opinion on Nikon and Sony is very interesting. I hear a lot of people say that Sony cameras are excellent in every respect except ergonomics.
 
sk66 said:
Did the focus point turn green before you took the picture? It can be yellow (eye detected, but not focused), or even red.
I know that is image review and the focus point is always shown in red; but it is small (stepped down), and on the eye, which does mean it found the eye.

My best guess is that there wasn't enough light... f/2, 1/20, 800 is an LV of ~ 0. While the Z9 can focus down to an LV of -6.5, it will certainly be slower and more prone to struggle (BS marketing aside). You can turn off "see effect of settings", or enable starlight view to increase its' ability to focus in low light (LV -8.5); but I would suggest using an assist light. Since this was taken w/o flash and from a shorter distance you could have used the built in assist light (when in AF-S).
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Late answer, sorry about that! I had miss your message. I didn't know that LV 0 could be a problem, that's good to know.
 
Citizen of Bath said:
Sorry for the late answer, I just found it! I used Single Spot, as you say in your message.

Your opinion on Nikon and Sony is very interesting. I hear a lot of people say that Sony cameras are excellent in every respect except ergonomics.
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It's a long time since I had a Nikon or a Canon, these days I have a Sony A7 and Panasonic MFT RF style.

I personally think that ergonomics can be a little overblown. I have read complaints about Sony gear but also positives too and I have to say that I have no problem with my now quite old A7's ergonomics. I do think that unless there's something significantly wrong with either the kit or the user we can usually at least get used to almost anything in quite a small space of time.

The only camera I've had a problem with to the point that I couldn't seem to adjust was with a Panasonic G7. I hated that cameras grip every single time I picked it up. Looking at the grip IMO it did seem rather... radically shaped... but generally I have no real issues with the handling of just about anything really. I suppose the answer is to handle things if there is the opportunity.
 
Citizen of Bath said:
Sorry for the late answer, I just found it! I used Single Spot, as you say in your message.

Your opinion on Nikon and Sony is very interesting. I hear a lot of people say that Sony cameras are excellent in every respect except ergonomics.
Click to expand...
I think a lot of camera 'ergonomics' (inc. the menu systems) is down to what you are used to.
I've always used Sony, starting with an A200 some time back - it was an 'entry level' DSLR, with (by current standards) not a huge number of menu options, so didn't take long to become familiar with.
I then upgraded over the years to more advanced cameras, up to my current A7iv - the layout / appearance has been revised a couple of times, but the overall design ideas have remained, so it's just been a case of picking up the new features, and some adjusting to re-jigged structures (but where that has happened, it's all made sense, from a Sony user perspective).
So to me, the menus are fine - same with the ergonomics - they're fine, because things are where I expect them to be (a little adjustment moving from model to model, but nothing great).
On the other hand, pick up a Canon or Nikon and I don't know where things are, how the menus are structured, etc - because they are totally unfamiliar.
 
Citizen of Bath said:
Sorry for the late answer, I just found it! I used Single Spot, as you say in your message.

Your opinion on Nikon and Sony is very interesting. I hear a lot of people say that Sony cameras are excellent in every respect except ergonomics.
Click to expand...
I've had the A1 for a few months now having shot around 15 weddings and 20 corporate events with it. It still feels like a block of wood but the images out of the camera are stunning. What I love the most is the percentage of photos that require no editing has shot up compared to my A9. I'm putting this down to the viewfinder as it gives a far better representation of the final image, allowing me to adjust in camera, exposure compensation, white balance, et cetera.
 
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