Focusing Problem - Nikon

Yes - you use your thumb. With camera set to 'C' you have the best of both worlds - when pressed focus is continually tracked - when you take your thumb off it holds that focus until you press again. I don't change the focus point - camera does - 51pt 3D! ;)
 
Martyn... said:
I am sure it starts metering as soon as I press the AF-ON button also.
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Yes, but the exposure will not be set until the shutter is fired. Therefore you can lock the focus with the AF-ON button, recompose and the camera will meter what is in the frame.
If you want to lock the exposure at the same time as focus lock then either keep the camera on it's default setting (focus & exposure controlled from the shutter release) or lock exposure with AE-L button.
 
awp said:
Yes - you use your thumb. With camera set to 'C' you have the best of both worlds - when pressed focus is continually tracked - when you take your thumb off it holds that focus until you press again. I don't change the focus point - camera does - 51pt 3D! ;)
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You see this is where I get lost and confused (normal for me :) ) , you are saying that to lock the focus I have to press the button, then press it again to refocus if needed :shrug:
If in the meantime I want to change the metering it won't just be quickly moving the dial whilst still viewing and if I move the camera I have to press the af-on button twice to refocus, whereas what I do at the moment is lock the focus via the lens reprogramme and hit the shutter, have I got the jist of it ?
 
NO!
Read my post again - you press to focus - take your thumb off the button and focus will stay there - to re-focus press again - it's easier to do it than explain it - honest!
 
Do you have the raw version I could look at ?

It looks like a miss focus to me the water is also not sharp, also 500th is not fast enough to stop the action of a bird shaking off the water after preening although I do not think this is your issue.

I do not recommend 51point with 3d tracking, nor do I recommended the focus and recompose method either.

My guess is that as the bird lifted the focus point moved off the bird and did not have time to settle and this is a crop, I can check but need to look at the RAW file.

"Had it happen when panning birds through trees, I get a series of bird/tree/bird/tree" and it will do as the focus point comes on and off the subject, you need to hone your panning skills
 
arclight said:
Yes, but the exposure will not be set until the shutter is fired. Therefore you can lock the focus with the AF-ON button, recompose and the camera will meter what is in the frame.
If you want to lock the exposure at the same time as focus lock then either keep the camera on it's default setting (focus & exposure controlled from the shutter release) or lock exposure with AE-L button.
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I have it set so that my shutter acts as an AE-L :thumbs:
 
Gremlin said:
You see this is where I get lost and confused (normal for me :) ) , you are saying that to lock the focus I have to press the button, then press it again to refocus if needed :shrug:
If in the meantime I want to change the metering it won't just be quickly moving the dial whilst still viewing and if I move the camera I have to press the af-on button twice to refocus, whereas what I do at the moment is lock the focus via the lens reprogramme and hit the shutter, have I got the jist of it ?
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Press button and it focuses, once focus is achieved release the button, if subject moves press the button to refocus then release the button.
 
gpa said:
Do you have the raw version I could look at ?

It looks like a miss focus to me the water is also not sharp, also 500th is not fast enough to stop the action of a bird shaking off the water after preening although I do not think this is your issue.

I do not recommend 51point with 3d tracking, nor do I recommended the focus and recompose method either.

My guess is that as the bird lifted the focus point moved off the bird and did not have time to settle and this is a crop, I can check but need to look at the RAW file.

"Had it happen when panning birds through trees, I get a series of bird/tree/bird/tree" and it will do as the focus point comes on and off the subject, you need to hone your panning skills
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Thanks Grant, you are probably right with the panning, can do it on fast moving cars but birds are a tad smaller :D
Unfortunately I don't have the original file, binned it after I did this crop to demonstrate the problem, if I manage to replicate it (highly likely) I'll let you have the original, cheers
 
gpa said:
I do not recommend 51point with 3d tracking, nor do I recommended the focus and recompose method either.
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Tell me why? It is hugely successful for me. With a fast moving subject how can you possibly have time to change the focus point manually??
 
awp said:
Tell me why? It is hugely successful for me. With a fast moving subject how can you possibly have time to change the focus point manually??
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For me it just does not work, my keeper rate is much higher with it off, It is especially poor when trying to shoot birds in flight against a neutral background. In continuous mode the focus point is your target, come of the target and it will refocus, hence my point about tracking/panning.

There is also reference to it in the manual I think
 
Maybe we just shoot different subjects but my D3's are never off 3D tracking. All I can say is - it works - for me!
 
It could well be subject matter that determines how affective it is, for me def with wildlife and birds it's not very good. Even when a good lock on is done it still has a tendency to wander. It does state this in the manual, I just looked it up to check . 3D tracking "similar color fore/background or small in frame objects may not produce good results" as the op mentioned birds in flight i thought it was relevant.

If 3d tracking suits you I'm certainly not going to tell you to change, especially as you probably photograph different things.

cheers
 
I have to say this again because no one seems to have answered my question have you tried 3D tracking with less points of focus this does eliminate the capture of the background and other objects!
 
Try Autofocus Menu a4 set it to long this allows the focus to wait longer before refocusing on something passing through the frame during panning, like a branch or a splash of water. Once focus is gained this setting holds the subject if it passes through branches etc. This worked for me when i had a similar problem with keeping a focus lock.
Regards glyn
 
18-270 said:
I have had the same issue and overcame it with CSM-a4 set to long and for birds keep the focus points with CSM-a8 to AF11 to reduce the intrusion of other objects in the focal width of AF51 Hope that helps you too!
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...

glynh said:
Try Autofocus Menu a4 set it to long this allows the focus to wait longer before refocusing on something passing through the frame during panning, like a branch or a splash of water. Once focus is gained this setting holds the subject if it passes through branches etc. This worked for me when i had a similar problem with keeping a focus lock.
Regards glyn
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...Well said :thumbs:
 
Cheers Glyn, hoping to go back later today so will give it a try, specially if the herons are as active as they were last week
 
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