Critique Still struggling to get the focus

Compuwight

Compuwight

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Steve France
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Still having issues with focus point, so removed my glasses and using my non-dominant eye which has less astigmatism. Hopefully I am getting better ?

Oops nearly forgot 1/1000 spot focus f9 spot metering iso 800 @ 600mm, sat down to get as low as possible and HH . Cropped with minimal PP

ducking_1.jpgducking.jpgduck_1.jpg
 
Focus looks OK to me Steve - the eye of the duck in particular is spot on focus :)
- I too wear glasses, have acute astigmatism in both eyes, plus the onset of glaucoma in one eye. I wear glasses all the time, and find that my eye conditions are no hindrance to getting sharp focus as the camera's autofocus does the for me. Image sharpness is another matter of course, and I would suggest that is a slight issue with these shots. Have you considered the various sharpening techniques within Lightroom or a specialist plug-in?

Russ :)
 
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Thanks Russ, nice to know I am not alone with eyesight issues, with my right eye I keep missing the focus indicator yet I am sure I am spot on !
I use distance glasses to spot my target, but need reading glasses to see the camera screen, however, practice and perseverance with out !
In the old days of 35mm I had a optician make me a clip on eye piece for my Canon A1 which solved the problem. Not seen anything like this nowadays . progress ?
I am slowly getting to grips with LR and experimenting/watching YT to improve my PP.
 
Compuwight said:
I am slowly getting to grips with LR and experimenting/watching YT to improve my PP.
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Hi Steve - I've had a little play with your image in LRCC to remove some of the distracting stones and reduce the specular highlights, and then I ran it through Topaz DeNoise AI plug-in just to show you what can be done with your nice image. Clearly your focus was spot on as can be seen on the duck's eye

Sharpen AI-90.jpg

Russ
 
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Thankyou Russ, nice of you to take the time to show by example. Currently not in a position to subscribe to LR/PS due to Covid, however I will continue to experiment with my old LL 5.7.
For the moment concentrating on sorting Focus so nice to know I am getting there, thanks again.
 
Steve, on the camera i shoot, it's the same as what Russ uses, we have a red square.....focal point...FP, light up it confirms focus. what do you see in your viewfinder? I can't remember your camera Steve, I just wondered if there was anyway , what's going on in the viewfinder AF wise could be enhanced in anyway for you?

just a random thought mate, oh buddy you are def getting there,well done, a tip, get low the whole world changes down there, yup I know dux leave a mess, welcome to wildlife toggin :LOL:

all the luck with it

stu
 
Stuart Philpott said:
Steve, on the camera i shoot, it's the same as what Russ uses, we have a red square.....focal point...FP, light up it confirms focus. what do you see in your viewfinder? I can't remember your camera Steve, I just wondered if there was anyway , what's going on in the viewfinder AF wise could be enhanced in anyway for you?

just a random thought mate, oh buddy you are def getting there,well done, a tip, get low the whole world changes down there, yup I know dux leave a mess, welcome to wildlife toggin :LOL:

all the luck with it

stu
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Thanks for the advice, I have changed some of the settings in view finder to allow better use of AF and quick review on camera screen of focus point. I am also learning how to stop my lens 'hunting'. Always experimenting with shooting position, if only wildlife would stay still !

Thanks again for taking the time to post :)
 
Compuwight said:
Thanks for the advice, I have changed some of the settings in view finder to allow better use of AF and quick review on camera screen of focus point. I am also learning how to stop my lens 'hunting'. Always experimenting with shooting position, if only wildlife would stay still !
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Hi again Steve, I'm butting in on your response to Stu,
- I think I can now understand your problem (at last) from this quote! Because all wildlife has a tendency to move - even "stationary" ducks - I would recommend that you use only the Viewfinder to achieve focus and not use the camera screen at all. I appreciate your eyesight problems make for some difficulties, but your 2-stage approach to focusing (viewfinder + rear screen) gives time for the animal to move in the meantime, and hence loss of focus. I don't know your particular camera, but it will have some form of indication in the viewfinder to confirm that focus has been achieved (red light/square/beep etc).
Save the use of the rear screen for truly stationary objects (landscapes, portraits etc). I personally use a pair of bifocal specs for all my togging work to help with my eyesight problems.

Keep togging!

Russ
 
Russ I'm glad you chimed in, I didn't understand Steve's post like you have, I utterly agree, with you I thought Steve meant he was checking focus by chimping. (Steve chimping :.looking at the images after making on the LCD to review.) Not in the actual focusing process

Steve a quick run through...find subject, if humanly possible take a test image, chimp review test image to nail the EXP, not so much focus, get that histogramme over to the right have your LCD screen set for hilight warning alert,,,ie blinkies. Do NOT blow the whites !! Steve we call this ETTR exposing to the right. this will give you the highest quality RAW file to work up from in post

Get yourself in the right place to make proper images, right POV etc etc, weld camera to face ( if not using live view), move active FP ( or group of FP's to eye of subject) frame aquire focus, bleep red square what ever you camera does. hear or see that focus conformation

Gently, GENTLEY press shutter if you are hand holding, both Russ and I almost always hand hold, your shutter press if not applied properly can cause blur, which might make you think you didn't get focus when you did

Buddy do you use BBF (back button focus), for some of us, separating focus by using your thumb and shutter press makes life easier. for others not so much. It's a technique widely used with wildlife.

always shoot in AI servo or what ever that is called for you, so the camera is constanlty adjusting focus to the subject, which with wildlife are hardly ever truly still

Steve after reading Russ' post above, and with the caviat of me understanding things properly, you will get there and get around this. problem ,well it's already happening Sadly it seems many of us don't shoot with perfect eye sight

Mate I hope nowt here sounds condescending, i'm a simple pratical guy, the simple things executed well give us a sharp frame and a good file EXP wise work up in post

ATB

stu.
 
Stu & Russ,
Thanks for taking the time to help me out. Firstly my apologies for delay in response (work sometimes gets in the way). I have setup my camera (D600) to spot focus and get the red dot when its in focus and after a brief period of experimentation I am now chimping ! and checking for blinkies. I alternated between AP-C and AP-S depending on target and hopefully getting better.
You are correct in that I have been prodding the shutter release rather than caressing it and missing the FP so I will have a go with BBF.
I now focus with my left eye (non dominant) and have adjusted the eyepiece to account for my eyesight, this is working much better.
I also release I am trying to hard with a long lens and need to improve my 'fieldcraft' by getting closer if possible and taking more time to improve overall performance.
I now wearing appropriate clothing and try to move slowly & quietly whilst trying to keep cover and stay upwind if possible.

I appreciate your help and I am fully aware this is a long learning exercise, however, with guidance from yourselves and others I am having a lot of fun... thanks again !
 
Focus looks fine to me.No probs there.

I switched to BBF a good while ago and it's much easier.
 
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