I've been using a D700 for about 3 years or so, just upgraded to a D800. I have read the manuals and the extra manuals and think I know what I'm doing. That said, here's my problem:
The camera takes pictures without focus achieved. Under Custom Settings a1 and a2 I have it set to FOCUS, which is supposed to only let it take pictures when focus is achieved. But that's not what is happening. I can press the shutter anytime and it takes a picture.
This happened to me today at Fleet Week where I have the following images, one showing where my focus point was and the resulting image.
Can anyone help? There was a guy next to me with a D4 and a 600 f/4 and another gent with a D3s and a 200-400 VR and I asked them and they said that I have the settings correct, but the D800 has known focusing issues. I have head of the left-side focusing issue but don't believe that is the case here.
FWIW I got this in-focus shot yesterday and for the most part my shots are in focus, but not all the time even when I have the focus point on the subject. Here's one from yesterday: http://500px.com/photo/15271393
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but Nikon has changed the way the focus lock works. It no longer prevents the shutter from tripping when the image is not in focus. I believe it will work of your using the Shutterbutton for focus and not AF-ON only.
Bruce Sawle wrote:
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but Nikon has changed the way the focus lock works. It no longer prevents the shutter from tripping when the image is not in focus. I believe it will work of your using the Shutterbutton for focus and not AF-ON only.
Thanks. I do use AF-On for focus. However, in the AF menu under Focus it states, "The shutter can only be released when the camera is in focus." I know that's the same wording it used before so I'm surprised to hear it has changed. What is the point of this setting then??
This might seem unintentionally condescending but are you certain that the camera was in continuous AF mode for taking the photo of the moving subject ? That switch can be easily knocked to a different position (at least it can be on my camera which is not a D800).
Have you done an AF fine tune for the lens/camera combination ? It can make quite a difference.
Did you allow sufficient time for the camera to track the subject in contnuous AF to really get a handle on how fast the subject was approaching before taking the photo ? This lets it get the predictive AF right so that by the time the shutter is actually released some tens of milliseconds after you press the button and the subject has moved closer the AF system is at the right distance.
With AF-C mode the AF could indeed be right at one moment and wrong the next - perhaps not for pelicans flying in a straight line but easily so for subjects that move more erratically.
Check the expected DOF for the distance/focal length combination and throw in an extra couple of stops for a very focus-critical D800 sensor. Is it actually enough to get the whole subject sharp when viewed at 100% ? What looked good with 12Mpx could easily look soft with 36Mpx at least away from the plane of focus.
Are you using VR ? And using the AF-On button to initiate AF ? Then when do you start the VR ? It can only be started with the shutter button and if don't press that button until you are ready to shoot then VR will not have enough time to settle in and will be introducing inappropriate lens element movements. With the Canon IS it takes at least half a second and up to a full second on older lens models to settle, and I expect that the Nikon VR will be similar. In fact, it is because I may have to rely on the shutter button to start the VR and in turn assist the AF that I don't use the AF-On button for AF - why have to use two buttons when only one will do ?
And lastly, for now at least, it appears that with faster shutter speeds the VR can actually detract from critical image sharpness. Thom Hogan has an article on this topic. http://www.bythom.com/nikon-vr.htm
Alan321 wrote:
This might seem unintentionally condescending but are you certain that the camera was in continuous AF mode for taking the photo of the moving subject ? That switch can be easily knocked to a different position (at least it can be on my camera which is not a D800).
Have you done an AF fine tune for the lens/camera combination ? It can make quite a difference.
Did you allow sufficient time for the camera to track the subject in contnuous AF to really get a handle on how fast the subject was approaching before taking the photo ? This lets it get the predictive AF right so that by the time the shutter is actually released some tens of milliseconds after you press the button and the subject has moved closer the AF system is at the right distance.
With AF-C mode the AF could indeed be right at one moment and wrong the next - perhaps not for pelicans flying in a straight line but easily so for subjects that move more erratically.
Check the expected DOF for the distance/focal length combination and throw in an extra couple of stops for a very focus-critical D800 sensor. Is it actually enough to get the whole subject sharp when viewed at 100% ? What looked good with 12Mpx could easily look soft with 36Mpx at least away from the plane of focus.
Are you using VR ? And using the AF-On button to initiate AF ? Then when do you start the VR ? It can only be started with the shutter button and if don't press that button until you are ready to shoot then VR will not have enough time to settle in and will be introducing inappropriate lens element movements. With the Canon IS it takes at least half a second and up to a full second on older lens models to settle, and I expect that the Nikon VR will be similar. In fact, it is because I may have to rely on the shutter button to start the VR and in turn assist the AF that I don't use the AF-On button for AF - why have to use two buttons when only one will do ?
And lastly, for now at least, it appears that with faster shutter speeds the VR can actually detract from critical image sharpness. Thom Hogan has an article on this topic. http://www.bythom.com/nikon-vr.htm
All well and good, but the operation of focus priority has changed on the D800 from previous Nikons, so now it behaves like release + focus. Bad decision IMO.
joshn wrote:
Thanks. I do use AF-On for focus. However, in the AF menu under Focus it states, "The shutter can only be released when the camera is in focus." I know that's the same wording it used before so I'm surprised to hear it has changed. What is the point of this setting then??
Thanks for your input also. I appreciate it.
You'd have to ask Nikon. I think it's a negative change as well.
If you've previously gotten sharp static captures at this FL & distance...
then it's your settings, man. Focus for BIF/sports is NOT what you want.
The AF on the D800 is uncanny, in my experience.....but you have to set the
body up properly (took ME ~ 2000 clicks) and turn off VR at those shutter speeds.
I had a split second to react to this butt shot of a juvie Black Crowned Night Heron
that was flushed out off my right shoulder. Taken with the AF-S 300 f4 & TC-14E II
certainly not the swiftest AFin' combo, shot wide open and the D800 nailed the sucker.
FWIW I'll be coming out with a D800 'monkey set (dozens of happy D7K campers) shortly.
Buy me a beer and I'll email ya a copy of my 'Action and Low Light Settings'.
BushHawk SOOC, love the motion blur on the wing tips...
Alan321 wrote:
This might seem unintentionally condescending but are you certain that the camera was in continuous AF mode for taking the photo of the moving subject ? That switch can be easily knocked to a different position (at least it can be on my camera which is not a D800).
Have you done an AF fine tune for the lens/camera combination ? It can make quite a difference.
Did you allow sufficient time for the camera to track the subject in contnuous AF to really get a handle on how fast the subject was approaching before taking the photo ? This lets it get the predictive AF right so that by the time the shutter is actually released some tens of milliseconds after you press the button and the subject has moved closer the AF system is at the right distance.
With AF-C mode the AF could indeed be right at one moment and wrong the next - perhaps not for pelicans flying in a straight line but easily so for subjects that move more erratically.
Check the expected DOF for the distance/focal length combination and throw in an extra couple of stops for a very focus-critical D800 sensor. Is it actually enough to get the whole subject sharp when viewed at 100% ? What looked good with 12Mpx could easily look soft with 36Mpx at least away from the plane of focus.
Are you using VR ? And using the AF-On button to initiate AF ? Then when do you start the VR ? It can only be started with the shutter button and if don't press that button until you are ready to shoot then VR will not have enough time to settle in and will be introducing inappropriate lens element movements. With the Canon IS it takes at least half a second and up to a full second on older lens models to settle, and I expect that the Nikon VR will be similar. In fact, it is because I may have to rely on the shutter button to start the VR and in turn assist the AF that I don't use the AF-On button for AF - why have to use two buttons when only one will do ?
And lastly, for now at least, it appears that with faster shutter speeds the VR can actually detract from critical image sharpness. Thom Hogan has an article on this topic. http://www.bythom.com/nikon-vr.htm
Thanks for your response. Don't worry about the condescension, it's not a problem
I was in AF-C. Most of the time the camera/lens just took a split second to lock on focus and worked fine for most of the day. But the point of this post was there were times where it would not lock on, and yet it would let me take a whole series of images never achieving focus. This behavior is different from what I experienced in the past with my D700 where it simply would not let you shoot if focus was not achieved.
I did not fine-tune AF on this lens as it's a rental and I picked it up a few hours before the show. That said it worked relatively fine most of the time. This is one shot where they were coming towards me, and again, if it got focus initially it had no problem keeping it but it's the part where it missed the focus initially and kept going that got me frustrated.
In general yes I do wait for VR to initialize before shooting. The procedure is basically acquire target, press AF-on button, wait a half-second or so, begin firing. In general it worked most of the time, and I've shot with this lens probably a dozen times and the 600 f/4 as well.
Regardless, it seems from the answers received the behavior of this camera is different from other cameras that came before it, so I will have to keep that in mind for future events.
Bruce Sawle wrote:
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but Nikon has changed the way the focus lock works. It no longer prevents the shutter from tripping when the image is not in focus. I believe it will work of your using the Shutterbutton for focus and not AF-ON only.
Thanks Bruce. I looked at it and you are correct. AF-On button only, it takes the picture no matter what. Shutter button enabled; it waits for focus. I appreciate the help!
Bruce Sawle wrote:
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but Nikon has changed the way the focus lock works. It no longer prevents the shutter from tripping when the image is not in focus. I believe it will work of your using the Shutterbutton for focus and not AF-ON only.
The following applies to my D700 and to the best of my knowledge focus lock has not changed in the D800.
The OP complains that even with custom settings a1 & a2 set to focus priority, the shutter will fire even when focus is not achieved. He is shooting in AF-C mode and has set focus to be initiated only with the AF-ON button.
There is a condition where the shutter will fire even if the initially selected object is no longer in focus. This occurs when a moving object completely leaves the selected focus sensor (or group of sensors when dynamic area mode is used). As long as the AF-ON button is kept pressed the camera will refocus on whatever happens to be under the active sensor(s), and thus the shutter will fire. This is particularly prone to happen when single point area mode is selected but will also occur with dynamic area mode, especially if you are using only 9 points to track focus. To minimize this problem I would suggest using all 51 points.
