Focus not centered, blurry photo in evening

S

smm4sa

New member
I have a D5100 and been using it for about 2 years now. I primarily shoot horse photography (action shots). I put it in the action mode (running man) when shooting outside and usually don't have a problem. When in an indoor, I set the camera to manual mode and play with the settings to get the best photo I can with the lenses I have (standard 50mm and 200mm). Though at times I will rent lenses depending on the site.


Last night I was shooting a rider at around 7PM, roughly dusk and the photos were super grainy and not really clear. I noticed while shooting and though maybe my lens needed to be cleaned and inside. So I cleaned those off and I noticed a difference, but today when uploading photos I noticed how grainy/unfocused they were and I don't remember having a problem with this before. So the settings on the last photo I took are as follows:

1/500
F5
ISO1100
34mm

Here is the photo:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=686811572441&l=b27d7ae849


Would it have been better due to lighting to go into manual mode?

Also how do I get the focus to be centered instead of upper centered?

Thanks!
 
M

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Welcome to the forum,i would have thought ISO 1100 was a bit high for the D5100 if not in good light,have you used that ISO before in poor light.
 
Scott Murray

Scott Murray

Senior Member
I think you need to read up about how light effects the image and what your camera can and cannot do. Having a basic understanding of the exposure triangle would be a great start.
 
S

smm4sa

New member
Thanks everyone! I am just using the automatic setting for action shots. 9 times out of 10 it actually does a great job (probably mostly with sunlight out). I do have basic photography understanding (took the course in college) but it was on a Minolta regular camera versus a digital camera. I know the lower the ISO the more light that it allows into the camera. So maybe I just need to be in manual mode and set the ISO to where it needs to be.

My greatest concern though is I noticed that the autofocus though is rarely centered and whatever position it is in it usually stays for all my photos. Whether it is upper center, left center, etc. I've tried resetting the camera and sometimes it works but mostly doesn't. So I wasn't sure if there was a way that I can get it back to be centered. My subjects are always center on the camera, so would rather focus on horse/rider than the trees or jump filler :)
 
M

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
If you mean the focus point it should show where it is in the viewfinder when you focus,its a long time since i had the D5100 but i dont think you can lock it in the center, so a accidental touch of the 4 way control on the back could move it, pressing the button in the center of the dial i think returns the point to the center
 
S

smm4sa

New member
mikew said:
If you mean the focus point it should show where it is in the viewfinder when you focus,its a long time since i had the D5100 but i dont think you can lock it in the center, so a accidental touch of the 4 way control on the back could move it, pressing the button in the center of the dial i think returns the point to the center
Click to expand...

Ah Thanks Mikew...that must be what I am doing and completely unaware of it!! It fixed the focus issue completely! :)
 
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