Still Focus Issues with AF-C mode
- Thread starter Paganman2
- Start date
Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
Maybe it's time to have your camera examined by a professional.
That does not seem surprising. Default A1 menu for AF-C is Release Priority, and NOT Focus Priority. Read the words carefully about AF-C in D7100 manual, page 71 and 231.
You have to hold half press a fraction of a second to give the camera time to find focus. Or shoot a continuous burst and hope the 2nd or 3rd finds focus. Or use Focus Priority (so shutter will not trigger until camera finds focus).
Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
Which focus points are you using. Single or one of the multiple point ones?
Love Nikon
Banned
checked fine focus adjust ?? ( back focus?) this makes a vast difference to the image,
Hi all, here are the settings i use and have tried - AF-C, single focus spot at center, or 9 section dynamic, focus priority, or release priority, shutter speed to avoid motion blur due to cropping/300mm lens - 1/1250-1/1600, f8 for the sweet spot of the lens, VR on in Normal mode as i am on firm ground and not in a moving vehicle, i have tried it with Vr off but i can not keep the aircraft even steady in the viewfinder let alone track it.
When i use the viewfinder as LV is no good for this kind of work, in AF-C mode the 2 left and right arrows each side of the focus confirm dot, go mad in a fast dance - in the manual and as i have been told, indicates that focus can not be done and to try another focus method or focus on another object.
I have to overcome this by switching to either manual focus set to a hyper focal focus distance, that renders subjects within the dof - in focus(this has not been very accurate with pin point micro focus with cropping afterwards) or for AF i have to use the cam's auto mode AF-A that firstly tries to use a single focus mode AF-S and then applies predictive focus tracking if it detects movement, in this mode the focus brackets do not lite up and focus dot confirms focus, and seems to track the subjects like the AF-C mode should be doing.
I also want to add i have the Lock-on switched off as this just delays the focus time.
Something is odd here as it seems in my cam AF-C and AF-A are behaving back to front.
P.
When i use the viewfinder as LV is no good for this kind of work, in AF-C mode the 2 left and right arrows each side of the focus confirm dot, go mad in a fast dance - in the manual and as i have been told, indicates that focus can not be done and to try another focus method or focus on another object.
I have to overcome this by switching to either manual focus set to a hyper focal focus distance, that renders subjects within the dof - in focus(this has not been very accurate with pin point micro focus with cropping afterwards) or for AF i have to use the cam's auto mode AF-A that firstly tries to use a single focus mode AF-S and then applies predictive focus tracking if it detects movement, in this mode the focus brackets do not lite up and focus dot confirms focus, and seems to track the subjects like the AF-C mode should be doing.
I also want to add i have the Lock-on switched off as this just delays the focus time.
Something is odd here as it seems in my cam AF-C and AF-A are behaving back to front.
P.
Yep done this a few times with dot micro focusing with VR and viewfinder, its spot on and just as sharp as with LV.
P.
I have tried both combinations of focus/release priority in AF-C mode and also single frame advance and continuous drive, the focus is still out of focus despite the different settings in AF-C.
P.
The camera online store i purchased from(second hand) say they will take it back and exchange for another second hand one, or check it out, the problem doing that is - they would need my lens also and focus adjust my lens to the other d7100m before they could test it out, they would then need to test it out on the same subjects as i do, and not just close large dogs running or cars/trucks, as this would not give reliable results.
P.
P.
Love Nikon
Banned
Are you adjusting the fine focus adjust yourself ?? even an error of 2 can make a big difference to the quality on long lenses...
are you shooting JPEG or RAW ..if its JPEG +9 on the sharpness. Sharpness set at 2 or 3 as it comes out the factory would look very soft with a small image.
If you shoot RAW then you have control of the sharp slider.
are you shooting JPEG or RAW ..if its JPEG +9 on the sharpness. Sharpness set at 2 or 3 as it comes out the factory would look very soft with a small image.
If you shoot RAW then you have control of the sharp slider.
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Yep - i only ever shoot in RAW and just for convenience i set an in cam profile of standard with auto sharpening, then i do my editing in LR4 where i increase sharpening etc, i have my micro focus adjustment set up and done so it is spot on and fully accurate, and the sharpness/focus in any other focus setting other than AF-C is spot on, from static subjects in AF-S mode to moving objects in AF-A mode, the issue i have is that when the cam chooses when the subject is still or moving - and not the decisions of the user, it can mess up.
P/
Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
You need to post an example of one of the out of focus photos along with full EXIF so we can see what you are talking about.
Hi Don,
I posted lots before when i was discussing this same issue on here, i cant section out those shot as the focus setting does not show afterwards so all i can go by is guesswork.
P.
Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
Then all we can do is guess. Go reproduce the problem and post it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The EXIF will show which settings you used to focus and how far the subject was. The shot will also show if or if not it has obtained focus.
I didn't think the EXIF showed the focus spot or which focus mode was used, i thought it just showed general shooting info - sh speed, ap, iso, profile info - contrast, sharpening etc.
P.
Most programs will only show the basic info but if you use a decent EXIF reader, there's loads more of information.
Here are four pictures taken from the same location and not to distant in time from each, the first two were shot in AF-C mode with release priority, and the next two where shot using AF-A and again with release priority, i have tried to show more EXIF info by selecting the extra option in LR4.4.
These are all set as 50% crops at 3001mp on the long edge.
P.
These are all set as 50% crops at 3001mp on the long edge.
P.
Most of the EXIF got stripped by uploading here so I'd need a shot out of the cam.
But ignoring that, when you shoot release priority the cam will fire whether in focus or not. Checking the time-stamps, they're part of a burst so when the cam is firing one shot after the other, it will not improve focus since it only can focus in between the exposures. When shooting release you have to make sure it has obtained focus before you start firing else you have to hope it'll catch up and get something in focus by the third or fourth shot.
But ignoring that, when you shoot release priority the cam will fire whether in focus or not. Checking the time-stamps, they're part of a burst so when the cam is firing one shot after the other, it will not improve focus since it only can focus in between the exposures. When shooting release you have to make sure it has obtained focus before you start firing else you have to hope it'll catch up and get something in focus by the third or fourth shot.