More Questions From the D7100 Newbie.
- Thread starter Lawrence
- Start date
A Thousand Words A Picture: Nikon Autofocus Guide: D7000 to D810
I found this article very useful and the author explains things in a practical way i could understand. Thought you might find it useful.
I found this article very useful and the author explains things in a practical way i could understand. Thought you might find it useful.
I should clarify... I shout 1 point of focus, leaving all 51 choices available (should I choose something other than center) rather than limiting it to 11, although it would help me to quickly jump to focus points that may be chosen more often than others. Typically, I try to keep it in the area of focus on the 15 cross-type in the center as well, but have been know to shoot over to the edge on occasion.
The focus still starts with the single point you select, but the camera will track a moving object after you focus on it using the extra focus points to do so.
The way I understand this is as @Woodyg3 says.
You always start with a single point - any one of your choosing; be it one of 9, 1 of 11, 1 of 21 or 51.
By selecting a higher number of focus points it simply gives the camera and easier and more accurate way of staying on focus if the subject moves as the next focal point is so much closer.
I've just come back from trying the camera on 51 focal points shooting mountain bike racing.
Kettle is on and then I will take a look at images.
Later today I hope to go out and do a similar exercise using less points.
You always start with a single point - any one of your choosing; be it one of 9, 1 of 11, 1 of 21 or 51.
By selecting a higher number of focus points it simply gives the camera and easier and more accurate way of staying on focus if the subject moves as the next focal point is so much closer.
I've just come back from trying the camera on 51 focal points shooting mountain bike racing.
Kettle is on and then I will take a look at images.
Later today I hope to go out and do a similar exercise using less points.
It will track the initial focusing point and not look for anything new to focus on, as long as you keep the subject within the focus point range within the viewfinder. Well, you do have to keep your finger half depressed on the shutter release (or pressing the back button focus if you have your camera set that way) otherwise it will refocus. It's not perfect, but for moving subjects it's the best way I've found to get more shots in focus. 3D focusing uses color to aid in tracking, but in my trials it doesn't seem to work as well as regular 51 point.
Some people think that using 21 points is better because the camera has less work to do and will track faster. I don't know if there is merit to that thought or not.
And, hey, I'm just flying by the seat of my pants. This is what seems to work for me.
Way to go George!
I went out this morning (shooting a mountain bike race) and tried with 51 points in very difficult light - dappled sunshine under a canopy of trees, big contrasts with no distinctive break. Results were very grainy.
Back to the manual and thought I had an "Aha" moment.
Still on 51 points I switched to 3D and went back again to try. While they look better in camera and slightly better on the monitor they are still very grainy. ISO was not that high - not for the D7100 anyway.
So it is back to the manual for me.
All good fun ...
Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
My head is spinning from all the info and if it wasn't 9.00 am I would have a drink!
.
It is always 5pm somewhere ::what::::what::
I have got mine set on 51. I have had it this way since day 1 with this camera.
After reading all the replies here, I might try some different settings and see if there is a better way than I am doing things.
I have my "U2" set up with my macro settings, I want to set "U1" for chasing birds, so will have to find what works best for me.
In this situation you could - Force the camera to over expose a little with the exposure override setting in the advanced menus, it is like using manual exposure compensation but it keeps the given set amount you choose for all shots, it is a way of ETTR and gives the scene more light and helps to kill extra noise that would occur if the scene is dark.
P.
So I tried out shooting with AF-C, 39 points, D600. Didn't pull out the D7100 due to disappearing light. What I found was that sometimes the 39 points did get pulled off target, BUT... the hit miss ratio of using 39 points verse 9 points (what I normally use) was no worse. It seems that the 39 points could be pulled off focus as much as I could slip off my target using 9 points in the heat of sudden direction changes. What I need to try next is 21 points and see if there is a sweet spot between the two.
I also plan to try this on my D7100 since its auto-focus runs rings around the D600.
That is my unscientific results.
I also plan to try this on my D7100 since its auto-focus runs rings around the D600.
That is my unscientific results.
Last edited:
I have posted the results of my shooting on my photo thread