For some reason I'm having occasional focus difficulties with my recent purchase of a D5500. For example last night I attended a school open house and took many pictures of kids moving around a classroom. When I got home and transferred the images to my computer, I was surprised how many were not in focus for the subjects I was aiming at. Actually background subjects were in focus instead. What methods do you people use to make sure the focus is correct? The lens I was using was 35mm.
Struggling With Focus With New D5500
- Thread starter Moviesla
- Start date
Well, you are asking a question about focus problems, but you do not mention what focus mode you are in. This is the most important piece of info, so I'm guessing you are not familiar with what modes are available and how they work. I am not specifically familiar with the d5500, but all of our Nikons focus in similar ways.
I like single point focus. One point, jog it around to subject and know exactly what will be in focus. You could also focus and recompose with single point rather than jogging the point around. This is not always practical for active subjects like sports or birds. Your camera might be defaulting to auto area mode. Auto Area AF is can be good for people pictures, but it really cannot tell 100% who or what you want to focus on. The camera may have decided the classroom back wall was more interesting.
I don't know what user books the d5500 comes with, but there are two available for download. There is a user manual and reference manual. The user manual appears quite limited. You can get the reference manual here:
http://download3.nikonimglib.com/archive1/zCoGZ00KePEb014jmsY34YPoLP33/D5500RM_(En)01.pdf
It has more details on the many focus modes.
Here is a nice write-up we often refer to around here:
http://alexdanev.com/forum/Books/nikon/D7000_AF_Explained.pdf
Not for the d5500, but still good info on how the focus modes work.
I like single point focus. One point, jog it around to subject and know exactly what will be in focus. You could also focus and recompose with single point rather than jogging the point around. This is not always practical for active subjects like sports or birds. Your camera might be defaulting to auto area mode. Auto Area AF is can be good for people pictures, but it really cannot tell 100% who or what you want to focus on. The camera may have decided the classroom back wall was more interesting.
I don't know what user books the d5500 comes with, but there are two available for download. There is a user manual and reference manual. The user manual appears quite limited. You can get the reference manual here:
http://download3.nikonimglib.com/archive1/zCoGZ00KePEb014jmsY34YPoLP33/D5500RM_(En)01.pdf
It has more details on the many focus modes.
Here is a nice write-up we often refer to around here:
http://alexdanev.com/forum/Books/nikon/D7000_AF_Explained.pdf
Not for the d5500, but still good info on how the focus modes work.
Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
Getting a firm grip on how auto-focus works on a dslr can be a bit daunting. I'd suggest you read, DSLR Autofocus Modes Explained to help you get a full understanding of what your options are.
I tend to shoot subjects that don't really move at all, or are moving relatively slowly or predictably, so for that sort of shooting I find AF-C with D-9 works well. Still, that's me and my style of shooting. You should understand what all the options are and how they work so you can adjust your auto-focus settings to meet your needs on the fly.
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Thanks for trying to help me out. I'm new to this Nikonite Forum, and find myself not supplying enough information about my problem. Your answer opened up more doors to understanding how the focus works on my new D5500. However, I seem to be discovering that there are two different discussions or instructions depending if one uses the viewfinder or in Live View using the monitor. For instance the menus are very different for the Focus Mode, AF-Area Mode, and using the Set of Brackets which only appear using through the view finder. All the links to these pdf files only discuss viewfinder use only. MY NEW QUESTION... do you know of any links to discussions about understanding focusing in "Live View only" which I only use? Thanks again
I don't have any good info links at hand for live view. I don't have info in my head either, I'm not well versed in the autofocus of live view. But yes, it has different rules. Many (most?) of us don't use live view regularly except for video or special occasions. Its great for manual focus for macro and other manual focus situations. You can zoom in on the screen and get a close up of what you are focusing. Moon shots come to mind. Otherwise it is just a slow-down and battery drainer for everyday shooting. Extra mechanical operations too. Shutter open, snap picture, shutter closes, shutter opens, shutter closes, and opens again to get back to live view. Lots of click-clack for a live view shot.
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Bourbon Neat
Senior Member
The live view on the D5500 is unique as it is the only touch screen in the Nikon dslr lineup. With an auto-focus lens set to af on, and using the liveview, all you need to do is touch the screen where you would like the focus point to be. The camera will focus at that range and actuate an image capture. Truly, anywhere. The very corners of the frame, center and anything in between.
Bourbon Neat
Senior Member
And WELCOME to the Nikonites forum.
This is interesting. Can you elaborate on why you've chosen to shoot stationary subjects with AF-C opposed to AF-S? I've not played around a whole lot with continuos mode, but I was always under the impression for stationary subjects that AF-S was "the" mode to use.
threadartist
New member
I just purchased the D5500 and am having the same problems as mentioned above. I like looking through the view finder and not so much the screen on the back. It seems that every thing is in focus EXCEPT the thing I want to be. I'm attempting to attach a photo.
Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
Well, for starters, I see you were shooting at 300mm but your shutter speed is only 1/250. When shooting a DX camera body the rule of thumb is to keep the shutter speed at 1.5x times the focal length. For 300mm that means you should be keeping your shutter speeds up around 1/450 or so. Personally, I prefer to use double the focal length, or in this case 1/600 or above.
threadartist
New member
Thank you Paul. As you can see, I am very green. I received two lens with the camera and have just started taking pictures not realizing that I need to know what I'm doing. LOL Thank you for the example given. It helps a lot.
JoJo
JoJo
Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
Well I'm not saying it's what will fix your problem but it's something to be aware of. Also, if you are shooting JPG, and haven't yet adjusted the Sharpness setting in the Picture Control menu, you should do that right now. If you shoot raw you can skip this step. To adjust the Sharpness setting:
Press the Menu button.
Highlight the Shooting Menu (camera icon).
Drop down to "Set Picture Control" then click right one time.
Highlight the "Sharpening" setting and increase it from the oddly low default of "2", to +6 or +7 (I don't suggest going higher but you can if you want).
I also increase the Saturation setting (for the the "Standard" Picture Control only) by one notch... Try it, see what you think. You can always change back to the default if you think it's too much.
Press "OK", "OK", etc. to exit the menus.
Highlight the Shooting Menu (camera icon).
Drop down to "Set Picture Control" then click right one time.
(This menu contains all the Picture Controls [Standard, Vivid, Landscape, etc.] and each one has it's own set of Quick Adjust menus that will need to be adjusted if you think you're going to be using them.)
Highlight the Picture Control you're using, probably "Standard", and click right one time to enter the Quick Adjust menu.Highlight the "Sharpening" setting and increase it from the oddly low default of "2", to +6 or +7 (I don't suggest going higher but you can if you want).
I also increase the Saturation setting (for the the "Standard" Picture Control only) by one notch... Try it, see what you think. You can always change back to the default if you think it's too much.
Press "OK", "OK", etc. to exit the menus.
The Sharpening adjustment will significantly increase the overall sharpness of your JPG photos; the Saturation adjustment, if you choose to try it, will be more subtle but I think it's just about right personally. Don't be afraid to experiment with these settings since you can always change them back if you find you've gone too far.
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threadartist
New member
Awesome. I just made the change you requested. I had to move out of "Auto" at the top of the camera in order to be able to get 'Set Picture Control' from being grayed out. I'm assuming that is because when the camera is in Auto you cannot make those changes.
Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
That is correct.
Excellent advice and a nice walk-though of the procedure, HF; thanks for sharing.
Hello All...
Has anyone experienced:
1. Continuous shooting is not consistent even with as fast card - Black Delkin. The time between shots lags. When I shoot with the same card with a Canon T7i or 80D the time between shots is consistent.
2. AF Modes change by themselves. I'm shooting and check my modes because the focus has gone soft and I see that the mode has changed when I have not knowingly changed it.
Than you -
Paul
Has anyone experienced:
1. Continuous shooting is not consistent even with as fast card - Black Delkin. The time between shots lags. When I shoot with the same card with a Canon T7i or 80D the time between shots is consistent.
2. AF Modes change by themselves. I'm shooting and check my modes because the focus has gone soft and I see that the mode has changed when I have not knowingly changed it.
Than you -
Paul
Bikerbrent_RIP
Senior Member
Welcome aboard. Enjoy the ride.
We look forward to seeing more posts and samples of your work.
First, are you shooting with a D5500?
Second, this thread is 2 years old and about focus issues. You might want to start a new thread for your issues.
Finally, are you shooting in Auto mode, as this mode is known to cause strange issues, this might be the problem. Try shooting in P, M, S, or A mode and see if you have the same issues.
Also, I am not familiar with black Delkin cards. It may have issues with your Nikon camera, do you have another card to try?
The time can change between shots in continuous mode if you fill the buffer,the camera needs to clear shots before it can take any more, when you say focus mode is changing do you mean the position of the focus point as catching the multi selecter dial can move it.
If its these things what speed is your card you may need a faster one, if its the focus point moving then i dont think you can lock it on that model so be carefull of the multi selecterdial on the back,i think on that model pressing the center button on the dial returns the point to the center.
If its these things what speed is your card you may need a faster one, if its the focus point moving then i dont think you can lock it on that model so be carefull of the multi selecterdial on the back,i think on that model pressing the center button on the dial returns the point to the center.