Autofoucs fast moving subjects - great advice!

Autofocus fast moving subjects - great advice!

I posted this question on Nikon Cafe and got a really thorough response with sample shots from "joseph". this is what he uses and he explains why. It works for me and it makes sense! I hope it helps some of you also Assign AE-L/AF-L button to AF-On (f4) Set dial to CH (continous high) Set to AF-C (AF-continous) Set (a1) AF-C Priority Selection to "Release" Set (a3) Focus Tracking with lock-on to "OFF" I use Single point === explanation: AF-On allows you to decouple the shutter button from the focus button, which means you can HOLD the AF-On and the camera will keep finding focus because you are at AF-C(continuous). You're using CH(continuous high) to get a high framerate. Release priority allows you to shoot regardless of focus because a fast moving subject has an always-changing focus area. You only use "Focus Priority" for static subjects. Focus tracking with lock on is the amount of time it takes for the camera to begin focusing again after the initial focus was acquired. If set to OFF, the camera will always be "on the hunt" while your thumb is pressing AF-On. Single point makes the camera faster, because it doesn't have to think much. This is my own settings for action and it works.

Thanks I'll definitely give these a try.

PapaST, your avatar reminds me greatly of the "Nevermind" album cover...

eurotrash said:

PapaST, your avatar reminds me greatly of the "Nevermind" album cover...

Click to expand...

I get that a lot. I didn't really plan it that way but it does resemble it. I had just purchased a waterproof case for a point and shoot and was playing around with it.

Thanks for the advice, I'll try that as well for fast focusing. Due to my photography, deter from using AF-C alot since I usually need the AF assist light on the speedlights.

I'm finding this is not quite fast enough for when I'm trying to get a picture of my cat about to leap towards me. Not sure what to do here.. Here are two I took with my old Canon Rebel and prefocused it (estimated) and got lucky. I still wish I were more lucky and these could have been a little sharper though.


Super Kitty Toro by hyo : foto, on Flickr


Super Toro by hyo : foto, on Flickr

I'm trying to replicate this last shot with my D600 with Joseph's settings and I can't seem to time it right.. I start to press the shutter when the cat is about to move. Maybe I should put it in JPEG mode, and fire away for at least a couple seconds before the cat starts to move?

Does any one have any further improvements to this method? I took a bunch of a small dog running towards me and mostly back focused a little bit.... Perhaps all. I had to sharpen quite a bit to make the dog look in focus.

The dog wasn't super super fast either...

Maybe because I was using the 85mm 1.8 af (pre-D lens)?

Perhaps my 50mm 1.8g would be better? Or stop down to get greater DoF?

High shutter speed, AF-C, single point AF or multiple points, JPEG, continuous shooting and blast away! Digital is free, delete what you don't want. But this is the only way you are going to get those action shots.

Does any one have any further improvements to this method? I took a bunch of shots of a small dog running towards me and the shots mostly back focused a little bit.... Perhaps all. I had to sharpen quite a bit to make the dog look in focus.


The dog wasn't super super fast either...


Maybe because I was using the 85mm 1.8 af (pre-D lens)?


Perhaps my 50mm 1.8g would be better? Or stop down to get greater DoF?




Hmm i didn't realize d39 was single point. The thing is I feel like I back focused every single shot..... Like 30+ shots... I kept running away from the little dog. I have the focus tracking to OFF so it hunts constantly....


Here's one of the few that were almost in focus -- had to sharpen / add clarity a lot to make it look like this. I used the selective brush also:



_HYO0198-4 by HYOFOTO : Justin Lee Photography, on Flickr


- the dog isn't running very fast in this one, so this one was probably spot on.


- I actually erased a rear leg in photoshop for this one


As you can see, the dog is really small and not very quick. I pretty much HELD the AF-L/AE-L button and kept him in the center as he was running towards me......and kept shooting. Having focus tracking ON would have made it even worse, right? backfocus even more since it's focusing where the dog was a second ago.


These 3 were the best out of maybe 50 shots.... And they were not perfect as is. You could tell the focus was off, so I selectively enhanced the eyes especially.

While the subject is about taking action shots here are a few of the bike races I shot last weekend. I had it set to 39 AF Points, M, F4, Continuous High, and I think the 70-200f2.8 VRII did a phenominal job!!!

Jeremy V

you know, another thing that might have added to my focusing problem is the fact that I was probably in Aperture priority mode. This of course is slower than manual since it is constantly calculating the shutter speed........I had set it on there, so I could quickly grab my camera and shoot my cats indoors if I needed to in a hurry.