A friend of mine has bought a D810 and is very disappointed with it. He showed me about 80 shots he had taken with it some 80% moving cars ( not talking about high speed just normal to slow ) I would say that all of the shots with any movement were out of focus. He states that having bought it he now finds out that it is known to be bad for this type of shot and it should have been pointed out to him. In my view ( he will not let me see the metadata ) he has little if any understanding of how to use the camera and it is down to aperture settings ( as screen is in focus but front of car not nor rear) and speed. He also used bracketing for every shot and when asked why as post development is with lihgtroom I was told that all pro's did this to get the best shot. However back to the original question has anyone had a problem with focusing.
Focusing problems ?
- Thread starter montignac
- Start date
Frankly, capturing motion is NOT point&shoot. The camera has some awesome tools to aid this effort, some fancy focusing modes for the 51 point sensor, but you do have to learn how to use them. Life is like that.
Bracketing was an important tool for film, shotgunning when we couldn't see the image for hours or days or weeks. Frankly to me, with digital, it seems obviously better (esp when learning) to just watch the immediate results on the LCD, and then do what is seen necessary (and verified), instead of depending on chance that a few different things might work on one of them.
My views entirely. My friend hadn't touched a camera in years. He bought a d60 when they first came out but from what I can work out used it as a point and shoot. Having been out of work for 3 years he thought he would become an industrial photographer and bought the D810 and I am sure he has no idea how to use it especially as he has limited understanding of the relationship between aperture, speed and ISO. Perhaps I will be offered a cheap D810
I am not much into motion, but here is one try with a D800. The gulls were coming by about 100 miles an hour, which is awesomely fast at arms length. Got about 150 of these. A little thinking and the proper setting do make it almost easy - well, maybe the camera did help a little. My wife tried the same with her little compact camera, and got nothing.
My wife tried the same with her little compact camera, and got nothing.
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Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
This is just a guess, but... Based on your description it sounds like he's using a very wide aperture, probably to increase shutter speed, but the depth of field created by that wide aperture is so shallow there's very little in sharp focus except the center of the subject.
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I haven't even listed the lenses as well as the 71000 he bought as a standby because " it wont look good if I turn up with one camera" all new of course. This did start out as a serious question but am afraid he is getting on my nerves as each time I try to explain where he is going wrong I am told he could teach me. Strange that when he tries my ideas they work but of course he knew that before. Rant over I shall count to ten and it will all have passed
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Well thanks a bunch, you've just raised my blood pressure to dangerous levels. From your description it sounds as though there is only one tool that he's fully competent with!
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Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
Obviously we're dealing with a defective D800 here. I say that because *everyone* knows owning a D800 makes you not just good at photography but GREAT at photography; just like owning a Fender Stratocaster instantly makes you a rock-star. DUH!
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