Posted by Lindy Martin on January 1, 2012 at 8:36 AM
I have a Nikon d300 on which I use the Nikkor AF-S 300 F4. Yesterday, grey weather day, I found that the thing just did not autofocus. I have had this issue before but not as bad as yesterday. Had a kestrel on a sign post and in manual focus, I got a decent shot but it did not autofocus at all. THe camera was set at single focus area, F4 up to F5.6 and it made no difference. Also, according to the camera, it is in focus but my eye says it is not - I then switch to manual to adjust it and it comes out just fine.
How I should be setting this up any differently to get the auto focus to work? Am I correct in thinking it should autofocus? Any assistance is appreciated before it lands in the lake!! Thanks
Posted by Brian Gatlin on January 1, 2012 at 8:51 AM
don't know your body specifically, Lindy, but in low light, low contrast situations some cameras have more trouble autofocusing than others. you might also check your shutter speed though--perhaps in the low light you ended up with some motion blur due to slow ss.
Lindy was your focus point in the center or on the side.
This happens a lot when it is not in the center
It cant swim and smile its now 2012
Posted by Richard Ditch on January 1, 2012 at 1:55 PM
I shoot with the D300 and also with my older D200. Brian is correct about low light low contrast situations - I've encountered a few times when the AF just wouldn't kick in with both cameras. There needs to be something at the AF focus point with edge contrast for the camera to work with.
I've also found that the three position switch on the back of the camera (AF Area Mode) can cause problems. I've tried the dynamic area setting (middle choice) for erratic flight shots and forgot to switch back to Single Point (bottom setting) and then found the camera wouldn't focus at all in low light.
I keep both cameras set to AF-C (the switch by the lens mount) and Single Point (3 position switch on the back).
Here are the D300 settings I have at the moment for the AF parameters:
a1 - AF-C - Focus Priority
a2 - AF-S - Focus Priority
a3 - Dynamic AF - 3D (just changed that from 51 points)
a4 - Focus Tracking with Lock-on - Normal
a5 - AF Activation - Shutter/AF-on
a8 - Point Selection - 51 points
These work well for my typical bird photos and other subjects. But I'm still trying to find the best setup for birds in flight.
Posted by Lindy Martin on January 1, 2012 at 2:38 PM
Thanks everyone. It actually did a few things right today, so my lake is clean of debris;)
Discussion
4 repliesHow I should be setting this up any differently to get the auto focus to work? Am I correct in thinking it should autofocus? Any assistance is appreciated before it lands in the lake!! Thanks
This happens a lot when it is not in the center
It cant swim and smile its now 2012
I've also found that the three position switch on the back of the camera (AF Area Mode) can cause problems. I've tried the dynamic area setting (middle choice) for erratic flight shots and forgot to switch back to Single Point (bottom setting) and then found the camera wouldn't focus at all in low light.
I keep both cameras set to AF-C (the switch by the lens mount) and Single Point (3 position switch on the back).
Here are the D300 settings I have at the moment for the AF parameters:
a1 - AF-C - Focus Priority
a2 - AF-S - Focus Priority
a3 - Dynamic AF - 3D (just changed that from 51 points)
a4 - Focus Tracking with Lock-on - Normal
a5 - AF Activation - Shutter/AF-on
a8 - Point Selection - 51 points
These work well for my typical bird photos and other subjects. But I'm still trying to find the best setup for birds in flight.