D7000 focus issues
Oct 22, 2016 16:23:01 #
My sister and I took school day pix last week and the focus was soft on many of them and a few were so bad they will have to be retaken :(
I took vollyball pix a couple of weeks ago and got great shots of the wall and net.....the players however were not so good. We both shoot with a Nikon D7000. She has had hers a year or more longer than me. The focus points seem to be rather random in selection......Is anyone else having this problem? How about advice?? TIA!
I took vollyball pix a couple of weeks ago and got great shots of the wall and net.....the players however were not so good. We both shoot with a Nikon D7000. She has had hers a year or more longer than me. The focus points seem to be rather random in selection......Is anyone else having this problem? How about advice?? TIA!
Oct 22, 2016 17:39:03 #
At a guess, I use Canon and Sony, I would suggest that you have your focus points set at too high a number. For a portrait I would have a centre only focus point, for sports, the next lowest number of focal points available. If the number of focus points seems random it means that you have it set on auto or the highest number available.Check your manual to see how to change it. As I shoot neither sports nor people take as much salt with this as you wish.
Oct 22, 2016 19:07:30 #
Thanks. Your advice is more than I had! lol I will certainly check it out. I have not adjusted the focus points since I got the camera and looking through the viewfinder it looks like 8-10?? Appreciate the help!
Oct 22, 2016 19:28:54 #
evcarter wrote:
Thanks. Your advice is more than I had! lol I will certainly check it out. I have not adjusted the focus points since I got the camera and looking through the viewfinder it looks like 8-10?? Appreciate the help!
There's a lock switch on the back of the D7000, just above the Info button. Default position is "up." You can unlock the focus and move it with the multi function wheel to whatever part of the image you want. Perhaps it was moved off center then locked?
Oct 22, 2016 19:44:06 #
I shoot birds in flight quite often with my D7000. I almost always set it for single point autofocus. Also, the less light you have the harder it is for the camera to acquire focus with slower lenses.
Oct 22, 2016 20:04:03 #
Oct 22, 2016 20:05:17 #
Oct 23, 2016 06:17:22 #
One thing to check are menu item a1: AF-C Priority Selection and menu item a2: AF-S Priority Selection. I would make sure both of those are set to Focus (not Release).
Since it was a volleyball game there would have been players spread out from front to back - some closer to the camera and some further away. It's possible there isn't enough depth of field to get all of the players sharp.
If the camera is to Auto-area AF, the camera automatically detects the subject and selects the focus points. If the camera was in that mode it could be that the focus points were landing on something other than the players.
In this situation I would probably use AF-S mode. If in AF-C mode the focus could be hunting too much.
It's possible that the the camera and lens combination is front focusing or back focusing. The D7000 has AF fine tuning. You might check that also.
Can you upload one of the photos? Check the store original box when you upload.
Since it was a volleyball game there would have been players spread out from front to back - some closer to the camera and some further away. It's possible there isn't enough depth of field to get all of the players sharp.
If the camera is to Auto-area AF, the camera automatically detects the subject and selects the focus points. If the camera was in that mode it could be that the focus points were landing on something other than the players.
In this situation I would probably use AF-S mode. If in AF-C mode the focus could be hunting too much.
It's possible that the the camera and lens combination is front focusing or back focusing. The D7000 has AF fine tuning. You might check that also.
Can you upload one of the photos? Check the store original box when you upload.
Oct 23, 2016 07:12:30 #
evcarter wrote:
I have not adjusted the focus points since I got the camera and looking through the viewfinder it looks like 8-10??
Part of the problem sounds like you have not read the manual! You can find out how the focus points work, and how to adjust them from reading it.
Another thing to check before starting to shoot, is whether the settings have accidentally been changed. This can happen just putting the camera in and out of your camera bag! Are you in the shooting mode you prefer? What type of AF do you need for this situation? Is the lens set for VR on (hand-holding), or is VR off (tripod)?
Pay attention to focal length, and make sure it will give you the depth of field you need (like with the volleyball players, need deeper DOF; with portraits, it can be shallower).
When doing action shots, using the multiple shots function, you want to use AF-C. I use back button focusing, which works well with this.
Oct 23, 2016 07:51:25 #
evcarter wrote:
I think single point so we can be sure the faces are clear is what we need! Thx!
Welcome to our forum!
Yes, it seems that a majority of us recommend using the single focus point. Another option is using back button focus.
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Oct 23, 2016 20:16:08 #
I shoot a D7000, on my 70-200 2.8 I had to go in to adjust the focus of the lens to the camera. Is this a lens that perhaps needs to be fine tuned?
Oct 23, 2016 20:25:33 #
The majority of AF problems are operator's fault. You want to use dynamic AF for sports with its focus tracking feature.
I cannot tell you very much on this, could take me more time than I actually have but I do recommend you get more familiar with the different AF modalities of your camera.
I have a D7000 and it is an excellent camera with a very precise AF.
I cannot tell you very much on this, could take me more time than I actually have but I do recommend you get more familiar with the different AF modalities of your camera.
I have a D7000 and it is an excellent camera with a very precise AF.
Oct 23, 2016 20:30:42 #
Oct 23, 2016 20:32:11 #
I think you have a good point!! I am not very familiar with the entire camera but have started taking an online class I hope will help!
Oct 23, 2016 20:45:39 #
I was photographing choir group and zooming in in with single spot focus. They were not moving and the guy behind where I was focusing was in focus, but my subject was not. As you can imagine I was not very happy with that expensive piece of glass, and my camera focused fine with the other lenses. Search youtube on fine-tuning focus on the D7000. Also as mentioned before make sure your shutter speed is 200. I have also shot some basketball and volleyball with this lens and camera combo. Sometimes with a mono pod to help keep me steady. Hope This helps?
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