glojo Loc: South Devon, England

This is a hand held shot of a squirrel taken through a double glazed window which I guess will always be a hindrance when it comes to pin sharp focusing but..

I was aiming at the eyes regarding point of focus but the software tells me I was just off and it highlights the fist as being the nitty gritty area? 1/640th at F4.5 dark, damp conditions with a high ISO of 1600

My eyesight is not what it once was but to me the sharpest area of focus is the grass in the right hand front of this image? I had only just acquired this camera and I am a devil for experimentation but is the fist as sharp as the hands of this punchy squirrel?

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Yes, it looks like the grass is sharper than the squirrel.

It COULD BE that your lens is "front focusing" or it could be operator error.

I've messed around with this A LOT because I'm a focus-freak. I HAVE to have sharp photos...it's a curse.

Set your camera on a tripod inside (or outside) but you need bright light.

set up 5 batteries AA on a table in sort of a staggered line, close together but so you can see them all from the camera's view point.

Focus on the middle one...leaving 2 in front and 2 behind.

Make sure you use the widest aperture you have so you can see the depth of field easily.

Shoot 2 or 3 shots and focus to infinity between them.


Bring them into your PP software and look at where the camera focused. This is a quick and dirty way to check back/front focus without spending money.

Ive also made a tool to do this; it's not expensive but it takes about an hour to assemble.

If you want; I'll tell you what it is.

glojo Loc: South Devon, England

THANK YOU very much for the prompt reply. Using a tripod is going to be a 'challenge' as I can only take snaps from a reclined wheelchair but I will attempt to do as you have suggested.

My thoughts are your comment about 'user error' is probably the one to 'focus' on but lets try hard to do what you suggest :thumbup:

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Let me know how it goes.!

glojo Loc: South Devon, England

Before attempting to set up this experiment, I just had a thought..

Experience has taught me that whenever I try to rectify a problem, I should always check to make sure this issue is not 'self inflicted'

In this case that would be 'user error'

However the software is telling me the point of focus is the fist.. if that is the case then so be it, but if it is NOT correct then that is something I have NO influence over. The point of focus must surely be wherever I point the thing? If it is the fist, then fine, if it is that grass in the foreground, then that is also fine but VERY wrong :) It would however be user error and silly me for aiming at a hunk of grass.

These two images are cropped directly from the RAW file. The grass is in the lower right foreground

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

I'm not saying you aimed at the hunk of grass, but that when you focused on the fist, your camera focused a few millimeters in FRONT of the fist.

Does that make sense?

glojo Loc: South Devon, England

It all makes perfect sense and PLEASE accept I am appreciating your much valued input. Communicating via the written word is a minefield waiting to catch out the poor soul that says something and unfortunately what is said gets misunderstood and before we know where we are, we have World War 3.5.

I agree with what you are saying and TOTALLY agree with that observation, but why is the Nikon ViewNX2 software telling me the fists are the point of focus? As I said earlier my eyesight is not brilliant but it is telling me the grass in the foreground. Hand holding a heavy, 500mm lens is not the easiest of tasks and I totally accept my hand might have slipped and the snap was taken just as I was on this 'down-stroke', but surely if this were the case, the little red box would highlight the grass as being where I ended up aiming the lens? (question)

It must have read my mind when it highlighted the fists as I thought that a great 'point of interest'

Hopefully my long winded ramble makes sense but the bottom line is I agree with your wise words

As I am typing, I am uploading my efforts from the camera, to the computer.. No chance of using a tripod, but I guess what we never use, we never miss! :oops:

Back in a jiff with the results. :thumbup:

glojo Loc: South Devon, England

Here we go but unfortunately it is not the same lens. No way can I set up this experiment using the 500mm item which is Nikon's latest 500mm.

This lens is a 105macro but the experiment is as asked without the aid of the tripod.

Handheld, 1/125th at f3 (even though it is a 2.8 lens :(

I am guessing it will not be rocket science to detect the point of focus and surely this would be the same no matter what glass I am using?

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

You have to shoot straight on...now down. It's hard to see exactly what's happening unless you do that.

And no...it's not the same; each lens is different...so your camera could focus great with one lens and back focus with another.

glojo Loc: South Devon, England

Hi rpavich,
Not quite sure I understand what you are saying.

1. Are you suggesting I have to get down to the same level as the batteries and aim straight at them? Unfortunately I cannot get any lower.

Can you please explain to a fik old man just how you would like the shot taken as I am really interested in trying to resolve this issue.

2. Obviously each lens will always have a different focussing characteristic but are you suggesting that if I set my camera at 51 point focussing, then the next lens I fit will do something completely different? I am NOT suggesting I use any specific type of focussing but I am\was under the impression that the setting in the camera is the setting for every lens that gets used until a different setting is put into the body??

To cheer myself up, before ordering those batteries into a line, I happened to see a sea-gull walking along the top of one of our sheds. I immediately took a picture with the suspect 500mm lens (I say suspect, but I am more than happy with it)

As usual the camera was hand held and the eye looks quite sharp, especially in the uncompressed NEF format

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Well..to me..that looks like dead on focus on the eye.

But be that as it may...what I'm saying is yes, get down level with the batteries; any other angle will make it harder to see what's going on.

They have to be staggered front to back and slightly sideways so you can see them all at the same time.

this is what you're looking for:

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

One question comes to mind:

What is the distance difference between the squirrel shot and the gull shot?

glojo Loc: South Devon, England

THANK YOU very much indeed for the clarification and I will have to give that some thought regarding setting it up.

I am not being awkward as I have a severe spinal injury which is a bummer when it comes to movement, or in this case flexibility.

I will have to find something I can plonk the batteries onto that is at eye level (wherever I decide that will be)

I agree with you that this time the focussing is correct and I am starting to lean toward suspecting the software that downloads the files from the camera is somehow at fault? (question)

I am saying the software used for downloading, as that is the software I use for that first check of my images.

I tend to check out the easiest suspect issues first and then go down the line from their.

First suspect being moi, but I did not put the red box over the fist...

I am thinking as I am waffling and will try to think of somehow raising the 'eye-line' to get that picture of the batteries :thumbup:

Thanks again for the much appreciated advice.

Best wishes
John from sunny Torquay

glojo Loc: South Devon, England

After much pain and determination my wife and I (photographic assistant) have set up this high-tech, expensive\complex piece of equipment :hunf:

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Well..that settles it.

IF that is your 500mm lens, then it appears to be focusing fine.

So, was the squirrel quite a ways farther than the gull? (and you cropped the squirrel to get it to fill the frame?)