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I need help with Focus!!


sarah_towry

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<p>OP's words...</p>

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<p> I move my focal point to my subjects eye and the focus is always to the left of my focal point!!</p>

 

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<p>Sounds like Spot Focus to me!....selected to be the one over the subject's eye....and it comes out, at the angle these shots are taken, focused behind the subject...ie Back Focus.</p>

<p>Just do a VF and LV comparison of the same shot with the camera on a tripod, as detailed above.</p>

<p>If they're different, it's a hardware issue. If they're the same, it's a technique issue.</p>

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<p>I don't have a D7000, not sure how the view finder display reflects actual focus mode.<br>

Another possibly is you focus on the spot, then reframe and press the shutter release again. This will acquire a new focus point and one different than originally selected. Could also be focus lock is not set.</p>

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<p>I realize camera shake is not the issue here, since there is focus occurring, but I was responding to Rodeo Joe mostly, and adding that as long as you're testing focus accuracy, you might as well test hand holding ability. Knowing what speeds are within your range of hand holding is a useful thing to know, especially if you are using shutter speeds that are much faster than needed while compromising with depth of field or ISO noise.</p>
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<p>Sarah, hope you got the answer you were looking for after sifting through the responses. </p>

<p>I like your composition - the pleasing combination and choice of colors and items, and how you posed your main subjects to beautiful effects. </p>

<p>Re your correctly exposed background yet over-exposed faces: Not sure what metering mode you used (matrix?). For me - unless the lighting is very contrasty - I find it safer to use the Center-weighted metering mode to provide more weight on the areas close to the focussed area.</p>

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<p>Sarah, first do a test to see if the basic mechanisms of focusing are working properly for your camera/lens. Setup five targets at 6" intervals, set your lens to a wide aperture, shoot from a few feet away, focus on the middle target, and check the result. To focus on the middle target, I set my AF for "center spot".</p>

<p>You should expect the middle target to be in perfect focus, and blur increasing for closer and for the further targets.</p>

<p><img src="http://2under.net/images/141204-FocusTest-DSC3169-Scr.JPG" alt="" /></p>

<p>p.s. The focus and DOF is more obvious in <a href="http://2under.net/images/141204-FocusTest-DSC3169.JPG">the full 24MP image</a>. Shot this with a Sony camera w/ APS sensor similar to yours, 50mm lens, at f/2.</p>

 

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<p>"Also, this is way off subject but what should I be setting my camera at as far as file size?? It seems like my photos are huge."<br /><br />Always, always, always use the highest-quality setting that produces the largest file possible. You can always downsize the files later but you can never up-size them if they are shot at a lower setting (without creating all sorts of garbage in the picture). You paid extra for the extra megapixels that result in large files, so use them. Computers are fast and memory cards and even external hard drives are cheap now, so large files are no longer a problem like they were in the days of slow computers and expensive memory.</p>
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<p>Thank you all so very much!! I appreciate all of the encouragement too! I tend to be hard on myself so this has gotten to me a bit. I haven't been able to log on for a couple of days so I am going to take everyone's advise and work on this today. I'll post what I come up with later. Thank you all again!!</p>
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<p>Ok so I tried some things earlier today. All I can say is I'm frustrated beyond words. I know its not the best picture but here's some I took with my phone of my camera. The TV in the background is clearer than my son. The focal point is on his face. I switched lenses. This is with my 18mm-105mm lense. Both are doing the same. I think it's just me. Somehow I have messed the settings up on my camera. That's got to be it. I can't think of anything else. I can't figure out how to show more than one focal point on my view finder either. I just have the one square and move it to what I want focused. </p><div>00czhq-553029584.jpg.4dffaf3b76c2672e90f5436553872321.jpg</div>
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<p>OK. Here's a picture I took this AM. It seems like the further away I get from my subject, the worse the focus is. I had my focal point on the little boy's face. Both cars appear in better focus than my son and daughter. I can't remember what meter mode I was in bc I have changed my settings since then. I did make a button the focus lock. <br>

I took some pics of the lights on my DVD player and if I zoom in all the way they are clear. If not zoomed in, they are blurry. Same result in live view.<br>

My file sizes range from 3,000-5,000 KB. I only said this bc I tried emailing 3 pictures and they wouldn't go through. The guy made a comment of why my files were so big. He may have thought the number I gave him was for 1 picture not 3. <br>

Another photographer once told me she keeps her shutter speed no lower than 250. I just kept this in mind and I guess I shot that number up bc I was trying to compensate for the bright sun. This shoot really through me off. I am used to photographing in the shade around dusk. The sun didn't set as quick as I expected so it was really bright there. </p><div>00cziG-553030084.jpg.dbc8cd2425fe3accb060c07262e7da3b.jpg</div>

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<p>Of course it's a bit hard to tell a lot from a 700 pixel downsize here, but when I looked at the photo magnified, I did not see any areas that were better focused than the child's face. It all looked about equally soft. Certain kinds of details can appear sharper because they have sharp edges, but when you look closely, they're not actually better. Our eyes can make sharp sense of the Tennessee plate, for example, or the Nissan trunk emblem, but if you zoom in, it's really no clearer than the emblem on the kid's overalls, but just an easier thing to capture. </p>

<p>I am curious if you have gone ahead and done some of the testing that some have recommended, such as Sebastian's Coke can test for focus accuracy. </p>

<p>It would help a lot if you could do some definitive testing, such as setting the camera on a tripod and shooting a stationary, controlled field, to see what, if anything, is sharp, and how that corresponds to your focal points. </p><div>00czjv-553034784.jpg.f32156f5d0c807a4e8f0451f5867df3d.jpg</div>

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The interior shot is too poorly lit to help out much, and at such a low resolution, and with the JPG

sharpening/compression artifacts visible, it's not safe to say the background TV is in any better focus than your son in the

foreground. You don't mention whether that AF-S focus mode is on the interior or exterior shot.

 

Consider using AF-S, rather than AF-A. AF-S won't be trying to adjust things on the fly, or get confused tracking focus. A

half-press on the shutter and AF-S is locked until you take the shot or let go. It's pretty much the only mode I use, and I've

shot untold thousands of images that way, including with cameras that have AF systems more primitive than yours. But

regardless, you need to do a formal test as others have pointed out. If you're really interested in getting to the bottom of

this, don't test with casual hand-held snapshots of moving subjects like kids in dark rooms while using that relatively slow

lens.

 

There are no prizes for good looks in a focus test. Put the exposure mode in P if you have to, pop up the flash, and shoot

a row of cans, or other objects similarly lined up. You'll quick see where the viewfinder's focus point and the actual focus

point coincicde - and then you'll have a chance if necessary to play predictably with the AF fine tune if necessary.

 

But right now, we can't see what focus mode you're using on what shot, and you're not going abou this methodically - so

it's hard to offer better advice. I know it's frustrating, but you just have to break this down in to controllable, bite-sized

pieces until you get it under control.

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<p>Sarah, you are not going to resolve this until you follow a set procedure of test.<br>

1. set the <strong>viewfinder focus </strong>as shown on page 34.<br>

2. get a tripod. cheap ones can tip over easily or induce vibration causing unsharp images. Make sure it can support the weight of your camera and lens.<br>

3. set the camera up on a tripod.<br>

4. set the camera to <strong>manual focus</strong>.<br>

5. set up a test similar to the one in the first post on page 4 of this thread.<br>

6. manually focus on each target with the widest aperture of the lens and make a test shot with each target in focus in the center of the view frame.<br>

7. set the camera to <strong>auto focus S </strong><br>

8. repeat the sequence of exposures as in step 5 in the same sequence.<br>

The D7000 manual in pdf download: https://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/17008<br /><br>

Pressing the Qual and exposure compensation buttons at the same time and holding for 2 seconds or longer resets most camera functions to default.<br /><br>

Setting the focus lock lever to the dot use the multi selector to select the focus point, single point, 9 point, 21 point, or 39 point focusing.<br /></p>

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<blockquote>

<p> The back 2 were in focus and the front 2 were out of focus.<br>

</p>

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<p>How about the actual centre target battery? How far front to back was the experiment, say 6 inches (15cm) gap between each battery so about 2ft? And shot about 6ft away?<br>

<br>

If those were roughly similar conditions and you set the camera aperture to wide open for minimum depth of field (the narrowest sharp zone), ie 1.8, I'd expect that only one battery would be sharp. </p>

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<p>Hopefully, you haven't taken the set-up apart as ideally you'd just flip the switch to Live View and take exactly the same shot with the same AF point. If the centre battery is sharp in the LV shot and not in the normal shot, then indeed you have a back focus problem which would confirm the suspicions with the other shots.</p>

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<p>Sarah --</p>

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<p>So I lined up 5 batteries in a diagonal and focused on the middle one. The back 2 were in focus and the front 2 were out of focus. This means I have a back focus problem right? My camera was set to center focus and I used a tripod.</p>

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<p>Sounds like progress.</p>

<p>I suggest you check whether AF Fine Tune is ON or OFF. If it's ON, it may be mis-set. If OFF, then you can turn it on, and try for settings that will give you proper focus.</p>

<p>In any case, are you sure you know what settings have been adjusted on this camera? If any doubt, use the two-button factory reset procedure.</p>

<p>You should be able to get nice sharp images from your camera and lenses.</p>

 

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