D300s and all the wedding

<p>A friend of mine asked me to shoot all his wedding with his D300s. I shot about 800 frames (being a guest too) and what I noticed: under the following condition (ISO auto, about 800-1600, A, f2, single focus point, no flash attached) quite light situation, the camera focuses when I half-press the button and when I press it, the shutter does not click, the scene changes I get unshot, or lost image - when I was keeping on pressing the button the shutter clicked after 1 or 2 seconds... and kept on clicking... No hunting. Visible at least. The lens: 50/1.4 G AF-S. With my Olympus I do not have this problems. Its static AF is very "catchy"... While in comlete darkness the bulb on the body helps and no problems exists. Why was that lag? </p>

<p>What did you learn from this? Never use a camera, you don't know to use completely, for an important event.</p>

<p>This is not a normal behavior for a D300, with a 50/1.4 you can af in the 'dark', I never had/have problem with AF with 2.8 lenses on a D300/700. I can focus till I need a flsh for the exposure and use that for focus assist.</p>

<p>Check your Custom Settings a1 and a2. If you set them to focus priority, the camera will not fire unless your subject is in focus.</p>

<p>I was thinking it sounds like the camera is on timer, but 1-2 second timer seems a bit odd (it would typically be more like 10+ seconds). </p>

<p>I've found typically when I let someone borrow my camera often I get it back and they tell me it's not working. Usually because they rotated the dial (to timer or continous fast fps), changed the focus mode to manual accidentally (then don't know why it doesn't focus anymore) or knocked the aperture ring from its fixed position and the camera gives an error... things I don't think much of when I do it as I know how to fix it subconsciously. </p>

<p>It's not your fault, if your friend has a D300s they should know/understand so many things done accidentally will make it unuseable to a person not familiar with the camera, or settings they set and forgot to reset. </p>

<p>When in doubt, do a simple factory settings default reset on the camera. If you don't want to do that, make sure you don't have a shutter delay feature turned on.</p>

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<p>A friend of mine asked me to shoot all his wedding with his D300s.</p>

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<p>Sounds like he got exactly what he paid for. I'll bet his new bride is thrilled over all the money he saved.</p>

<p>Technically speaking, I think Matt is spot on as a place to start, but Bruce's answer is golden.<br>

The old rule still applies, if you want it good, fast, and cheap(free even) OK pick two.</p>

<p>+1 to suspecting that the self-timer was activated. The delay time can be set to either 2 seconds or 10 seconds in the menu. The clue is that the AF assist light on the front of the camera blinks in delayed shutter mode, but doesn't shine fully bright as it does for true AF assist. I'd also echo the advice not to shoot anything important without familiarising yourself with the equipment or at least taking a few test shots first.</p>

<p>I'm not sure what your definition of "quite light situation" is, but anything that needs an aperture of f/2 and 1600 ISO isn't "quite light". That's pretty dark in my book.</p>

<p>If the self timer is on, I would like to think that should be very obvious to the OP. The D300 also has a one-second shutter delay feature. Verify Custom Setting d9. I am afraid that the OP's one post is not cleary enough for us to pin point the problem.</p>

<p>These are common problems when you use an unfamiliar camera. As they say, read the friendly manual. If you all of a suddent ask me to use some Canon DSLR, I'll run into problems as well. There is no need to make rude remarks towards the OP.</p>

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<p>Verify Custom Setting d9</p>

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<p>Really? It's not his camera. The camera belongs to his probably now ex-buddy, who the original poster will never see, or touch said buddy or camera again.</p>

<p>If we're lucky, he'll have another friend who hands him a Canon at his wedding and deputizes him The Wedding Photographer. Then the folks in the EOS forum can have fun solving problems that came, went and are now OBE.</p>

<p>Bruce - I appreciate your sarcasm, (I've been shooting since 1998 and you have not seen the whole session to give your remarks). It is not so relevant. About <strong>12-15</strong> PJ-style photos was lost - not a big part out of <strong>800</strong> shots I took there. But I noticed something wrong. I was just asked to shoot <em>for free</em> until the party wedding started - but I kept on my work at the party too (my initiative) and till the end for free - he was on a strict budget, (video was shot by his father) I was a <em>guest</em> too, I was there to celebrate, not to work. All shots outside was OK, and a lot of (most) <em>inside</em> ones - the D300s is not so difficult to use, I shot a love story for him about 4 weeks ago which came out fine. I asked him to set the same settings I use it most comfortably. This issue was only under those conditions I told you, I think <strong>Shun</strong> was right - the AF speed with that 50mm lens is not super - speedy and <em>the camera will not fire unless your subject is in focus.</em> I think it is not the timer. I But I admit that something is wrong with the camera too, (the light of AF point lit in the VF but shutter wouldn't click immediately - but not EVERY time, i.e. occasionally) at least the AF I experienced on Saturday was not that GREAT as it is supped to be with d300s. I am planning to shift Nikon someday (because Olympus has stopped SLR production) and that behavior of the camera surprised me. </p>

<p>Ruslan, the D300 and many other modern DSLRs are complex cameras. For example, on the D300, the number of Custom Settings is quite long. I notcied that you have plans to switch to Nikon, it is important to get familiar with at least the important ones before you depend on a camera that is new to you.</p>

<p>On most current Nikon DSLRs, Custom Settings a1 and a2 specify focus or release priority in the AF-C (continuous) and AF-S (single) modes. Plenty of new Nikon owners run into unexpected behavior because they are not familiar with those. We also have seen people setting the Exposure Delay Mode (typically d9 or something like that, depending on the camera) unintentionally. When I first bought my D300, I trigged auto bracketing unintentionally and got uneven exposures for a while.</p>

<p>Could it be that the focus is set to a single point (not letting the camera selecting the focus point from the many points available) and if that point happens to be at a dark non contrast area, the camera will try to find focus for a bit and then give up, the camera is also probably in Continous shooting mode which explains the multiple shots. When the focus assist light is on the problem is gone, so then the camera does optain focus. The 50mm at f2 has a very small Depth Of Field and the single focus points can be small. In a dark room this might be asking for trouble (I have trouble under these conditions with my D90 and the D300 should be better at this, but still, there is always a limit). A tip, knowing a different camera under one condition doesn't mean this will work in all situations, something I myself still discover sometimes with the D90 which I have now for three years<br>

edit: while I see some of your pictures flashing by below the post, I'm sure your friend will be happy with the many pictures that did work.</p>

<p>You probably inadvertently set the flash mode (button front of camera just below and left of the on board flash<br>

hatch) to red-eye reduction. Results in shutter delay. Easy to do; been there. See page 176 of the manual. </p>

<p>Gable, this took place in flash-off mode only. I never use red-eye reduction modes. Shun and Sjoerd, - I think you are right, here is the answer. Shun, you said "<em>...specify focus or release priority in the AF-C (continuous) and AF-S (single) modes. " </em> Alike things were even in my ancient Nikon F90 (N90 in the USA), in its multi-function back with many functions. But still, I think that maybe smth. is wrong with the camera as some objects was not difficult to focus instantly.... (faces, contrasty clothes, etc).... My cheap Olympus is very reliable in alike lighting situatiions (at least with its pancake and in AF-s mode or maybe it is easer for it to have precise focus with its larger DOF... I have 97% sharp photos). Here is one shot outside on that day. 50/1.4 G at 1.8... Walking in the park. Overcast and cold. <br />Thank all of you for your useful expainations! </p><div></div>