I need help with Focus!!

<p>PLEASE HELP!! I have only been doing photography since the beginning of the year. It started as a hobby for me and it went on from there. I have taught myself everything. I am having a problem that I can't seem to fix or find any answers. I have noticed my photos are not as sharp as I would like. I recently did some pics for a friend of mine. The results are horrible. For some reason, the focus is on the background!! I move my focal point to my subjects eye and the focus is always to the left of my focal point!! I can't figure out how to fix this! I am using a 35mm lens. The photoshoot was at the start of sunset using the shade of a barn. The same thing happens if I'm close to my subject or farther back. Anyone have any advise?? 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. Thanks so much :)</p>

<p>You may need to AF Fine Tune your lens and camera. If the camera is focusing behind the target, you need to try negative AF fine tune values until you find one that works. See: http://regex.info/blog/photo-tech/focus-chart</p>

<p>This doesn't sound like an AF fine tune problem. It sounds like a user issue that needs to be better understood.<br>

<br />Please post a few shots.</p>

<p>I'm new to this site. How do I post a pic?</p><div></div>

<p>It would also help if you stated what model camera you have and the focus mode settings you are using and that you have the lens and body (as appropriate) set for autofocus.</p>

<p>Here's the settings</p>

<p>Sorry! Let's try that again </p>

<p>Here's another pic</p><div></div>

<p>The actual AF sensor area doesn't exactly correspond with markers you see in the viewfinder. In a situation like the barn scene above, the AF system probably ignored the soft features of the kids' faces, and instead caught the high contrast, string lines in the background.<br /><br />Were I making that same shot, I'd be using a single focus point, dead center. Focus, and recompose as needed. <br /><br />It's also possible that part of what you're seeing there is a metering issue. Those faces make up a very small part of the scene, and the camera is trying instead to adjust for the larger (darker) background. The result is over-exposed faces that are as a result losing some detail. Experience will teach you, after a while, that a scene like that calls for some negative exposure compensation in order to get those bright faces under control. <br /><br />Also: you're shooting at f/3.5, which provides not a lot of depth of field. If you did nail focus on their faces, that would be plenty, and it would begin to push the background a bit more out of focus. <br /><br />Lastly: get closer! You can still capture that barn feeling without showing so much OF it, and both you and your camera will have a much easier time getting the kids in focus and properly exposed if they, rather than that large background, are the subject. </p>

<p>Thank you so much MAtt Laur!!<br>

The way I was focusing in this photo is by moving the single focal point square to one of the kids faces. I can't remember which one. Are you saying to set my focal point to the center of the photo?</p>

<p>I also tried some pics of my son in front of my Christmas tree. His face was not focused and the tree was. Same lens as before. 35mm. I haven't had this problem before and it has me stressed to the max! Thank you so much everyone for your responses.</p>

<p>Have you tried the View NX software that came with your camera? It can show you which focus point(s) the camera used, which can help you determine whether the focus point is actually in focus or not.</p>

<p>The center AF sensor is the most accurate, especially in poor light or on low-contrast subjects. I routinely (well, pretty much exclusively) use the center AF point, place it on the thing/face/whatever that I need in focus, and half-press the shutter button to acquire focus. Not letting up on the shutter button, I then recompose if necessary to alter the framing (as with your group shot, above), and then complete the shutter button press to complete the shot.<br /><br />Your posts here are limited to 700px wide. It might help if you used your photo editing software to crop out a smaller area of the whole frame so that we can see the faces at full resolution, the better to see what's really going on.<br /><br />Also: your image details aren't including information about the focus mode. Are you in AF-S, or AF-C? </p>

<p>If you shoot in RAW mode, and then post process, View NX2 or other programs will allow you to make exposure compensation and other adjustments that are reversible. </p>

<p>View NX2 will show what focus points the camera used, but it will not show what was focused on if you held focus and recomposed. In other words, if you have your camera set for a single center point, then recompose as suggested, the red square in View NX2 will remain in the center, even though what it locked on to is now elsewhere. So although it is very useful for checking focus point accuracy, that's only if you have not recomposed.</p>

<p>That and many other programs can copy raw files to JPG of a chosen size, in bulk, allowing you to send smaller copies as needed, but to keep the originals as you would a file of negatives.</p>

<p>This is a situation where I would switch to manual focus as I will be assured the focus will not shift. <br>

It may be the lens is not compatable with the body causing focus errors, read the lens compatabality section of your camera's instruction manual. The focus screen should be accurate but the RF indicator and or the focus sensors may not be. My D300 manual states such for some lens.</p>

<p>The pdf on Nikon's site lens compatability page is 269. Focusing is covered on pages 91-99 and includes a chart with samples where the AF system can produce inaccurate focus.<br>

You were using Matrix Metering, it read the deep shadow inside the barn and set the exposure accordingly resulting in the childrens faces being slightly over exposed. Centerweighted metering would work better in this instance.</p>

<p>The D7000 has many AF points but not all of them are the cross type which are the most accurate (the 9 center ones are the cross type). I suggest you only use those. Also, for the type of shots you are doing, you can easily use any of those 9 AF points, lock in focus (AF-S mode or using the AF lock button) and then recompose and get proper results.</p>

<p>From Nikon:</p>

<p>https://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/440/~/when-should-i-use-ae-lock%3F</p>

<p>Firstly I don't get the exposure info for these pics, it's all over the place. The use of Manual is just fine, but what you chose to use is a bit 'unusual'.</p>

<p>Pic 1) Why are you using 1/640 sec on a stationary target, thus forcing ISO 800? 1/80 @ ISO 100 would give the same exposure and give a much better Dynamic Range, so not losing detail in the shadows <strong>AND</strong> highlights. 1/80 is high enough to avoid camera shake with a 35mm lens even on DX. Aperture at f3.2 is fine.</p>

<p>Pic 2) Better, but still too high ISO. 1/400 @ ISO 400?? 1/100 @ ISO 100 would be fine. Aperture of f5 is OK. Why have you moved the WB to Fine Weather, when Shade worked so well for the children pic? This one is way too cold, ie blue.</p>

<p>OK, focusing. To isolate whether it's user or machine 'error', take some similar shots with zoomed in Live View AF. Force the camera to do what you want!</p>

<p>Try something like the first shot with an angled gate. Use a aperture around f2 to emphasise In Focus and Out of Focus area.</p>

<p>a) Take it the way you did before, preferably on a tripod and then....</p>

<p>b) Switch to LV, zoom in 'on screen', ensure the illuminated focus square is over your target, ensure it goes green and then take the shot.</p>

<p>If the 2 shots are identical*, it's your technique that needs improving.</p>

<p>However, if the LV shot is way better, your camera/lens combo need a AF Fine Tune, as the real and camera derived distance-to-target are way different.</p>

<p>* unless they're both awful, then we'll think some more!!</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Mike, LiveView and non-LiveView focusing use two completely different systems in the camera. LV focusing is slower, but usually more accurate, and takes no notice of any AF fine-tuning setting. What I'm saying is that comparing LV focus to through-the-viewfinder focus doesn't prove or eliminate anything. Any discrepancy could still be due to the camera, the lens or the user. However, the use of LiveView AF as a standard for comparison is valid. It's just that the cause would still need to be found by other means.</p>

<p>+1 to Matt's suggestion of using a fixed central AF point and then re-composing after focus has been locked with a half-press of the shutter button. It's generally quicker than steering an AF point around the screen, and IME more accurate. You could also try any face recognition AF that the camera offers with subjects such as those shown. </p>

<p>One proviso with the focus and recompose method is that it can give inaccurate focus if the camera is swung too far off centre to recompose. This rarely results in a grossly mis-focused subject though, and is better than the camera randomly deciding to focus somewhere other than intended.</p>

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<p>Mike, LiveView and non-LiveView focusing use two completely different systems in the camera.</p>

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<p>Yup, they sure are. LV AF is pretty infallible and the later flawed by not actually looking at what it's doing.</p>

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<p>What I'm saying is that comparing LV focus to through-the-viewfinder focus doesn't prove or eliminate anything</p>

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<p>In my experience of checking focus with LV on a tripod with a stationary object in good light, it has NEVER been wrong. If the same shot is taken with VF focus and LV focus and the VF shot is bad and the LV shot is good.....it proves the VF focus is wrong <strong><em>and</em></strong> that the mechanics/optics are capable of good results.! That is a good place to start.</p>

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<p>+1 to Matt's suggestion of using a fixed central AF point and then re-composing after focus has been locked with a half-press of the shutter button. It's generally quicker than steering an AF point around the screen, and IME more accurate.</p>

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<p>and when that doesn't work 'cos it needs an AF fine tune, we're back to doing my check.</p>

<p>There's no point trying different AF points and re-composing etc if it <strong><em>cannot</em></strong> be right because it's inherently biased to focus long or short.</p>

<p>If the tripod mounted VF and LV shots <strong>are</strong> the same (and good) that illiminates loads of stuff and doesn't need an AF Fine Tune and means it's a user technique issue not a hardware issue.</p>

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<p><a name="00czPm"></a><a href="/photodb/user?user_id=2344388">Matt Laur</a> <a href="/member-status-icons"><img title="Hero" src="/v3graphics/member-status-icons/hero.gif" alt="" /><img title="Subscriber" src="/v3graphics/member-status-icons/sub8.gif" alt="" /><img title="Frequent poster" src="/v3graphics/member-status-icons/1roll.gif" alt="" /></a>, Dec 03, 2014; 11:47 p.m.</p>

<p>The actual AF sensor area doesn't exactly correspond with markers you see in the viewfinder. In a situation like the barn scene above, the AF system probably ignored the soft features of the kids' faces, and instead caught the high contrast, string lines in the background.<br /><br />Were I making that same shot, I'd be using a single focus point, dead center. Focus, and recompose as needed.</p>

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<p>I do this, always. It sometimes concerns me: my camera has, umh, I'm not exactly sure, 45? focus points (Canon 5DIII), and what do I do? Turn my back on them, virtually always, set it to the center point.</p>

<p>And, I remap the buttons on the camera so that focus is activated NOT by the shutter button, but independently, by a button of my choosing, near my thumb on the back of the camera.</p>

<p>It really does bug me sometimes; I know being adept with the multi-focus points has advantages, especially with moving subjects, using servo focus (continuous, dynamic focus). I should persevere, give it a better try. Sometime. ;)</p>

<p>I have it a little simpler, having a simpler AF system, but I find that I get best results most of the time with a single center point and dynamic area focusing. AF and metering are both activated and held by the shutter button, so I can aim at a subject, and it remains the point of both exposure and focus when I recompose. </p>

<p>One thing it seems worth finding out is whether the system is working properly to begin with. Remembering that this is a digital camera and one can take a zillion test shots and throw them away, there's some room for practice and testing here. </p>

<p>It's very hard to analyze a problem in the shots shown and to figure out what goes wrong. So I suggest some testing first. Get the camera out, and put it on A mode, matrix metering, AF-A and single point AF. Make sure the center focus point is the one used. Make sure the camera is set to focus priority (i.e. it will not shoot until or unless it has locked into focus). Open the lens wide open, and with a reasonable amount of ambient light, point it at things in your living room that are easy to check for sharpness. Book spines, video cases, clock faces. Aim at some LED lights or video equipment that has little pinpoints of light. Now open up the pictures, and see what you get. Auto ISO defaults to a shutter speed of 1/30, so motion blur shouldn't be a problem, but if it is, it will show as smearing of those little pinpoint lights. If your AF is working right, then even with the shallowest depth of field the point you aimed at should be sharp. If your metering is working exposure should be in the ballbark even if not perfect. </p>

<p>Try taking exactly the same test shot with viewfinder and LV, and see if they are focused the same. If the camera is not working right, coaching will not fix it. </p>

 

<p>Book spines or rows of CD cases are a good subject to test your focus with, but I'd eliminate motion blur/camera shake too, by simply waiting 'til after dusk and using the little popup flash for illumination. At close distances the flash duration will be much less than one millisecond, and you won't have to bother about camera movement. Although if shooting handheld, you should be aware that it's easy to rock backwards and forwards a few inches without realising it. A tripod is definitely the best way to do an AF test, but failing that, use flash - or both.</p>

<p>1/30th of a second exposure handheld is way too long for any kind of sharpness test.</p>

<p>AF fine tune is exactly what it says - a <em>fine </em>tune. If the focus is as far off as you describe it, then I doubt that the lens/camera can be adjusted that much. Also, using AF fine tuning can degrade the speed and sensitivity of the AF system. If the issue is found to be just with one lens, then I'd try for an exchange of lens.</p>

<p>On the Classic Manual Camera forum here, a fellow named Marc Bergman has been scanning old photo magazine articles, and one a while ago seemed quite useful. The article described a home made light board with little holes, which was used in low light to test for motion blur. Nowadays the same thing can be done more easily in many places just by aiming at LED pilot lights in low light, and of course now you can shoot a million digital pictures.</p>

<p>A very tiny point of light will show movement very clearly as off-center displacement or, when bad, a little light drawing. The result is very easy to read. Along with using flash to eliminate movement from the test and look only for focus issues, it's still rather useful to find out what shutter speeds you can reliably shoot at without bothersome amounts of motion blur.</p>

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<p> it's still rather useful to find out what shutter speeds you can reliably shoot at without bothersome amounts of motion blur.</p>

 

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<p>The OP has focus problems and used a shutter speed of 1/640 and 1/400 respectively with a 35mm lens. I don't think camera shake is the issue. </p>

<p>The image has in-focus areas, just in the wrong place.</p>

<p>As to the last bit about file size. What size are they?</p>

 

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<p>Also, using AF fine tuning can degrade the speed and sensitivity of the AF system.</p>

 

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<p>RJ, So you'd prefer a quick out of focus image? It's there for a very good reason, not a gimmick.</p>