D300 focus modes?

[errol young]

<p>This is a quiet time of year for me so I am sitting around and playing with my new D300. It is a wonderful thing and I am trying to take advantage of its many features.<br /> <br /> It bothers me that I only trust the single point focus. I have fooled around with the others but I have not found them as useful. They seem to take a bit longer to work and I am not always sure what is in focus. With the single point, I just place it on the subject, lock it in, compose and shoot. It seems just as fast and I know what I am shooting.<br /> <br /> Am I missing something?</p>

[josheudowe]

<p>I do the exact same thing. I've missed a number of key shots relying on the other focus modes. I've learned my lesson!</p>

[hans_janssen]

<p>Read Thom Hogan's review on the D300 and D3, there is a lot explained on the focus system and the way you can handle it.<br>

<a href="http://www.bythom.com/nikon.htm">http://www.bythom.com/nikon.htm</a></p>

[holger]

<p>The D300 autofocus is great, depending on what you shoot I assume you might in fact be missing something. I had D200, D70 and D40 before, always shooting with just the center AF sensor, since the other possibilities of these cameras, especially the automatism, just did not fit my needs.</p>

<p>With the D300 however, things have changed. I only found out when taking pictures with a friends D300: 3D tracking. This, plus continous focus mode, plus putting AF on the AF-button on the back instead of the release button, has changed the world for me (as far as AF is regarded).</p>

<p>I start as I did before: point the central focus sensor to something I want to be sharp. Keeping the AF-ON button pressed, I recompose, but now the active AF-sensor stays more or less put where I indicated it first, moving around the viewfounder as I move the camera or as my subject moves. This is no great thing in still-life photography, landscape or plants, but once you start using it on kids, sports, animals, it's great. Because now the camera keeps on tracking the subject, even it it's off-center. Combining individual choice of the subject I want see tack sharp in my picture with automatic tracking technology is the best that could have happened to me. Combined with the separate AF-ON-button, it gives me all the flexibility I need.</p>

<p>Hope this helps, other sources on the web will give you better detailed information, as has been stated before.<br>

Happy shooting,<br>

Holger</p>

[peter_koralis]

<p>You may find this small article of some help , it talks about the AF-ON tecnique used by a lot of Nikon photographers<br /> http://nikonglass.blogspot.com/2009/02/refined-focusing-technique-for-nikon.html</p>

<p>Peter</p>

[juhaniv]

<p>I have had some mixed results with the dynamic AF mode in my D90. (Yes, I know D90 does not have the same AF engine as D300, but I suspect this is not a D90 specific issue)<br>

When I was shooting in one motor sports event, many of my pictures were focused in the background advertisements instead of the main subject. I had the middle focusing point selected and camera on Dynamic Area AF. The most problematic pictures were in this type of situations:<br>

<img src="http://jvanhala.galleria.fi/kuvat/MSP+Legends+Ice+2009/DSC_1432.jpg/_smaller.jpg" alt="" /><br>

This picture was OK, but in many pics the high contrast adds on the background triggered the dynamic AF to choose one of the focus points that was not on the main subject. Has anyone else had this problem?<br>

D90 has the Dynamic area AF as the default setting for sports instead of the 3D tracking. I wonder why that is? If I have understood correctly, 3D tracking uses also the color information for tracking the subject, and in this case it might have had better results. Is there a performance penalty in 3D tracking of why would one choose Dynamic area over 3D?</p>

[joseph_grace1]

<p>Hi Errol. This is just from my experience. I do not use Automatic area focus because I don't like the camera deciding what should be in focus. ( to much like a P&S). Dynamic AF is exactly like Single Point AF if the camera is in single servo AF mode BUT when you put the camera in Continuous servo mode the camera will come to life in a good way. If you are shooting still life or Portrait than single point AF is great. If you are shooting fast moving subjects such as a soccer team player than Dynamic AF in continuous servo will hold a speratic moving player in focus better. It will not try to refocus as fast if the subject laeves the center focus point in which case will give you more pictures in focus. If you are very fast and can always keep the subject on the single focus point then that style will work as well. Remember it is different for everyone and what works well for one may not work well for another. Have fun & shoot often Joe</p>

 

[errol young]

<p>thanks for discussion. I read over the Nikonglass article and it explained a lot but I do not want to gove up the shutter release focus button because I use my thumb for the AE button. I would need an extra thumb.</p>

<p>I will mull over Joseph's contribution.</p>

[joseph_grace1]

<p>If I could only figure out why my computer likes to post a response twice.</p>

[holger]

<p>About the extra thumb: read about the perfect photographer here (sorry, I only found an article with picture in german language):<br>

http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/wissen/medizin-und-psychologie/Bub-hat-24-gesunde-Finger-und-Zehen/story/18428789</p>

<p>With AF moved to the rear button, AE-Lock is done with the shutter release button, no extra thumb needed. But it's all about personal preference.<br>

Regards, Holger</p>

[mcg]

<p><em>I have had some mixed results with the dynamic AF mode in my D90. (<strong>Yes, I know D90 does not have the same AF engine as D300, but I suspect this is not a D90 specific issue</strong> )<br /> When I was shooting in one motor sports event, many of my pictures were focused in the background advertisements instead of the main subject. I had the middle focusing point selected and camera on Dynamic Area AF.</em><br>

I think the problem occurs because the D300 has 51 focus points, and the D90 only 11( IIRC?). So the focus is more likely to slip to the background as the subject moves between focus points.</p>