image out of focus :(

[megan_stone]

<p>i just wrapped up a shoot for a newborn. set everything up, placed newborn on a little stool and snapped away.<br>

settings:<br>

ISO 200, 125 @ F3/5 85mm lens --- Nikon D700</p>

<p>one main light and a back light with honeycomb to highlight.<br>

main light at f3.5 back light at F4</p>

<p>as i always do , i focused on eyes, held shutter release halfway down, recomposed and snapped.</p>

<p>all the images appear to be out of focus, with focus point lower on the image, as that's the direction i recomposed at...<br>

i tilted camera down.</p>

<p>what went wrong? this hasnt happened to me in a very long time. is that too small an aperture to recompose wtih? i'd say i was about 10ft away. or could it be glare from back light? though part of the baby's blanket appear to be sharp.<br>

should i reshoot wtih a smaller aperture... say F5.6 ? im after very shallow depth of field which is why i decided to shoot at F3.5</p>

[lachaine]

<p>Are you sure the camera was set to lock focus when shutter button pressed half way? Did you have an AF mode set that doesn't actually lock focus?</p>

[megan_stone]

hi pierre, where do i go in my camera menu to check that setting?

[alan_olander1664878205]

<p>I can't instruct you how to do this on a D700, but set your camera to use only the AF-ON button to focus. Focus then release the button and focus will not change. The shutter release half-press will only meter.</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>Megan: check the focus mode selector on the front of the camera body, near the lens mount. M=Manual, S=Single, C=Continuous. If you're on C, the camera will re-focus as you move it.<br /><br />But at 85mm, and only f/3.5, it's just as likely that you're seeing the results of shallow DoF and the change you're making in the tilt of the focus plane. I made this cheesy graphic for use in a different thread on the same subject:<br /><img src="http://static.photo.net/attachments/bboard/00T/00TU0p-138337684.jpg" alt="" width="574" height="600" /></p>

[lachaine]

<p>I don't have a D700 specifically, so I can't tell you where the options are set for this, but I know it has to have them, like any other Nikon DSLR.</p>

<p>My way of setting this up for the kind of pictures you were taking (and in fact almost always except if I need continuous focus), is to set focus options so that I have a single focus point in the middle, and halfway shutter locks focus only, not exposure. I set my AE/AF lock button for locking exposure only, not focus. Most of the time, focus and exposure are two different variables, and I like to lock them separately when I need to.</p>

<p>I don't trust unpredictable auto functions, and so I like to know that the camera has locked focus on where I focused it, not where it thinks a subject has moved.</p>

[megan_stone]

<p>thank you everyone.<br>

matt, it is set on S mode, i always check that :)<br>

pierre, you mentioned that you set one single focus in the middle and then focus and recompose.<br>

i was moving the focus points (square) with the curson to the left of the frame, closes to where i need it, then holding down shutter release, then recomposing. would that make a difference? do i need to have it in the middle, in order to be able to recompose while maintaining focus?<br>

i still cant find where i lock AF as is being said :( anyone that owns a D700... help please!</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>If you're in S mode, then pressing the shutter part way down to get focus IS locking focus ... until you actually shoot, or until you let up on the shutter button.</p>

[megan_stone]

<p>so could it be an issue of too large an aperture?</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>There's nothing wrong with a large aperture, as long as you understand how narrow the DoF is going to be, and take that into account. <br /><br />Try this DoF calculator: <strong><a href="http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html">here</a></strong>.<br /><br />You can quickly see that using an 85mm lens at f/3.5 on a subject 10 feet away from your camera, you've got about eight inches of workable depth of field. If you our your subject move so much as an inch or two as you're composing and shooting, or you tilt the camera a bit (thus tilting the plane of focus), you could easily have the part of the face you're after fall out of that shallow in-focus plane. Use that calculator to see how stopping down can improve matters.</p>

[sarah_fox]

<p>Everything that Matt said! Remember that it's a "plane" of focus and not a "hemisphere." The focus is closer in the center than on the edges. Are you able to individually select a focusing point closer to the correct position in the frame?</p>

[megan_stone]

<p>i did select a focusing point closest to the correct position in the frame sarah.. :(<br>

i suppose it is the fact that i used too large an aperture, will need to re-shoot</p>

[sarah_fox]

<p>A large aperture should not prevent you from getting an accurate focus. I often shoot wide open with my Canon 100/2.0, and I have no problems. (Of course it's harder to get the perfect shot with such razor thin depth of field.) That said, if you don't NEED the shallow depth of field and/or "large" background blur, you're often better off shooting at moderate aperture like f/4.0 or f/5.6.</p>

<p>Before re-shooting the portrait, first check your camera/lens for focusing errors. Check out <a href="http://focustestchart.com/chart.html">this page</a>, where you can read about focusing errors and test your camera/lens with a very nice focus test chart that you can print out.</p>

<p>Then when you re-shoot, try just a bit of focus bracketing. Shoot as-focused, tweak the focus manually one direction, shoot, and then tweak the other direction, shoot. Then don't let the subject go home until you've previewed your shots at maximum magnification in the LCD. Zoom in on the eye (or whatever your focal point is) to ensure that you have a good shot with critical focus.</p>

[nicolaiecostel]

<p>hi, i own both camera and lens. i'm happy to report that my D700 focuses perfectly accurate, with my sigma 20, nikkor 35 D/G, 50 G and 85 1,8 D. HOWEVER, on the 20, 35 D and 85 D, when shooting at large apertures ( f2-f2.5), due to the small lags in the focusing thread system, consecutive shots are differently focused, on the same stationary subject.<br>

furthermore, i find that the 85 1.8 D has a 100% focus rate at f/2.8, and it falls badly towards f2, at about 50%. in low light, that is.<br>

my guess is that you have to check the following: focus point on high contrast zone, no Live view manual focusing, AF fine tune set to 0, focus mode on single, lens on another body, same type of lens on the same body. the focus plane shift due to recomposing rarely gave me OOF shots, especially at f/3.5.<br>

cheers.</p>

[Uhooru]

<p>I think with the 85 mm at 3.5 you co have a pretty narrow DOF and when you tilted your camera, you also tilted the plane of focus. Next time try it at 5.6 or even a little more. Chimp your pics until you are sure. Maybe even f8.</p>

[sebastianmoran]

<p>Megan, it's easy to do a test. See if holding the shutter release halfway down does lock the focus.</p>

<p>If the blanket is in focus and the eyes are not, I suspect the focus moved; you may have had the camera in C = continuous focusing, or somehow this camera is configured so that focus is not locked by a half-press of the release button.</p>

<p>As Matt says, you have several inches of DOF at f/3.5; you should have gotten good focus with your method. I don't think the focus-recompose approach is the problem. I think it's something else.</p>

[vineet.rajasekhar]

<p>Megan, </p>

<p>What Pierre is talking about can be controlled by doing two things. </p>

<p>First, you need to set the focus mode on your D700 to S, rather than M or C. This is controlled by the lever on the front of your camera, immediately below your lens release button. </p>

<p>Second, you should have your area selector (the lever on the back of your D700, immediately above the "Info" button) set to either of the two lower options. If you want to totally control your focus yourself, then I suggest the single focus point (lower option). </p>

<p>With these settings, you should be able to get focus just right, by framing for your final composition, then moving your focus point (using your directional control thumbpad) to cover the part of your subject you want in focus, half pressing the shutter release button, and then take the picture. </p>

<p>Ken Rockwell has an excellent page on Focusing options for the D700, for various different shooting situations, I've found it of great use in coming to grips with my D700. You can find it here:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d700/af-settings.htm">http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d700/af-settings.htm</a></p>

<p>Hope this helps - good luck!</p>

<p>Vineet</p>

[sunray1]

<p>Did you check if autofocus is activated by half pressing the shutter release button? There's a green dot down left in the viewfinder for focus confirmation.<br>

You might check check custom setting menu a5 'AF activation' and select Shutter/AF-ON</p>

[andrew_andrews1]

<p>Hi,<br />I've shot successfully as low as f2 with kids, just getting the eyes in focus and nothing else.<br />In order to avoid having to reframe after you have focussed I would do the folowing;<br />Select AF-S mode with switch on front<br />Select the single focus point option with dial on back.<br />Compose shot, and then move the single focus point to the eye you want to focus on using the big round multidirectional button on the back (ensure it's not pointing to L). That focus point doesn't have to be in the middle, it can be up, down, or to the side.<br />Focus, and shoot, you won't need to recompose.</p>

<p>I also find that using AF-C mode, and 'the big white rectangle' focus area works pretty well with moving kids, even with narrow DOF.<br />Andrew</p>

<p><img src="http://www2.clikpic.com/andrewmason/images/Amana-1-4.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="399" /></p>

[geoff_portas]

<p>....and are you sure your subject didn't move?</p>