nigel_farmer Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 <p>I have done a couple of shoots of waterskiing and wakeboarding recently from the back of a speedboat with a D7100 and 70-300 vr for the first shoot and then my new 70-200 f4 on the second (thanks again for the advice) . <br> I was using AF-C, dynamic-area AF (21 points initially then 9) and the centre AF point or 1 above/below and nailed the vast majority of shots focus-wise, but in some cases the AF was fooled by spray from the boat coming into the frame. I have never thought of using the focus limiter other than with my macro lens, but I wondered if I could have prevented these shots or some of then being out of focus if I used the focus limiter, since the spray would be within 3 metres? Or would the focus just be somewhere else, but likely not on the subject or the spray? Could I have done something different. </p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_demarco Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 Although my camera(D200) doesn't have an autofocus system as good as yours, I have recently set mine up to use just the center point for focus. I have been shooting a bunch of soccer, and was having a similar issue as yours when other players would be near the main player that I wanted in focus. I have also been shooting some auto racing in the past few weeks. In both situations I have been getting what I think is better results, and more keepers. I use my AF-S 80-200 with the focus limiter NOT set to full. As far as I know, I believe the limiter is more for focus speed rather than sharper focus, but someone else could probably explain it better than me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 <p>Custom setting A3 set to 'LONG' would likely resolve your issue. The focus limit switch would not.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony_bez Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 <p>Nigel,<br> If you are shooting from the boat, switch to manual focus. The skier or rider will stay the same distance from you.<br> <br />Also you can lock on the subject with AF when the rope goes tight, then switch to MF. Or the best method is to set your AF button to focus, and disable AF from the shutter button.<br> <br />Cheers</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel_farmer Posted October 4, 2013 Author Share Posted October 4, 2013 <p>Thanks for responses. Will look into custom setting A3. I was using AF-ON to focus. I did think about switching to MF.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony_bez Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 <p>Nigel,<br> Obtain focus with AF-ON on the face of the skier, rider, when the rope goes tight. You have no need to refocus unless he shortens the ski rope. <br> The hard contrast of the water spray will fool the AF of your camera whatever setting you use. <br> <br />Cheers</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_r._fulton_jr. Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 <p>I'm with Anthony Bez on this. Forget AF. Just manual. The person is on a fixed length rope. Should be fairly (!) easy. If it's boat to boat then I'd still use manual. Too much movement in both boats plus skier to proper AF it. BTW, if your lens has VR you probably should turn it off. I don't think it likes being 'on' in something moving altho I could be wrong on that. Good luck with your shoot.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_demarco Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Hey Nigel, here is a thought for you. If your VR is on, is it set to the active setting? I use the 70-300 VR often, and In the lens' manual it mentions if you are shooting from a moving conveyance to set VR to active. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel_farmer Posted October 6, 2013 Author Share Posted October 6, 2013 VR is one of those things that I often leave on and forget to switch off. In this situation I was shooting at 1/1000 to 1/1500th of a second so shouldnt have VR switched on. With VR on I noticed that images where not as clean and up close faces seemed a bit noisy, but no such problem with VR off. When the wakeboarders jump, then you get a fair amount of slack in the rope and the boat may slow down a bit too. I tried using a higher than centre AF point to avoid the spray, but when they jump this puts them too close to the top of the frame for my liking. preselecting focus using af-on is a good option for the normal shots and the skiers, but perhaps not for the boarders when they are doing big jumps and turns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_demarco Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Hmmm, interesting. Have you tried using just the center point and following the wakeboarders when they jump? Kind of like a vertical panning shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now