Best focusing settings on D810 for unpredictable wildlife?

[pontus_wallst_n]

<p>Hello Everyone, </p>

<p>Just a quick question, </p>

<p>What would you advise as best focusing settings on a D810 when shooting fast unpredictable wildlife? (birds in particular) <br>

Also, considering other settings, being in full manual can be tricky as it might meen missing a shot, as while you make your adjustments, the animal or bird might already be gone. I would imagine for instance aperture priority could be a good one when less time is available to tweak settings in the field?</p>

<p>Pontus</p>

[blumesan]

<p>It seems to me that Continuous Autofocus using Dynamic Autofocus mode would be preferred. Depending on lens focal length and how fast the bird may be moving, shutter priority (with a sufficiently high speed) may be called for.</p>

[howard_m]

<p>if the birds/targets are in the same light, then really, just set the speed/aperture and shoot away. there's no need to tweak it until they are in different light like shade or some such. The background can and will mess automatic up.</p>

[pontus_wallst_n]

<p>yes ok indeed for birds i always try to be at at least 1/2000 or more to get nice bird in flight shots if the light permits such shutter speeds</p>

<p>I tried to set my camera to AF - C, but when I do, it seems blocked in AF-s...very strange...when i press the AF switch and turn the dial nothing happens...</p>

<p>I wonder if i might have knocked some lock switch when putting it in teh bag ?</p>

<p>Pontus</p>

[ilkka_nissila]

<p>The D810 does have a lock function for some settings. Do you see the symbol "L" in the top LCD somewhere?</p>

[pontus_wallst_n]

<p>yes there is a small L below the M indicating Manual setting in the LCD, however, I thought that just like in the D810, this L refers to teh image being Large size (not medium or small), resolution wise?</p>

<p>Pontus</p>

[sebastianmoran]

<p>My recipe for shooting birds with Nikon gear, long telephoto lenses:<br /> - Fast shutter speed<br /> - Single point AF, set near the center, Continuous AF<br /> - Continuous shooting, but on low speed, not high<br /> - Exposure mode depends on the situation, background, light vs. dark bird, and so forth<br /> - Put the AF point on the bird and hold down the trigger. Get lots of frames. Select and crop later<br /><br /> My rationale: I want the AF to be fastest, so I want to give it less work. Therefore, I avoid the dynamic AF modes, and use CL to give the AF some time between frames.</p>

<p>And, birds in flight are still tough.</p>

[sebastianmoran]

<p>Here's an example (this shot with Canon, but same idea):</p>

<p><img src="http://2under.net/images/150200-Wakodahatchee-GBH-InFlight-Scr-H9A2848.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>(Canon, 500 f/4, Wakodahatchee Wetlands, FL, February 2015)</p>

[ilkka_nissila]

<p>Ok that's another kind of "L". There may also be an L at various positions indicating that setting is locked. But to lock and unlock it you would need to go into the menu. I use the Lock feature to lock shutter speed when I'm shooting in the studio, and have assigned the record button to activate Lock and disengage it. But I doubt that this is what you've got. Perhaps there is some electronics glitch in your camera that means you can't activate continuous AF. I would try to do a two-button reset (press both buttons that have a green dot next to them simultaneously and hold) and see what that does. </p>

[pontus_wallst_n]

Where in the menu would it be?

 

I tried the green button solution but unfortunately it did not work..,

 

Pontus

[ilkka_nissila]

<p>There is a custom function that allows you to reassign the record button to control locking but it is probably not extensive enough to allow locking of AF-S/AF-C. Anyway if there is no other "L" in the top LCD than the jpg file size indicator then this should not be the issue.</p>

[erik_christensen3]

<p>Pontus Wallsten - welcome to the club -:) it is a12 in the menu. I had exactly the same 'problem' last week, and I still do not know, how it was changed in the menu, unless it did itself, when I fixed the 2x converter to my 70-200mm. It was my very first bird photos.</p>

[chuck]

<p>Are you planning to shoot against the sky or against a terrestrial background?</p>

[birdied]

<p>Hello Pontus. I use the D810 and use the following for the majority of by birds or small insects in flight:<br>

Under the Shooting Menu - Turn off</p>

<ul>

<li>Active D-Lighting: OFF</li>

<li>HDR (high dynamic range): OFF (grayed out)</li>

<li>Vignette control: OFF</li>

<li>Auto distortion control: OFF</li>

<li>Long Exposure NR: OFF</li>

<li>High ISO NR: OFF</li>

</ul>

<p>I use Auto ISO 90% of the time and set the following under the Shooting Menu :</p>

<ul>

<li>ISO sensitivity settings</li>

<ul>

<li>ISO sensitivity: 64</li>

<li>Auto ISO sensitivity control: ON</li>

<ul>

<li>Maximum sensitivity: 3200</li>

<li>Minimum shutter speed: Auto</li>

</ul>

</ul>

</ul>

<p>Under Custom Setting Menu - I turn off Focus Tracking </p>

<p>I shoot in Manual, choose my shutter and aperture. I use Auto ISO to account for any changes in light , etc. The D810 handles high ISO quite well and I can deal with noise in post. You have to determine what ISO you are comfortable with. I shoot in raw. <br>

I use AF-C 9 or 21 points. If I am able to keep a single point on a bird, then I will use AF-S.</p>

<p>Not sure if any of this helps you , but hope it does. <br>

Here are a couple of shots using the above -</p>

<p><img src="http://birdied.zenfolio.com/img/s6/v140/p1139416145-4.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p><img src="http://birdied.zenfolio.com/img/s12/v177/p1327498507-5.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p> </p>