Camera "Refuses" to Snap Photo

[emily_brozyna]

<p>Greetings! thanks in advance for any tips you can give me.<br>

I. Often when I am shooting, my camera "refuses" to take a photo or "rejects" my settings maybe. I miss so many moments because of this. Generally my settings are pretty technically accurate -- I shoot in A or M, work with an aperture of 1.8-5.6, Keep my speed above 1/125 for hand-held shooting, ISO 100-400 depending, Auto WB and AF-S. Matrix metering. Dynamic or 3-D tracking, sometimes single point.<br>

II. What settings are best for motion? I.E. a family session where kiddos are moving about and I am taking candids. Often when they run to my camera or the parents swing them towards me it's just totally out of focus or the shots won't fire. <br>

thank you so much! </p>

[john_tran14]

<p>I am not good in explaining this kind of things, but many others will join in and give you better answers. But first of all, the problem relates mostly to your "techniques", and the experts will need to know exactly which camera and which lens you use, and in which situation (under what kind of lighting) you shoot, in order to tell you exactly what to do (and not to do). Right now I can only say that it is kind of a common "safety" feature to refuse taking the shot when the camera believes the shot will be bad.</p>

[MichaelChang]

<blockquote>

<p><em>"Often when I am shooting, my camera "refuses" to take a photo or "rejects" my settings"</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>The camera's shutter won't fire unless proper focus is obtained - the camera will first need to achieve focus before releasing the shutter if you hard-press the shutter button, so precious time is lost and the moment's gone. </p>

<p>To get around the problem, go into your (Nikon) camera's menu and look for something that says AE-L/AF-L and choose AF-L which will program the button next to the viewfinder to autofocus the camera when depressed. Consult your manual for other camera brands.</p>

<p>In practice, you look through the viewfinder, use your thumb to press the AF-L button to first achieve focus, then press the shutter button to take the picture. This way you can prefocus in anticipation and release the shutter when the action occurs.</p>

<p>All this sounds complicated, but it's really quite simple and you'll get used to it in under 10 minutes - it will facilitate the type of action shots you're after. </p>

<p> </p>

[howard_m]

<p>While the AF-L reprogram (usually referred to as AF-ON functionality) is great (I use it), the camera setup menu must have a choice of when to fire the shutter. You can tell it to fire the shutter when you 'Release' but you apparently have it set to 'Focus' (indicating that the camera must have what it thinks is good focus to fire the shutter).</p>

[Matthew Currie]

<p>Howard, if the original poster is using one of the lower end Nikons such as the D3xxx, there is no option for priority.</p>

<p>On the D3200, for example, shutter button auto focus is always on focus priority in all modes. Back button focus is always on release priority when you release the button, and always on focus priority while the button is actuated. One undocumented exception is that in Live View only, focus priority gives way after a second or two, and release will occur whether or not focus is achieved.</p>

<p>The option for back button focus on this one will be found in the setup menu, under "assign buttons," where one selects "AF ON."</p>

<p>I would also mention that if the camera in question is one of the lower end Nikons, there is no lock on the rear control, and it is very easy to accidentally move the focus point without realizing it, and the camera will try vainly to focus on the sky or something else. The [OK] button will recenter it.</p>

<p>While I'm at it I should mention that dynamic area and 3D modes will not function with AF-S. AF-S will be either single point or multi area only. If you want dynamic area or 3D it must be on AFC. Single servo mode will not follow motion. AFA may not switch to AFC if it starts on a stationary subject. <br /> For moving subjects I usually use either Dynamic Area or Single point with AFC. Dynamic area works well, but if a subject is fairly large in the frame, focus can shift to the wrong part of the same moving subject - for example if you're tracking a bird in flight, it might shift from the eye to a wing. Some part of the subject will be sharp, but not necessarily the part you started with.</p>

<p>If you can pan accurately and keep your subject in the focus area reliably, single point AFC might work better. If the subject moves irregularly or is small in the frame and hard to pan, dynamic area will probably work better.</p>

<p>I also use back button focus on the D3200, which takes some getting used to but becomes a habit after a while. You'll always get a shot when you release the button, whether or not it's sharp.</p>

[Gary Naka]

<p>IMHO A/Auto is a bad mode (for Nikon cameras).<br>

The reason is A mode focuses on the CLOSEST subject/object. This means if there is anything between you and the subject, that object will be what the camera will focus on. Like at a birthday party, the camera will focus on the front of the table, not the kids on the other side of the table. It is for this reason that I use P rather than A. With P, I can specify what to focus on.</p>

<p>AFS can be difficult to use for fast moving action, as was mentioned, the camera has to lock focus first, and that is sometimes difficult to do. With a child running towards you, the child could have moved 6" to a foot closer to you between the time you started to press the shutter and when the shutter releases.<br>

I would set the AF to AFC and experiment with that.<br>

With certain actions, you may need a faster shutter speed than 1/125 to freeze the action. Try going up to 1/500.</p>

<p>At f1.8 your depth of field is VERY SHALLOW. IOW if the camera focused on a different part the subject (shirt rather than face, if at different focus planes) or background, the subject will be out of focus. f1.8 requires that the focus be right on.</p>

<p>If the part of the subject that the AF sensor is on is even in color/tone, like a solid color shirt, the AF mechanism can't focus and will lock. It needs a contrasting color/shade to focus on.</p>

[Matthew Currie]

<p>One of the confusions is that the word "A" or Auto applies to more than one thing. Gary is right that Auto exposure mode also actuates what in Nikon is called "Multi Area Focusing," which will default to the nearest object, trying with limited success to figure out what is the nearest face. Auto exposure mode also removes almost all other options from the operator, including ISO. If you want point and shoot exposure control but proper control of other functions, "P" is greatly preferable.</p>

<p>This is different from "AFA" focusing servo mode, which simply shuttles between single and continuous servo. It will still use whatever focusing area modes you've chosen, including single point for both, but will try, with limited success, to detect whether a subject is moving, and set the servo mode accordingly. I still would not use it generally, as there is little benefit. </p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>My D200 and D7000 also refuse to fire if I have the priority set to Focus and the camera hasn't achieved focus. My initial response was to switch them to Release priority, but I shortly switched back. The reason is that there is no point in shooting if the image isn't in focus. You can set it to Release priority and be able to fire anytime you like. But the result will just be a bunch of out of focus pictures that will need to be deleted.<br /><br />Tried it both ways and I prefer Focus priority. I don't care if it's a perfect express or the picture of a lifetime, if it's out of focus it's of no use to me.</p>

[Matthew Currie]

<p>I think one exception to the advantage of focus priority is in AFC for objects that are fairly far away. If you are, for example, tracking a bird in flight, and it is far enough away to have at least some depth of field, and more especially if your aperture is not wide open, the AF will be more demanding than it needs to be, and may refuse to make a shot when the subject is clear enough for a picture, and if you err in panning, the focus might actually be correct, but the AF point, now trying to focus on sky, will not know it. Being able to say "the heck with it, I'll shoot anyway" is convenient. If it's a miss, just erase it.</p>

<p> </p>

[Karim Ghantous]

<p>Maybe you should... make it an offer... it can't... refuse.</p>

<p>::chuckle::</p>

[jcuknz]

<p>A simple habit I learnt with my first digital [ P&S Canon s20] was to give it time to focus and WAIT for the green light to tell me it had got focus.... for action there is the practice of pointing the camera at where the action will be and holding half trigger until the action arrives and then the camera will take the shot as quickly as your reaction time presses the trigger fully down .... hopefully in a calm and quiet way to avoid camera shake.</p>

[emily_brozyna]

<p>Hey Everyone! Thanks for the useful information thus far. Here are some more details about my problem:</p>

<p>The issue of the "refusal to fire" is happening when I shoot on both my D3200 and my D90. It happens in A (Aperture) and M Manual. It even happened at an event last week while I was shooting in AUTO with my lens set to M/A. Most of the time when it has happened, my lens was in M/A, my shooting mode was A or M, with ISO 200, Auto WB, Auto-Servo AF Focus Mode all while shooting in daylight. At the event, when it happened on my D90, I had the camera in AUTO and the lens on M/A. </p>

<p>What I am wondering is that since both the D3200 and the D90 are not professional cameras, am I just burning them out? In theory, even if the photo is out of focus (if my lens is on M) it should take the photo regardless. Never reject, and especially not reject while shooting completely in AUTO on all settings. This is what has led me to believe I am working the equipment harder than it was built for. I am shooting hundreds of photos per hour at events/portrait sessions. </p>

<p>Please let me know if you guys think it is still my technical error if I may be right that it's time to switch to a full-frame camera body! </p>

<p>Thank you!!</p>