anne_wolff

<p>Eric, I'm using a Tamron 18-270 lens. Thanks</p>

<p>Epp, How do you make it work for you? I love your picture!! I've tried that too and found that after I center focal point on dog and start to pan, the focal point disappears and the different squares around the circle flash. I have no way of knowing if my focus is still on the dog's head. Usually those images are all out of focus. But I sure would like to know how you do it so well. You obviously have good control of it. Any help is greatly appreciated.<br>

Thanks</p>

<p>Thanks. I just called Nikon and they told me that my D-90 doesn't have the AF-ON button next to the AE-L/AF-L button on back of camera (which I knew) -its the D300 that does, and so my setting it in the menu doesn't do anything.</p>

<p>Eric, you suggested that in the menu I change my setting to AF-ON. Then press the AE-L/AF-L button on the back of my camera to focus, look for green conformation dot and press shutter all the way down to shoot. I no longer press shutter half-way to focus.<br>

I set camera to AF-C, and Dynamic, and tried it. When I pressed and held the AE-L/AF-L button it didn't focus - didn't do anything except show AF-ON . I could still press shutter half way. Also, when I pressed and held AE-L/AF-L button and it wouldn't focus, I could still press shutter all the way down! Help! What am I doing wrong? All settings on my lens and camera body are set to AF.<br>

Thanks, as always for your help.</p>

<p>Don't know what happened to the white dog. I'll try again!</p><div></div>

<p>Thanks Eric, I will try everything you suggested. I very much appreciate the time and effort you and everyone else have given me. I am still very serious about doing pet photography professionally and intend to do everything I can to learn and practice.<br>

So, I thought I would just show you two pictures that I am actually very pleased with. They have been sharpened but not by much. Also, I checked all of my best images and almost all were taken at less than 110mm. The odd thing about these images was I took them a month ago and had the camera set to AF-S instead of AF-C and forgot to turn on the VR the entire morning!</p><div></div>

<p>Thanks for all your suggestions. I think I was kneeling down for this shot, since I do for almost all. I abhor shots looking down on dogs, and am thinking of getting knee pads since my knees have been ground into little stones on beach, etc.<br>

Anyway, I hate to be dense here, but CPM - when you said to use Center Focus (one focus point) did you mean Dynamic? Then when you said use Multiple focus points of "Focus Tracking" for dogs running past me, did you mean 3-D Tracking? I have tried that but the rectangle dissapears in my viewfinder when the dog is running and I don't know if I'm focusing on the head the whole time. Usually everything is very out of focus!<br>

Eric, I just changed to Center Weight Metering, so I'll see how that goes. What did you mean by "try focusing with the AF-on button instead of the shutter"? Did you mean in AF Area Mode, change from Dynamic to Auto Area?<br>

Thanks</p>

<p>Matthew, I'm confused. I just looked at it again at 100% and the grass is very blurred behind the head and is Very sharp by his feet. Wouldn't this be sharp if I was able to focus on his eyes and not the grass? And what should my f-stop be? I know it will be much wider when my shutter is 1600 or 2000. Also, the reason for suggesting a lighter lens is that when trying to focus on a thin pole, my rectangle in viewfinder wiggled and the more I tried to hold still with elbows in etc, it still wavered around.<br>

Thanks</p>

<p>Sorry , I forgot metadata. This was shot at 10:00 a.m. Shutter priority, 1000, F-10, ISO 640, focal length 270, AF-C, Dynamic, Normal. This was taken before I started setting shutter to 2000. I have gotten a lot of very sharp images with this lens at various lengths, and even some at 270, but I can have a whole morning with very little, and would like to see some improvement. Drives me crazy that sometimes I can do it and sometimes I can't. The most important thing that bothers me is I think I'm centering focal point (rectangle in viewfinder) on head but apparantly somehow focus on grass. Still don't know if I'm not holding camera steady enough or prefocusing on grass before I even get focused on dog! I even cut down to 1/2 cup of coffee! Thanks</p>

<p>I have been using the techniques suggested to me previously, but am still having trouble getting my focus on the running dog's head. I swear I do, but then it comes out soft and the grass at his feet is sharp! It's been suggested to me that my Tamron 18-270 lens is just too heavy to use hand held and I should try a 55-200 lens. I'm going to try to borrow one and wanted to know what you all think. I do admit that although I manage to get a "fairly" sharp shot sometimes, it's hard to hold steady. Yes, I have been practicing for hours, whenever there are dogs at the park, but I'm still repeating something I'm unaware of. Even shooting at 2000 F6.3 they're not sharp. Even though I'm careful not to press the shutter 1/2 way down until its on the dog's head, somehow its picking the grass or trees to focus on first.<br>

As alway, I'm very appreciative of any help anyone can give me. Thanks</p><div></div>

<p>Thank you all very much. Your suggestions were exactly what I needed and I actually did much better today! Can't tell you how much I appreciate your help and look forward to the day I'm confident enough to help other people.<br>

Matt, your pictures are fantastic!</p>

<p>I'm back again with my autofocusing questions. After much reading and talking to Salespeople and Nikon, I've concluded that for shooting running and playing dogs, my settings should be: AF-C, Dynamic, and Normal.( I think!) I'm also trying to keep my ISO low on bright sunny days, but to get the shutter speed (in shutter priority) up to 1000 and get a fairly high f-stop, I need it set to at least 500. I need 1000 to get speeding dogs and at least f-10 or f-11 to help get the eyes in focus.<br>

One last thing - I try very hard to keep rectangle in viewfinder on dog's head, but my camera salesman pointed out (and I saw) that my camera is focused on the grass and keeping that in focus even as I pan with the dog!<br>

I would appreciate any advice from anyone who does similar action shots. I'm attaching a sample.<br>

Anne Wolff</p><div></div>

<p>Thanks Dave-<br>

What AF setting should I choose?<br>

Anne</p>

<p>Thank you both for your comments. I was shooting in bright sun, usually around 1000 at F-9 or 1250 at F-10 or F-11. I thought I found the answer to this mystery in the weight increase since my D60 is a lighter camera and I get better shots. The store manager has been helping me with settings in the menu and can't figure out why I'm not getting sharp pictures. They should be at least as good as my D60.<br>

I have attached a few of photos.<br>

Thanks,<br>

Anne</p><div></div>

<p>I have been testing out a Nikon D90 to start my pet photography business. Right now I have a D60, but need to have higher ISO for indoors and cloudy days - faster shutter speeds. I also have a Tamron 18-270 lens which takes very sharp pictures of dogs that are still and I'm practicing on getting running dogs sharp at 100%. However, I have tested the D90 with my 18-270 lens and can't get sharp pictures of anything! I tried a monopod (can't use tripod with running and playing) and it didn't help. When I tried the camera with a 70-200 lens I did better because it was lighter. So, the problem seems to be weight of camera and lens. Do other people have this problem?? I would really like to get this camera, but need to find a solution to getting sharp pictures. I'm even lifting hand weights now to get some arm strength. Is this the answer?<br>

I would appreciate any suggestions!<br>

Anne Wolff</p>

<p>Thank you all for your help! The first thing I'll do is turn on the "High Noise Reduction". I didn't know about it and will ask to try camera again.<br>

Anne W.</p>

<p>I just tested a Nikon D90 at a park shooting running dogs, which is what I plan to make a business doing.<br>

I need fast shutter speeds and am interested in this camera because of the high ISO settings and supposedly lack of noise. So far, at ISO 2000 I'm getting terrible noise and the pictures look splotchy. Am I expecting too much?<br>

Thanks for any help!<br>

Anne W.</p>

<p>I have a Nikon D60 and use a Tamron 18-270 lens for the purpose of taking action shots of dogs running at the park or on the beach. I'm having extreme difficulty getting the eyes sharp at 100%. I keep the VR on unless I use continuous mode. Any suggestions?? Thanks</p>