Focusing Techniques on new Digital Cameras

Share your images & Chat
1

For as long as I can remember, one of the most important things to get right in photography has always been focusing. Over all these years, and all the cameras I worked with, I wanted to follow an “eye” or something that I considered the heart of the image, and focus there.

This has been altered somewhat by Joanna’s explanations of depth of field, and how the photographer can determine what needs to be sharp. It’s still true for me today, long after I switched to “back button focus”.

Of course Nikon, over the years, has developed more and more aids to control focus - I guess most cameras have that now. From going to the birdwatching sites, there is a lot more to be learned.

Last month I found this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsyu5wp6L04

I’ve watched it several times now, and plan to make use of it in my day-to-day photography. My problem, is I want to BOTH be watching what’s in the viewfinder, AND to maybe learn how to use these new (to me) techniques to capture sharper photos.

I thought I should post the link here, as some of you may find this useful information. I suspect all brands of cameras have something similar, to allow photographers to select the most appropriate tools for what they are doing.

This may, or may not, lead to “better” photos, but I suspect it may often lead to sharper images for PhotoLab to process.

Sadly, it will not correct for the obvious mistake I made in this under-exposed and un-processed (but cropped) image.
I thought I nailed it. Got home, and thought “oh no!!!”

Screenshot 2024-08-30 at 15.08.12
Screenshot 2024-08-30 at 15.08.12637×529 39.6 KB

I expect the video I linked to will help me a lot of the time, but I still may need to select one point and superimpose it perfectly over my subject. I can’t help thinking that may camera thinks it is smarter than I am, and I need to get better at out-smarting the camera.

2

Mike, can I be completely frank? The video is nothing more than a spoken manual on the subject of AF.

What is covered here must be second nature to every photographer as soon as they seriously want to take pictures. That knowledge is standard!

The basic knowledge will always lead to sharp images once I have internalised the ‘key points.’. Then we can talk about advanced techniques like panning.

1 Like
3

Certainly, you can be as “frank” as you wish.

Generally speaking, you are most likely correct. Where I “struggle” is regarding when and where to select from all these possible choices.

I guess it’s like trigonometry. Once you get it, things become obvious. Maybe a year from now, I’ll feel the way you do.

My experience at this has always been at photographing high speed model race cars, 1/12, 1/10, 1/8, or 1/4 scale racing around on a dirt or asphalt track, at various distances from my camera, wanting the car to be in focus, and the surrounding area reasonably sharp, using “blur” to show how fast the cars were moving. I got pretty good at this. Then it came to birds, and I’ve got a lot to learn.

Reading about it, or watching the video, is NOT the same (for me at least) as doing it.

Like, in I thought I got a great shot of an owl, only to find I had a great shot of a tree trunk. Yuck.

Maybe you can post some of your own photographs, being captured as described in the video? Birds, race cars, speedboats, whatever…

4

This is a relatively simple decision - see the manual (or video, if you prefer).

A simple recommendation: take your camera, go outside, look for suitable (moving) subjects and shoot, shoot, shoot with different AF settings.

But: This very topic has already been discussed in other threads of yours, or am I mistaken? I have the feeling we’re going round in circles.

Your video does not describe how to take pictures. The video only describes which setting options are available.

You mean photos like this? I can only provide pictures of animals. But why? How are they supposed to help you?

[Pics deleted]

5

It’s all about perspective (no, not that perspective). I would not consider panning to be an advanced technique.

As an aviation photographer for as long as I’ve owned a SLR camera (38 years and counting) panning is just something you have to do. The only piece of advice I have learned, from my father, probably 37 years ago, was to plant my feet parallel to the expected flight path. With a SLR you just look at the subject the whole time.

The only way I know to make panning difficult is to use a tripod.

1 Like
6

Could be, but on the other hand, I just found this video recently. I thought it would be useful to post it. Apparently, not.

7

Since you didn’t say which focus settings you used for those photos you posted, it’s not going to help me. That you do this very well, is obvious. Never mind, no more questions. Obviously we’re not communicating very well, probably my fault, as I didn’t ask the right questions. No problem.

There is always “trial and error”. That usually works.

8

I am 100% with you. You don’t find panning difficult because you’ve been practicing it for years. At some point you started doing it and found the best technique for you. That’s exactly the point I wanted to emphasize in my previous post.
And yes, you’re absolutely right about the tripod. :smile:

1 Like
9

Do you really expect me to remember which settings I used for every picture over the years?

Trial and error was the method I used to learn over many years. Self-taught. In my early days, there was no internet or photo forums. Just me, my camera and books or magazines.
You can only grasp the theory with your head, you can only experience how it works in practice. So go out and just do it.

10

As I said:

11

Well, time to shift into second gear:

Joanna may enjoy this video for a very different reason. It’s specifically about the D850, and it starts out with something I was unaware of. On the Nikon D850 (and D780) there are a lot of programmable buttons on the camera body.

What Adrian Alford is showing, that many of the possible autofocus modes can be programmed into several of those buttons. For me, the setting I use most often can be programmed into my Back Button Focus control.

If I want, I can program several buttons for different types of focusing.

I didn’t realize that was possible - I thought I would be using the focus control button on the side of the camera to program each type of focus, when/as needed which is what I do now. With this technique, I can have several types of auto-focus programmed into the Nikon, and can select them as desired by using the appropriate button.

My D3 was set for back button focus, but all these choices available on the D780 and D850 didn’t exist - yet.

As shown in the new video, we can instantly select what kind of autofocus we want, by pressing the appropriate button.

Ignore everything I wrote, and watch the video if you’re interested. :slight_smile:

12

Mike, this thread is taking the same direction as the two monster threads we already know about.

That being said, I would like to remind you of the purpose of this category:
“Showcase your favorite photos, exchange tips, and connect with fellow photographers. Whether you’re a pro or a beginner, share your work and engage in inspiring discussions. Start sharing today!”

This does not mean that you should bring in topics that have already been discussed to death and that go far beyond the purpose of “exchange tips”. Especially if it’s not about pictures, but about photography techniques in general!
Once again you bring camera models into play, once again you talk about button programming, etc.
Your topics are very well suited to a photography forum, where it’s all about that, but not here!

I’m sorry, but I’m out of this discussion here.

2 Likes
13

You seem to have forgotten the full name for this new forum:
Share your images and Chat.
DxO left that included for a reason, so we could chat amongst ourselves.
What we proposed for a name was “DxO Cafe”. Join any group you wish to chat with.

If you’re bored with this topic ignore it.
If you think it’s obvious or intuitive, why add to what you think of as a worthless discussion?

As for me, if I wasn’t as insistent on finding more about this, I never would have found the YouTube video about using different buttons for different ways to focus. In retrospect, that makes sense, but it certainly was not intuitive to me. Maybe others already know and understand this.

Me? I was expecting to use the side button on my Nikon to change back and forth to different modes of Nikon’s focusing aids. That takes time to do. The idea of using different camera control buttons for different types of focusing is something I never considered. If you already know about it, you could have posted it yourself.

Well, yes, I did. I obviously was wrong, unless you simply used the default settings, specifically AFC rather than AFS, as I used to do. Back then, I just followed Ken Rockwell’s advice, meaning leaving the camera in AFC. For AFS, just remove my finger from the focus button once it was set to my liking.

14

You’re talking like a kid playing with his first camera. AF setting are designed for certain circumstances. Not a childish discussion good or not.

George

15

Already done. :white_check_mark:

16

After shoting action shot just look your image(s) in your camera rear screen. Zoom 100% and then zoom one step more than 100%.
If it does not look perfectly sharp at this zoom level, it is not.
Don’t go home and shoot again.
Rear screen is very small so 100% zoom is not enough to evaluate sharpness.

I use standard picture control to do this and it works for me.

And as others said, don’t put video that only describe gear manual. Everyone can read it’s manual alone.

17

I guess I’m not sharp enough to have correctly learned all the settings, and since I’ll likely be using my D780, I didn’t correctly understand which setting to use. The first video made that more clear.

The second video improved, telling me how to use the controllable buttons to instantly focus for each possible application.

My friend Ray came by today with his Z8 and Z6 iii, and showed me how Nikon can provide a button to focus on birds, and each time that button is pressed, the camera will scroll through all the possible settings.

Sigh. You are probably much smarter than I, and if you bothered to read the manual, you understood what to use, and when, and how. For me, the video was far more helpful then the manual. The second video was even more helpful.

By the time Ray left, I understood how these newly available settings specifically for “bird photography” might be helpful. If anyone wants to donate a good Nikon Z camera, I’ll gladly accept it, but the reality is that I’ll continue using what I’ve already got.

*Have you ever worked with a 20-year old Nikon D-series, and tried this? *
" The Nikon D2X features a 2.5-inch rear LCD display, which offers a resolution of 235,000 dots." In good lighting, that display wasn’t as useful at what we’re used to nowadays.
In today’s world, I certainly agree with you.

I completely agree with you.

18

It seems you have lot of cameras.
Use the one that best suits the kind of photo you’re going to take.
Plan your work if you really want to progress.

PS : I wouldn’t go with a 20 years old camera for action or bird shots if I have a very more recent one.

19

Good advice, for future photographs. Use an appropriate camera.

The photos I was trying to recover were all 20 years old, and while the family photos were the most important ones for me, the photos I wanted to post here were from this ancient D2h, which was returned to Nikon because it had issues that needed a replacement, not a repair. Not that this matters.

The most appropriate camera for bird photography as I see things is the Nikon Z9. There are other considerations, making that very unlikely. The weakest “link” is still me, not my camera. My future plans are to use my D780, in the appropriate focus mode. This is still several months away, when both the birds, and I, return to the wetlands.

But regardless of all the above, the problem with the owl photo was 100% me, not my camera. I know that now. An appropriate camera is important, but it all comes down to the photographer, who in this case screwed up, even though he thought all was well.

Guilty as charged, no excuse, I screwed up. That it was one of the first times I ever used the D2h was no excuse. I blew it.

The answer of course, is to do better “next time”.

Thank you.

20

One of the most appropriate.
But lot of stunning bird images have been taken with cameras older than that without any AI focus system.
But, hey, what do you like most : shooting images or chit chat on a forum to pass the time ?