AMOMENT
TPF Noob!
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2011
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- 701
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- Location
- NY
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I just upgraded to the Nikon D7000. I've been reading the manual cover to cover, over and over again. I did a few searches to pick up any specific tips. I once was told by a photographer to go to Ken Rockwell's site as he has lots of valuable info. I was a little surprised to see what he said.
He advises that in MOST situations with the D7000, to COMPLETELY allow the camera to AF, as in, not to even choose your focal point and or single point/dynamic area but to let the camera do it itself. He said that most often than not, the camera seems to get what you want and does a better job because it using the sensors it sees necessary to and the pictuers are sharper. He said for tracking anything moving he uses 3D. I tried this and definitely got sharp photos but my DOF seemed well, much like a snapshot. I practiced using AF-C and using a selected area of my focal points (in dynamic mode) and shot a few of my daughter on a swing. They came out okay, but not super sharp. I was using a shutter of 1/600 and an aperture of f/7, a focal length of 100mm from 12 feet from my subject. (So I know my DOF was not too shallow and or my shutter to slow.)
I have found that I struggle to nail focus on people's eyes when they are of lighter color. I suspect this is because they are not as of high contrast. Any tips on where to focus in this scenario? Let me see if I can answer my own question: "focus on the nearest thing with higher contrast and ensure that my DOF is wide enough to get the eyes in? " I am very subject to camera shake and after I lock focus, my camera does move slightly before I shoot. Would it primarily be helpful to always shoot on AF-C? In most cases a tripod is not ideal.
Lastly, I was shooting in af-c but auto area mode when shooting my younger daughter who was running around outside. The D7000 shows a filled in circle when the camera aquires focus. The problem is that with a moving subject like my daughter, the focus shows locked for a split second and then it's "scanning" again which doesnt leave me enough time to aquire the shot when in focus. Any tips? Should I set my controls so that it shoots on release command?
He advises that in MOST situations with the D7000, to COMPLETELY allow the camera to AF, as in, not to even choose your focal point and or single point/dynamic area but to let the camera do it itself. He said that most often than not, the camera seems to get what you want and does a better job because it using the sensors it sees necessary to and the pictuers are sharper. He said for tracking anything moving he uses 3D. I tried this and definitely got sharp photos but my DOF seemed well, much like a snapshot. I practiced using AF-C and using a selected area of my focal points (in dynamic mode) and shot a few of my daughter on a swing. They came out okay, but not super sharp. I was using a shutter of 1/600 and an aperture of f/7, a focal length of 100mm from 12 feet from my subject. (So I know my DOF was not too shallow and or my shutter to slow.)
I have found that I struggle to nail focus on people's eyes when they are of lighter color. I suspect this is because they are not as of high contrast. Any tips on where to focus in this scenario? Let me see if I can answer my own question: "focus on the nearest thing with higher contrast and ensure that my DOF is wide enough to get the eyes in? " I am very subject to camera shake and after I lock focus, my camera does move slightly before I shoot. Would it primarily be helpful to always shoot on AF-C? In most cases a tripod is not ideal.
Lastly, I was shooting in af-c but auto area mode when shooting my younger daughter who was running around outside. The D7000 shows a filled in circle when the camera aquires focus. The problem is that with a moving subject like my daughter, the focus shows locked for a split second and then it's "scanning" again which doesnt leave me enough time to aquire the shot when in focus. Any tips? Should I set my controls so that it shoots on release command?