How to focus fast moving subject(jumping dog)?

[hymosi]

I want to take a picture of my dog jumping but the af is too slow and i always get out of focus images like this.
ISo800
f 5,6
70mm
1/800
nikkor af-s 18-70

 

[astroNikon]

What are you focus mode set to ?
AF-C (Continuous) ?
AF-S Single, 9, 15 etc focus points ?

essentially, how do you know you are focusing on the dog when you take the shot ?
I think it focused on the grass behind the dog.

fyi, most people are in an auto focus mode which lets the camera focus on what ever it wants.

 

[hymosi]

What are you focus mode set to ?
AF-C (Continuous) ?
AF-S Single, 9, 15 etc focus points ?

essentially, how do you know you are focusing on the dog when you take the shot ?
I think it focused on the grass behind the dog.

fyi, most people are in an auto focus mode which lets the camera focus on what ever it wants.

i use af-c and continous shooting mode

 

[astroNikon]

what camera are you using ?
I'm going to check on the focusing mode.

You not only have the Focus Mode of AF-A/S/C

but also normally a AF Area Mode
which may be like
- Single Point
- Dynamic Area - 9 ,21, 39 point
- 3d tracking

there's also may be a feature on your camera that let's you see what the focus point was. which comes in handy.

 

[hymosi]

nikon d3200

 

[goooner]

Which camera do you have? I think you could up the Iso by a stop or two and close down your lens a little say, f7 or 8. It will increase your chance of getting the shot. Then practice on getting the focus point on the moving dog. Maybe increase the angle to the dog, to roughly 45-60°, focusing on an oncoming moving object is probably the most difficult for your AF.

 

[astroNikon]

Page 38 in your manual
What is your AF Area mode ?

- Single-point AF
User selects focus point using multi selector (040); camera focuses
on subject in selected focus point only. Use with stationary subjects.

- Dynamic-area AF
In AF-A and AF-C focus modes, user selects focus point using multi selector
(040), but camera will focus based on information from
surrounding focus points if subject briefly leaves selected point. Use
with erratically moving subjects.

- 3D-tracking
(11 points)
In AF-A and AF-C focus modes, user selects focus point using multi selector
(040). If subject moves after camera has focused, camera uses 3Dtracking
to select new focus point and keep focus locked on original
subject while shutter-release button is pressed halfway. If subject
leaves viewfinder, remove your finger from shutter-release button
and recompose photograph with subject in selected focus point.

- Auto-area AF
Camera automatically detects subject and selects focus point.

 

[hymosi]

i have it on single point

 

[astroNikon]

are you also in a PASM mode?
The auto modes I think override other setups

About 5:15 into this it talks about AF Area Mode

 

[astroNikon]

I cannot tell if you camera can show the specific focus point.

But on page 126 you have to turn on all the photo description options shown.

then on page 98 it shows you have to go through these screens and it may show you the specific focus point This will help greatly in determining the issue.

 

[astroNikon]

The more I look into it the d3200 may not show the specific focus point on the File Information screen, such as on a d7000. But I don't have a d3x00 to check.

 

[Derrel]

i have it on single point

I would move it off of single-point AF and use a multi-point approach, which has always worked better for me on low-contrast subjects. A small, blackish dog is in fact a VERY low-contrast subject! Man times, autofocus systems falter when the subject under the single focus square is dark, or flat in tone, or solid-colored....now, if the dog had a JERSEY on, with the number 17 on its chest, then the high-contrast target would probably yield a good focus lock...but that dark, blackish fur...not so much!

The lens, 18-70mm is also a portion of the issue; the lens is f/5.6 or so at longer lengths, and the focal length is not all that "magnifying", so the phase detection system the AF uses is presented with focus data that is not very clearly IN-focus and very clearly Out-of-focus, as would be the case with say a 400mm f/2.8 lens, or even a 135mm f/2 lens; the short focal length, and the slowish apertures, and the shooting distance, mean that the camera's AF system is fed data where things look fairly close to in-focus, all the time...the dog is OOF, but the clover and grass a few feet behind are IN-focus...the clover and grass and such make high-contrast, patterned targets, the sort of thing that the AF system can grab onto, and easily lock onto....

I have run into this same type of situation before, with small, dark, flat-color subjects not being able to be seen well by AF; switching to one of a couple different multi-area AF patterns was the answer for me.

 

[wfooshee]

Continuous and 3D tracking. If the camera shows you a selected focus point, it's probably the center one now. If it's not, you can probably use the cursor buttons to change the selection. I say "if" and "probably" because I'm going by my D7000, and from memory by my previous D5000.

Once you've half-pressed the shutter button and whatever was in the focus sensor gets focused, the camera will try to follow it. As for how well it will do, I'll just say this:

My D5000 had the same AF system your D3200 has, and I never got 3D tracking to work. It may be because there's simply not enough focus points, and thus too much space between them. Theoretically, 3D tracking is what you're after. That mode starts with whatever's on the sensor and tries to follow it as long as your finger's on the button.

(By comparison, my D7000, with 39 AF points, does 3D tracking VERY well.)

 

[dennybeall]

To shoot my sheltie in the yard I set the camera on Manual focus, go to maximum depth of field and a fast shutter at least 1/250. Focus on a spot in the yard and wait for the dog to run into the area.
Depending on the light I may use aperture priority to keep dof deep and help my slow focusing.

 

[robbins.photo]

I shot the D5200 for quite a while myself, and I never really got consistent results from 3d tracking either. For a faster moving target my best results came from I'd select the center AF points instead (usually 9 as I recall, it's been a while since I shot the 5200) and shoot wide, knowing with the 24 mp sensor I could always crop later and get good results. by shooting wide it was easier to track the target.

A good telephoto lens will help a lot here too - the closer you are to the target the faster you will have to be to keep up with the action. By moving back and shooting from a distance it takes less motion on your part to track your target and keep them in focus.