Looking for Manual Focus Help, C&C

Composed Chaos · Feb 7, 2016

Hey all,

I'm an automotive photographer and typically the cars I shoot are stationary unless I'm at the track for the day. Usually AF is just fine then. But I wanted to get better at manual focusing with my camera so I sat down with my cat this morning.

Here's one of the better shots I got, but I was a little disappointed by how crisp I just couldn't seem to get my photos. It also came out very grainy despite how low my ISO was set to. I shot it in aperture priority. (Maybe I should have shot in Shutter? He's very fussy...) Any advice on how I can get a cleaner shot would be much appreciated

Nikon D5000
f/7.1
ISO 200
1/30

astroNikon · Feb 7, 2016

1/30 is a slow shutter speed in general.
Your movement (which for photographers is a primary concern overall people can actually keep a camera steady even though they think they can - think ANY SLIGHT movement at all can cause blur)
and the subject's movement. Any slight movement can cause blur.

you have to be able to select an appropriate shutter speed to stop motion of both yourself and the subject.

You may want to try again at at least 1/125th shutter speed in Shutter prioriry.
Of course if you want to also control the Aperture then you'll want to be in Manual.

Also manual focusing can be finicky. Make sure you have the viewfinder adjusted for any eye problems you may have. And be aware that modern cameras are not really suitable for Manual Focusing as they don't have the aids (focusing screen, etc) that the cameras from yesteryear had.
Af is just fine as long as you learn how to control it in relation to the AutoFocus Area and AutoFocus Modes.

Composed Chaos · Feb 7, 2016

Thanks for the quick response! I'll give it a try.

The_Traveler · Feb 7, 2016

You need to adhere to the ad hoc rule that the shutter speed should be faster than 1/(1.6 * focal length).
That will allow decent hand holding.

You also need to look at DOFmaster.com to understand the depth of field you need.
At that focal length and approx distance, your DOF is 1.18 feet; probably more than you need.
And our iso is needlessly low. 400 would be fine.

spiralout462 · Feb 7, 2016

I agree that modern cameras really stink at manual focusing, compared to old manual SLR's. Manufacturers used to put a lot of thought into viewfinders and different focusing screens that the customer could replace. For me it is much harder to manual focus a modern DSLR.

Your image does show a remarkable amount of noise for a phot shot at ISO 200. I don't know what's up with that. Did you underexpose in camera? A cabinet can be a pretty dark place.

Composed Chaos · Feb 7, 2016

There was a pretty significant amount of light coming into the room, so I let him be in the wardrobe - I figured whatever would keep him still long enough. I took a few prior photos, and they came out very noisy so I dropped ISO down to 200 in hopes of clearing it up a bit. No luck... just letting my battery charge up before I get in his face again. I'll try another at 400 as a comparison.

KmH · Feb 7, 2016

Digital Camera Image Noise: Concept and Types

astroNikon · Feb 7, 2016

Don't go by your eyes. Your eyes are a wonder of being able to adjust to light nearly immediately in most situations. Your camera can't make those same adjustments.

The camera on the other hand uses a few different settings that vary greatly on how it adjusts to exposure of an image.

==> Understanding Metering and Metering Modes

==> What is the difference between Spot, Center-Weighted and Matrix Metering? | Nikon Knowledgebase

dennybeall · Feb 7, 2016

The sensor requires a certain amount of light to be able to capture the pixel info. ISO is the amplifier so if the light is very low, like in the cabinet, even the small amount of amplification causes noise. Each level of ISO requires a certain minimum amount of light. That says you can get noise even at ISO 100 or 200 as we see here.

Derrel · Feb 7, 2016

What? f/7.1 at 1/30 second INDOORS, inside of a cabinet, at ISO 200? That's an impossible exposure unless the cabinet is right near a window with a lot of sunlight streaming in.

Did anybody even think about the exposure setting before replying?

According to my EXIF reader, the ISO was at 2,800...not 200. I am assuming that AUTO ISO might be enabled on the camera; now THAT actually makes perfect sense for f/7.1 at 1/30 second, inside of a cabinet...

imagemaker46 · Feb 8, 2016

If you really want to work on manual focusing moving objects, sit on the sidewalk and practice shooting licence plates on cars coming towards you. It will be more difficult with today's autofocus lenses which really aren't manual focus friendly. I spent many hours using this technique to get better at manual focusing, this was long before autofocus.

wfooshee · Feb 8, 2016

Derrel's point is spot-on. You can set whatever ISO you want, but if auto-ISO is enabled, the ISO you set is only a starting point. In aperture-priority, if auto-ISO had not been enabled, you would have ended up with a shutter speed along the lines of a half second, which should certainly have clued you in to the lack of light. Just try getting a sharp image hand-held at half a second!

Secondly, what's the deal about manual focusing? For this kind of shot, you simply can't beat the auto-focus manually. The viewfinder image screen simply isn't good enough, since digital SLRs don't have the split-image or micro-prisms we had back in the manual-focus days.

The only reason to manually focus an auto-focus camera (other than using a legacy manual-focus lens) is for a still setting with a requirement for critical focus. Say you have a portrait and you intentionally want a very shallow depth of field. You'll need to mount the camera on a tripod, turn of auto-focus, and use Live View to view the frame. Zoom it in and adjust the focus as you need, but your subject CANNOT move during the process if your focus is that critical. That situation certainly doesn't apply to this shot with the cat.

I mentioned legacy lenses. Manual focus lenses simply work differently than autofocus lenses being focused manually. The adjustment range of the barrel is longer, increasing the ability to make micro-adjustments to focus. My 85mm 1.8 turns more than 180 degrees, maybe as much as 270, from end to end of the focus range. My 18-55 kit lens turns less than 80 degrees end-to-end, and is IMPOSSIBLE to micro-adjust. My 70-300 has the focus ring that turns forever in either direction, and turning the ring tells the focus motor which direction to move. It's better than the 18-55, but still nothing like a real manual lens.

So if you're after focusing manually because you think it makes better pictures, my best advice would be to give it up. It doesn't. It's worth practicing, because you may encounter situations where it's necessary (astrophotography, for example,) but for general use it flat-out sucks to use digital AF equipment in manual focus.

Getting back to your cat shot, it was simply too dark, and your camera overrode your setting on the ISO so it could get an exposure of some kind. Having had a D5000 I can tell you that its low-light performance is nothing to write home about.

Didereaux · Feb 8, 2016

With manual focus on a stationary subject let the auto focus set THEN turn on live view, enlarge and tweak manually.

Composed Chaos · Feb 10, 2016

Thanks for the feedback everybody! This students got plenty of studying to do.

Ihatemymoney · Feb 13, 2016

spiralout462 said:
I agree that modern cameras really stink at manual focusing, compared to old manual SLR's. Manufacturers used to put a lot of thought into viewfinders and different focusing screens that the customer could replace. For me it is much harder to manual focus a modern DSLR.

Your image does show a remarkable amount of noise for a phot shot at ISO 200. I don't know what's up with that. Did you underexpose in camera? A cabinet can be a pretty dark place.

Then maybe you could help me ?
I have been shooting in manual focus with my 5Dmk II for about three years.
I have all sorts of buttons and nobs on 2 of my lenses and yet can figure out how to set them to AF..

So which one of these nobs turns the lens to AF ?

I would never want to use AF for landscape, or still product photography.

If the camera body is on a tripod and its still photography I am in MF.
And normally I am tethered.

I don't have any issues using a TS-E 17mm F4 L lens free hand, and have (never seen one that has a AF motor's ) <<<<<<<<<<<<<,