Nikon D3300 + Nikkor 50mm 1.8G

louiscXXX · Feb 7, 2016

Good morning everbody,

I am new to DSLR world and would like to ask for a help. I own Nikon D3300 camera and after reading the great reviews and seeing sample photo I bought the 50mm AF-S 1.8G lens.

and here comes the issue. I probably do something wrong because I am not able to take a sharp and clear picture. I am trying to take a photo of my daughter mainly using following settings:
- Aperture priority mode
- Aperture 1.8 - 2.0
- AF-S focusing
- single point focus aimed at her eye

but still the results are far away from what I would expect. please, see below the links to the ones I took yesterday. it was a sunny day.

DSC_0232.JPG
DSC_0282.JPG

Any recommendation is appreciated.

thank you
best regards
Pavel

tirediron · Feb 7, 2016

It looks to me like you're missing her eye; in both cases the purple sweater around her neck seems in much sharper focus. Based on your information and my estimate of your distance, your depth of field is in the area of 1-2", so even a tiny error will translate into missed focus. I would suggest using an aperture around f5.6 to allow yourself a little more working distance, and as you get more practiced, opening up. Remember, just because your lens opens up to f1.8, you don't have to shoot there!

Peeb · Feb 7, 2016

I've had repeated difficulty focusing my D5500 at f/1.8. It's a very small window of focus in terms of DOF.

goodguy · Feb 8, 2016

Nailing focus almost every time sounds easy, especially if you saw all the reviews and all the explanations.
The truth is that it takes time and practice to nail the focus.
I dont want to sound melodramatically but it took me years to get good average results, dont push yourself, sometimes small things can really frustrate so dont let it effect you.
I own the D3300 and I know the camera pretty well, I try most of the time to use the centre focus point which is also the only crop type and then recompose, but I do thins mostly in low light situations, in good lighting you will not have to do that.
Also as others said f1.8 gives you a very shallow depth of field, its very easy to miss focus, so shoot at f4 for starters, get to know your camera and more important yourself, take time to learn photography and in time you will see getting focused pictures comes as a second nature.