What am I doing wrong?

[bschmidt25]

Hi all - I just received a 50mm f/1.8G for my Nikon D5100. We're primarily using it to take pictures of our infant. Some are turning out excellent and others seem very soft and/or out of focus. I like the shallow depth of field with the 50mm compared to the 18-55mm kit lens I was using before it, but this is a little too shallow . I've tried tweaking the auto focus settings, trying auto, 3D, and dynamic and I seem to get the same results. For some reason, the camera won't fire immediately most of the time either. It'll take a split second or so and sometimes I'll miss my shot. See below for examples... Any input you can provide is appreciated. Thanks in advance!


DSC_1014 by bschmidt25, on Flickr


DSC_0985 by bschmidt25, on Flickr

 

[robbins.photo]

Hi all - I just received a 50mm f/1.8G for my Nikon D5100. We're primarily using it to take pictures of our infant. Some are turning out excellent and others seem very soft and/or out of focus. I like the shallow depth of field with the 50mm compared to the 18-55mm kit lens I was using before it, but this is a little too shallow . I've tried tweaking the auto focus settings, trying auto, 3D, and dynamic and I seem to get the same results. For some reason, the camera won't fire immediately most of the time either. It'll take a split second or so and sometimes I'll miss my shot. See below for examples... Any input you can provide is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Sounds like the shallow depth of field might be the problem - I'd try shooting in A mode and adjust your Aperture to say 2.8 to start with, see what happens.

 

[Braineack]

Yeah, your camera loves to open the aperture as wide as it can if you let it. Shoot on A mode with a smaller aperture.

 

[bschmidt25]

Thank you both for the quick replies! I'll give that a try and let you know how it goes.

 

[tirediron]

Just because you can shoot at f1.8 doesn't mean you should shoot at f1.8. Use single point AF and select either the near eye or the bridge of the nose as the point of critical focus and use this calculator to help you determine what aperture you should use to ensure sufficient DoF for the shot.

 

[OrionsByte]

Well you're awfully close to the baby, which is just going to make the shallow focus shallower, and on top of that, the minimum focus distance for that lens is about a foot and a half, which could be why it's hesitating - it's just trying to focus and it can't quite get there. The kit lens actually has a shorter minimum focus distance.

So really, what you need to do is back up a bit and stop down the aperture.

 

[bschmidt25]

Thank you all! I appreciate the tips!

 

[DiskoJoe]

YOur DOF is rather shallow for such a tiny subject, babies are almost like shooting macro. Step down the aperture. Also your shutter speed could be a bit faster to prevent shake. Id bump the iso up a bit more and you should get a faster shutter and crisper focus. Watch the incamera meter if you have one too, if not then sorry =[