Nikon D7000 focus issues

[Badcast]

This is an image right out of camera.



It looks like no. 20 is in focus more than 15 and neither is tack sharp. My focus point was dead on 15. Also I've had to do more sharpening to images than with my D90. These jr. high girls are moving slow enough that f3.2 1/400 should be fast enough to stop action. Any suggestions from D7000 owners. My picture control was set at +8 for shapening. How does this image look to you. I've had the D7000 since Oct. so I have a pretty good feel for it but not much confidence in it.

Randy

[Black Pearl]

Download a Micro Focus Chart from the net and set your camera/lens up. There may be a slight front/back focus issue which can be easily fixed.

Test it on a static subject first in case it's a one off tracking issue.

[Geoff F]

A couple of points occur to me, Randy.

Firstly, for that sort of scene I would have preferred to be at 1/640, or possibly faster. While basic bodies may be moving relatively slowly, hands and heads can actually move faster in action shots.

If you concentrate on the logo text on #15 it is good and sharp.

And your aperture is fairly wide. But you may well have been limited by the available light and not wanted to increase the ISO.

Also, I always shoot without any 'in camera enhancements' then sharpen during editing to suit individual shots. This does result in soft images straight from the camera but I find it gives me more control over sharpening and the ability to selectively sharpen parts of a scene as required.

I am a Canon shooter, but the basics remain the same for most models.

[dave keeley]

Tend to agree with Geoff, there is a lot of movement away from the torso of the girls, 1/400 may not have coped so well, also such a small f stop has given a limited plane in focus, bump up the ISO set your f stop no less than f8 and you have a much better chance of geting an alround sharp image.

[Badcast]

I usually shoot at 1/500 to 1/650 at high school games I thought 1/400 and a lower iso 1600 would give more room to crop and fill the frame in PP. These girls were little. Guess I was wrong!! I try not using in camera sharpening or noise reduction and see if it helps. And I'll test the focus.

Thanks Randy

[Hero]

Don't forget that in basketball players tend to have a slightly crouched posture. So if you focus on their abdominal area, their upper torso and head are already in front of your focus-point. Add some movement and you will easily end up focussing a bit behind where you should.

[DavidLapin]

Just invested in a D7000, so will be interested in the response.

[PhotomanJohn]

Randy - I agree with the previous posts especially about the shutter speed, aperture and in-camera processing. I brought the photo into ACR and bumped up the sharpening and clarity a bit and it doesn't look too bad for for the shutter speed and the lens at nearly wide open. A question I would like to ask is what focusing mode were you using.

John

[Badcast]

Randy - I agree with the previous posts especially about the shutter speed, aperture and in-camera processing. I brought the photo into ACR and bumped up the sharpening and clarity a bit and it doesn't look too bad for for the shutter speed and the lens at nearly wide open. A question I would like to ask is what focusing mode were you using.

John

John, I was using 9pt. Dynamic in continuous mode
Randy

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Randy,

Several things come to mind reading the above;

1) If you're shooting jpg the in camera sharpening and noise reduction will have an effect, but if you're shooting RAW and processing using ACR in Elements 9, they will have no effect at all, which might explain a few things!

2) I wouldn't use the 9pt. dynamic focus mode, I'd use a single point only. (but yes to continuous)

3) If you have Nikon's ViewNX installed, you can use it to see which focus point(s) of the 9 were actually used - that might be quite enlightening! If you don't have ViewNX, can you send me the RAW file via say, a mediafire link and I'll use mine to determine the focus point? (I tried with the jpg, but it didn't want to 'play ball')


Which lens was this with?

I have had back focus issues with a telephoto lens, but that was a Sigma and I didn't have micro-adjust to be able to correct it, it went back in the end.

I agree "15" is sharper, but I think "20"s shirt does seem to have more movement, her leading shoe looks sharper and that was probably not moving.

Cheers,

[Badcast]

Thanks For the advice Dave, I thought single was for still photos, also do you use the focus lock. I was using the 70-200 2.8 and the focus point was on the tiger paw logo of 15.
Randy

[cichlid]

Hi Randy,

I've had my D7000 for about 6-months now and have read elsewhere that this particular camera takes some getting use to for focusing. (still not sure of why this is?) Anyway, I get my best results when I set to AF-S and I choose my focus point.

Erik

[Badcast]

Hi Randy,

I've had my D7000 for about 6-months now and have read elsewhere that this particular camera takes some getting use to for focusing. (still not sure of why this is?) Anyway, I get my best results when I set to AF-S and I choose my focus point.

Erik

Hi Erik, I've had mine since October and shoot a lot of sports. I use AFC mode because my targets are moving. AFS locks focus and won't adjust If the target moves.

Randy

[Dave Humphries]

Thanks For the advice Dave, I thought single was for still photos, also do you use the focus lock. I was using the 70-200 2.8 and the focus point was on the tiger paw logo of 15.

Ooh, I'd love to try that lens one day (can't afford it (nor carry it far)).

Not sure what you mean by focus lock Randy.

I have dabbled a couple of times with back button focusing, but it can all 'go wrong' if your finger, thumb and image review get 'out of synch' - you think your focussing, but your not - I think it is just a quirk of the D5000's implementation of the feature.

"Single" point is just a way of allowing manual control of which focus point to use, far better that in my experience. (I only have 11 to choose from)

"Single" shot, via AF-S (static) is for still subjects, AF-C (continuous) for moving and AF-A (automatic), is supposed to guess what you're doing and use AF-C or AF-S as suits the subject, but I'd rather I'm the only one guessing when I shoot

Then there's the shooting mode; one click, or several, if you hold down the shutter button - they can all get confused in the terminology with re-use of words like 'single' and 'continuous'. I'm not sure I've used the correct mode description words above either, so I may just have made it worse

Cheers,

[Badcast]

Hey Dave, you were right on with using single focus point. I tried it at a basketball game last night with great improvement on keepers. I think the 9 point was jumping around and with single if I miss it's me. Also I think it's focus tracking not focus lock. It gives you a 1-5 as how long it will hold on target.

Randy