Help with Nikon D7200

[tc328]

I recently purchased the D7200 and have been taking pictures of a moving subject continuously (my kids). I can?t get a decent focus picture. What am I doing wrong? I?m suspecting this is due to lighting as I?m shooting indoors but it is plenty bright with LED recessed lighting. Could it be that I?m using a prime lens (35mm)? I?m a beginner so any advice is appreciated.

Here?s what I have setup on the D7200:
AFC-S
Back button focus
ISO 800 to 1200+
F 1.8 (and higher)
Shutter (auto)

So I track my subject by holding down the back button with the center/crosshair aiming on my child?s face. I use the shutter button to take the photos as he/she moves around?.but 90% of the photos are blurry. What am I doing wrong?

[metrickid]

Switch to shutter priority instead.

Here is a quick guide. There are TONS of videos etc on Youtube if you search for it.

What shutter speed should you choose? Well, it depends on the speed at which your subject is moving, so you need to experiment. But generally speaking, 1/320 second should be plenty for all but the fastest subjects (race cars, boats, and so on). For very slow subjects, you can even go as low as 1/250 or 1/125 second.

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/conten...kon-d5300.html

[tc328]

Haha why didnt I think of that...such a noob

Thx

[cmplaya]

prime lens should be better than zoom with wider apertures in general. is it missing focus or are you talking about motion blur?

[tc328]

Missing focus

[GeorgeR]

While I shoot Nikon, I am not familiar with the 7200. My preference is to shoot manual, open the lens aperture all the way, and raise the ISO as high as you can without introducing too much noise, which will rarely be high enough in a k – 12 gyms. In most gyms 6400 will be the minimum.

The lens used is equally important. Does it focus fast? Does it have a wide aperture (small number)? For example the 85mm 1.4 is one of Nikons best lenses but not necessarily one that focuses very fast.

For near court I use the pro zooms: 24-70 and 70-200 at f2.8 but I use full frame bodies.

I would start with the following and adjust from there.
Exposure mode – Manual ( Indoor lighting shouldn’t change but if one side of court is much darker, Aperture mode with lens opened all the way up might be preferred).
Metering Mode 3D Matrix
Shooting Mode – Ch continuous High
White Balance – I set a custom sometimes but lights can cycles so Auto usually works just as well
Autofocus mode – AF-C Dynamic

Attached is 1/500ss, 200 at f2, ISO 5000. The gym had a little better light than most. This was almost 10 years ago as I don't shoot K- 12 anymore.

[tc328]

Thanks for all the tips

The d7200 has afs/afc and then there are a few focus area to choose from (auto, 3d, single, and a few grouped areas). I was using the AFC-S (single)

[Itsed65]

One thing to keep in mind as well, if you are shooting at a relatively close distance, the depth of field using 1.8 is going to be razor thin, rendering anything not in that plane out of focus.

[Mik3ymomo]

I can't believe I beat Dave in here.

Anyway so I want to speak about some basics and help you decipher what is wrong with a photo.

Photos from these digital cameras are files. In these files there is something called Metadata. "Metadata" is information about the files creation.

This information can be very helpful. It will contain information like the date and time the photo was created, the camera and lens used, many of the settings of the camera and lens like lens Apreture, shutter speed, focal length that particular shot was captured with as well as many other things.

That data is also known as EXIF data. This will help you see what went wrong with the photo. If you are shooting with the D7200 and a 35mm lens it is an effective focal length of the crop factor. It's more like a 50mm lens.

Ok so without explaining crop factor. Let's skip over that and talk about shutter speed. A rule of thumb that makes things easy is you want a shutter speed of 1/focal length when hand holding a camera and shooting a static subject.

That means in your case you need at least 1/50 or faster shutter speed to capture a picture of say an apple sitting on the table.

Moving subjects are a different story. You will need a faster shutter speed to freeze the motion. As stated before there are different types of blur.

Blur type 1. Hand shake

Hand shake from you trying to hold the camera still but you move every so slightly and it creates a blurry photo. That's where the 1/focal length rule applies.

2. Moving subject blur

Kids running around, cars driving etc. You can manage this a couple ways. The easiest and most straight forward is with a faster shutter speed. How fast? Depends on how fast your subject is and how far and what focal length lens you are using.
He other is by using a technique called panning. You pace your subject and match its movement. This has a very cool effect in the photo which blurs the background and keeps the subject mostly in focus. There are caveats but you can look up panning technique for further explaination.

3. Lastly is the Out of Focus area blur.

This is self explanatory but it differs based off the Apreture setting of the lens. It also differs between focal lengths. The more telephoto the thinner the focus plane at a given Apreture compared to a more wide angle lens. The out of focus are helps create isolation for the subject and is best for certain types of photography and frowned upon in certain genres. I won't get into that but this is your basic explaination to help you determine what type of blur you are seeing.

The EXIF data with help you determine it also.

The autofocus systems require a decent contrast to work properly. They also work best in a well lit venue.

By the description you are giving of your subject you may find AF-C your best bet. I don't use he back focus button and I dont teach people to use that method. I had a student that used that method and he had more out of and missed focus shots of anyone I've ever seen in my life. I spent years breaking him of that.

Eventually he gave in and started doing things my way and his photos improved immensely. It may be due to the types of photography we often find ourselves doing but I always use the shutter button to also continuously focus on the subject.
We shoot a lot of automotive static, racing and rolling type stuff.

Sorry this is such a long explaination but I feel it necessary for one to gain an understanding.

Regards,

Mike

[GeorgeR]

While whether a photographer chooses to use AF-ON to focus or not is neither right nor wrong, it is rare to have someone recommend against it when shooting sports.

I have used the AF-ON button for so long I don’t even think about it. I don’t know a fellow sports shooter that doesn’t use it exclusively to acquire focus. Those that weren’t familiar with it instantly appreciated the advantages once I showed them how to use it and adapted the practice while commenting on how much they liked it.

I doubt that is why he is having trouble getting in-focus shots. A quick internet search for Nikon AF-ON will offer scores of examples of others that can explain the advantages if anyone is curious.

My guess is the shutter speed was simply too slow. I'd be interested to know what ss he was getting and what ISO he was using.

While I prefer to shoot manual, if I use a program mode it is usually aperture since I am most interested in controlling the depth of field and adjust the ISO up to maintain a fast enough ss for the venue. A K - 12 gym is almost always going to need a large aperture and high ISO to get a satisfactory ss.

Even when the light appears bright to our eyes, the actual light is not. We are much better at adapting then a camera. In most grade school gyms, even professional photographers with the best pro level equipment have challenges.