Out of focus image

[maswu]

Weili80: mayb its my pc...but i cant see ur pic...so cant advice you...but juz a word of advice: set ur af point to the center pt and then use that point to focus on the place that yu want focused after that half press the shutter button and keep holding the half pressed button and recompose ur shot however yu want =)

most times if yu let the cam select the focus pt, it will detect a point off the background and focus on it...so thats y yu get a OOF pic...

juz my 2 cents

 

[felixcat8888]

Where was your centre of focus? Look at the cars, they are sharp butt the model is not.

 

[catchlights]

Hi,
I am a newbie who has just bought a Nikon D40 DSLR. I went to the Expo CATS Car-Nival last Sunday to take some photos with my D40 and found that there are some pictures that are out of focus. An example is

The settings i used were:
Manual Mode
ISO: 400
Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec
Aperture: f/6.3
Flash: SB-600

What could be the reason for the out of focus? Could it be because of
1) Too close to the subject
2) Wrong AF Point (I didn't realise that there are 3 AF points in D40 and I can actually select which AF point to use until I had this problem. Therefore I let the camera decide which AF point to use when I was shooting this picture. I will never do that again)
3) My lens is backfocusing and I need to sent it to Nikon Workshop for repair.

Hope that someone can help me find the root of the problem so that I would not make the same mistake again. Thanks

couldn't be too close, with kit lens you can shoot a full close up of head shot, anyway, she will scream at you if you are really too close to her.

couldn't be backfocusing, backfocusing only out by a little.

this is more like using a wrong focusing point. or lock the focusing at a wrong point

 

[wakaowalao]

I wonder why did you choose manual mode when you are not even sure how the focusing points works.

 

[m3lv1nh0]

I will get OOF pictures too when I am infront of chio bu. All my blood rush to somewhere else so I can't think properly where to aim. Hehehe

Anyway, this kind of OOF is common la.. 2 or 3 out of hundreds is ok.

 

[zcf]

your camera don't like the subject or model :bsmilie:

Camera AF system tend to focus on contrasty item, if the background is more contrasty than the subject or model, then there is a high chance that it will focus on the background. Choose to focus hold on the contrasty point of the subject and background, then recompose/frame accordingly.

 

[Weili80]

I also think that it should be because of the wrong focus point. I just post the picture so that more experience photographers can confirm my suspicion. Thanks everyone for giving their advice.

 

[Weili80]

I wonder why did you choose manual mode when you are not even sure how the focusing points works.

The reason I choose manual mode is to learn what are the various settings I need to set in order to take a good picture in places like Expo and adjust accordingly. Anyway because of these out-of-focus pictures, it made me do some reading up and find out more about the AF focus points of D40 and how to select them. I really learn something from it

 

[wakaowalao]

The reason I choose manual mode is to learn what are the various settings I need to set in order to take a good picture in places like Expo and adjust accordingly. Anyway because of these out-of-focus pictures, it made me do some reading up and find out more about the AF focus points of D40 and how to select them. I really learn something from it

You can learn alot even with A or S mode, but learn how the camera works before it can work for you.

 

[Benosaurous]

The reason I choose manual mode is to learn what are the various settings I need to set in order to take a good picture in places like Expo and adjust accordingly. Anyway because of these out-of-focus pictures, it made me do some reading up and find out more about the AF focus points of D40 and how to select them. I really learn something from it

i 2nd your opinion, i use M mode ever since i got my camera and i feel i am learning new things every shoot. After having more understanding with M mode, you will get a clearer idea of when you should use M, Av, Tv or even P mode (canon mode names diff?).

But the learning curve is hard of course, at times i also get alot of rubbish photos, ask around and know what went wrong.

anyway for your photo, it looks like it is focusing on the background cars instead of the model. I would suggest you to use manual focal point, set it to the central point. So everytime you shoot, focus on your subject (in this case the model eye) then hold on to the button and recompose your photo to include the desire background before you snap it (of cos make sure ur hand is stablized before you press that button). (does this works the same as nikon?).

my 2cents worth

 

[Weili80]

You can learn alot even with A or S mode, but learn how the camera works before it can work for you.

I prefer to play around with the camera, make some mistakes, learn from the mistakes and then try again. I agree that you can also learn a lot with A or S mode and read up first before using the camera. There is nothing wrong with this approach. Its just a matter of personal preference

 

[waipeng]

Confirm + chop it's wrong focusing area. See "Auto Eurocars Pte Ltd"! So sharp.

 

[zerartul]

Wrong AF Point thats for sure. You focusing behind the model.

 

[part0]

did u lock ur focus ??

if not you can try zooming ur lens at the max focal length and shoot.. then again zoom at the min focal length and shoot.. compare both of it if their focus point is the same tat's means either the setting or body's problem.

Another way is use manual focus if manual focus able to work then most probly is the body setting.

 

[parampita]

Maybe the chio bu too chio.. although she's more or less in the center, the car behind her is more in focused than her.

 

[Prismatic]

You may also want to check your AF-Area Mode setting on your D40.
Is it on Closest subject, Dynamic Area or Single Area mode?

 

[ninelives]

hello OP,

do some focus test lor :