Tagged Questions
1
vote
3answers
171 views
What does infinity focus mean and when should I use it?
All my lens have focus ring where at the end there's an infinity symbol. What does that mean? If I'm taking landscape shot and what everything from near to far to be in focus, do I use infinity? Or am ...
2
votes
1answer
89 views
What settings affect how the focus points are displayed for my 7D?
My Canon 7d is about 2 months old. I used it for a shoot in DC, and it just isn't behaving as expected. When I try to focus, I get little black boxes in the focus frame. They used to be black, with ...
4
votes
2answers
196 views
What is the effect of the number of cross-type focus points on sharp focus?
Canon claims that EOS 6D has special capability to focus in low light, but it has only one cross-type sensor and overall only 11 focus points. Does only one cross-type focus point in the Canon EOS 6D ...
5
votes
1answer
232 views
What do orange AF points mean on a Canon DSLR?
I recently bought a Canon 7D and Ive noticed that occasionally the AF points are orange. What conditions cause this? It seems like it is a warning of some sort.
Usually when the camera focuses on a ...
2
votes
2answers
416 views
Do the issues with sharpness I am seeing require AF fine-tuning?
I own a nikon D7000 with 18-105 lens. I am not happy with sharpness I get with autofocus in portraits. I read about front/back focusing, but I am not sure whether my gear has this issue. Is this issue ...
10
votes
1answer
2k views
How does focus work on mobile phone cameras?
How does focusing work on mobile phone cameras?
Aren't their optics simple enough to not have any moving parts whatsoever?
If so, how come most smartphones have an auto-focus, and with various ...
3
votes
1answer
98 views
What factors influence whether a lens and camera combination front or back focus?
I know that sometimes a lens/body combo needs to be micro-adjusted to attain ideal focusing behavior, and that this is usually because of sample variation, but which parts of the lens and/or body are ...
2
votes
2answers
195 views
Why is my lens focusing sound lounder than before?
I'm new to DSLR camera. I didn't mount a lens properly. The camera still allowed me to take photos, so I didn't notice the error.
After I had been using it for 10 minutes I noticed my error and ...
8
votes
4answers
2k views
What is the best auto-focus mode to use for bird photography?
Consider the image below:
How would the shot be focused here? Using Auto-focus or manual?
If there was a cluttered background, will auto focus detect the small bird and sharply focus on it?If manual ...
1
vote
2answers
239 views
Is there a way to use phase detection AF with live view on a Canon EOS camera?
On any of the EOS xx(x)D model that has the live view function, can the camera make focus using the AF collimators (instead of using contrast detection), as it's possible on the old Nikon D300 ?
If ...
3
votes
2answers
563 views
All my photos were blurry
I recently did a shoot of a baby and my 6 year old son, and I got some fantastic shots that were super sharp. I then did another shoot of a 6 year old and toddler and every single photo was slightly ...
3
votes
2answers
272 views
How To Fix Badly Functioning Shutter Release-Button?
I have a compact Pentax OptionM10 which I bought in 2006 and sometimes shutter-release button works only when pressing it on edge and under specific angle, but mostly as I apply little pressure which ...
2
votes
1answer
2k views
Nikon D5100 Focusing Issue
The issue I have had is where the camera tries to focus and cannot focus. It just zooms in and out constantly and no matter what I do it will not focus and fire. The only way I have found around this ...
12
votes
4answers
1k views
How do you use the different autofocus points on your DSLR?
My Nikon D300 has quite a few autofocus points. There's a button I can operate with my thumb to change the autofocus point but I find that quite difficult to use. So I almost exclusively use the ...
1
vote
4answers
339 views
Autofocus performance of different brands at night
Are there huge differences in the ability to focus in low light between different brands and models?
I have a Pentax Kx with a Sigma 30mm 1.4. My problem is, that the camera's autofocus does not work ...
8
votes
3answers
558 views
When a camera auto-focuses, is the current focus distance reported from the lens to the camera?
The question says it all -- does the camera "know" how far the subject is from the lens, i.e. what is the current exact focus distance set at the lens?
0
votes
1answer
435 views
Auto-focusing problem on a Canon 500D with a EF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS(standard kit lens)
I'm having problems with the lens. I've tried auto-focusing with my other lenses, and it works fine. It can only auto-focus one way, i.e. the focusing ring is still able to move, but only able to turn ...
7
votes
4answers
440 views
Why does my lens focus better/faster with a speedlight attached to the camera?
I have a Nikon d90 and have often found that the camera reaches focus faster, with less re-adjusting and missing the focus, when I have a speedlight (the Nikon sb-600 in my case) attached.
Why is ...
2
votes
2answers
232 views
How can I find which lenses have “Continuous manual focus”?
Canon lenses with USM auto focus can be called "continuous manual focus" (at least some). By this I mean that you can override the AF without switching it off. I've found this very handy, and I often ...
9
votes
2answers
1k views
Is it possible to measure distance to an object by adjusting the focus?
This is maybe not a 100% on topic photography, but I couldn't find a better stackexchange site to post this on and maybe you guys can help me out.
I have a camera that takes pictures of a production ...
7
votes
1answer
2k views
What are the AF-A, AF-C and AF-S autofocus modes, and how and when should I use each one?
I have seen these autofocus options on all my Nikon DSLR cameras (D50, D80, D90) but I have never really used them. There is the AF button on top.
What are AF-A, AF-C, and AF-S ?
How do I use ...
2
votes
1answer
275 views
Why is my Canon Powershot A1100 focusing only on the bottom part of scenes?
I've been using a Canon PowerShot A1100 IS camera for the past year and it had been working just fine until I decided to change its settings. After I had serious trouble with it, I reset the settings ...
4
votes
3answers
1k views
Are there cheap or DIY focus assist solutions for the Canon 5D?
I want a better autofocus system for low light. Low light auto focus is my biggest bane.
I use a 5D so the options are AF on a flash like the 430 or 580. I happen to use the Pocket Wizard TT1 so I ...
15
votes
4answers
1k views
Why can't my SLR autofocus on certain parts of a scene?
I had my Nikon D7000 on single-point auto focus and it just would not focus on the spots I wanted. I have marked the spots that could not be focused on with red circles, and the parts that could be ...
18
votes
9answers
2k views
Why would I want to select an autofocus point?
I'm trying to understand why I would ever want to select an auto focus point other then the center point. I have a Canon XTI Rebel DSLR which has 9 auto-focus points, but I'm also looking into getting ...
16
votes
3answers
884 views
How can I get better focus when a subject is moving towards or away from the camera?
When shooting events or action photos, engaging people, I often find that frontal (or rear) perspective may be very expressive, but my problem is focusing when the subject moves towards the camera (or ...
5
votes
1answer
9k views
What is the difference between Al Focus and Al Servo autofocus modes?
Recently I bought a Canon 60D and I am uncertain about when and how to use/activate the Al Focus and Al Servo functions.
I understand the One Shot autofocus function for still subjects. You press ...
6
votes
4answers
572 views
Which is better - autofocus and recompose vs. manual focus?
In some occasions autofocus doesn't focus what I intend it to. What is the better option - to use autofocus, focus what I want and recompose, or use manual focus in that situation?
7
votes
1answer
1k views
How do you trap focus on DSLRs without native support for it?
I came across the term trap focus on the autofocus page of wikipedia, and it seems to be a very handy feature that triggers the shutter release when a subject moves into the focal plane. This feature ...
12
votes
7answers
795 views
How can I improve focus using both manual and auto on a candle flame?
I got my new tripod and 50mm F/1.4 sigma on my Nikon D7000 and was testing it out doing some shots of a flame on a candle.
The below image is the sharpest i was able to produce. In review of my 50+ ...
25
votes
8answers
2k views
What is the advantage to back-button autofocus?
I've heard some advanced photographers talk about using back-button autofocus. As I understand it, this involves changing one of the camera's custom setting to engage the AF when a button on the rear ...
10
votes
1answer
2k views
What is a focus limiter?
What is a focus limiter and how does it work? What is the advantage of it? For instance Tamron 90/2.8 Macro has a focus limiter. According to the documentation:
In the limit position, the Tamron ...
10
votes
6answers
4k views
How can I get everything in focus?
I have a Canon 550D with 70-200 f4 and 50mm prime lenses. Although the camera has built-in 9 focal points, I sometimes face a strange problem. Here's a sample photo:
In reference to the above pic, ...
16
votes
5answers
1k views
How to improve focus accuracy?
I've noticed that quite a few of my photos aren't terribly well-focused. This particularly happens at long focal lengths. I'm using a Canon 500D and (mostly) a Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 lens. I find ...
18
votes
2answers
1k views
Why am I allowed to turn my focusing ring beyond infinity?
Is there a good reason why I can turn the focusing ring on my lenses beyond infinity mark on focusing scale? Following recent questions here and here, it sounds like a real usability issue.
...
4
votes
4answers
1k views
Why does my Nikon D90 autofocus not work in rapid succession?
When photographing candid shots of my children at play with a Nikon D90, I have trouble with the autofocus system. I focus and shoot one shot, great. But a second later another shot opportunity ...
24
votes
4answers
22k views
What is back-focusing?
What is back-focusing? Is it something I need to be worried about, or can I just live with it? How can I tell if my camera/lens is sufferring from it?
24
votes
6answers
3k views
Can I damage the focus system by turning the focus ring when the lens isn't mounted?
I have a couple lenses that don't have an internal focusing system, and whenever I want to put them back in my bag, I turn the focus ring to make the lens shorter.
I noticed that when the lens is set ...
