D2X~Tried New Flight Settings

[jfenton]

Well.....

Determined to get consistently sharp flight shots with the X, I went out and shot something different...AF-C, CLOSEST SUBJECT and a4 (lock-on) set to ON in Group Dynamic.

This goes against everything I ever would have done with the X, and while tonight was just a first attempt, the results were consistently way better than what I've been getting in typical hazy evening conditions....

Please note...these settings absolutely DO NOT work with trees in the background, no matter how close the target is. I found that 60% of the time the camera wouldn't grab focus on anything in those conditions and in the remaining 40%, it grabbed the background.



Anyway...there wasn't much flying, but here are a few...all shot in long light...

Seagull....(I know...BORING)

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A few egrets....
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And lastly....a very hazy and sultry sunset at my favorite tree on the edge of the marsh....

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[Gale]

Geeeeezzzz Jim I forgot to hit the darn submit button again. Getting old is not fun..

Anyway.........

Great images all of them.
Sunset goes without saying Perfect and beautiful.

All the birds look just great.

Gull are not boring. In fact quite challenging as they change direction at times in a split second. Great practice to. lol

Egrets look great and the light is spectacular.

There is that a good review. lolol

You may be on to something with the new settings.

 

[Gordon Large]

Hey Jim

I second Gale's comments about the images - and the seagulls. :lol:

What other setting combos have you tried, and with what success or problems? And what would you use now with a background of trees. Finally, have you tried closest focus trying to single out one bird in a group? I would think the focus would go crazy.

Thanks -

Gordon

 

[Gordon Large]

Geeeeezzzz Jim I forgot to hit the darn submit button again.

Gale - You aren't old! My philosophy is "You are only as old as you think you are", and you certainly don't think old or you would be sitting in a chair vegetating like my sister. BTW drives her nuts when I say that to her. :lol: :lol:

Gordon

 

[hillrg]

Hey Jim - great series, but that last one is a killer!

I will try out your settings - you certainly nailed the focus.

 

[tweber]

thanks Jim. This is useful info...

Tom

 

[MontyDog]

#1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax;

 

[MontyDog]

#1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax;

 

[james thiel]

Jim these are terrific but that sunset is just awesome like others have said.

I am going out in a while to take some pictures of the Blue Angels. Do you think I sould try these settings on them?

We are having a very brite and sunny day but there is some haze in the air. Also, the planes smoke could cause some tracking problems as well.

 

[jfenton]

Hi Gordon....

Closest subject doesn't work in a group of flying birds. First off, your subject might not be the closest individual and secondly, I don't think that closest focus is dead nuts on.....I've found it to focus on the highest contrast closest subject which could very well be a bird with a different wing position which affords a more contrasty subject.

I kinda liked the sunset myself

 

[jfenton]

Paul...

I absolutely believe that it's a software issue.

Keep in mind that the focus algorithms are based upon experience that Nikon shooters have gained while out shooting to develop this software.

Something tells me that they weren't shooting birds or things with a out in the field with a background behind them.

 

[jfenton]

James....aka JIM

I've only shot jet fighters once and to be honest..I shot AF-S (not that I'd try that if you haven't tried it before).

As they fly in fairly straight lines when you're shooting them (once you've attained the initial lock), predictive focus tracking seemed to work just dandy for me that day.

 

[Przemek]

Closest Subject Priority

While I don't really have the glass needed for birds (I own the humble and slow-focusing 70-300mm ED). I found that I get the best results for birds in-flight when I use the Closest Subject Priority AF with my D70.

Kind Regards,
Przemek

 

[Phil K]

Guys, there's an article on the Nikonians about multi-CAM 2000 AF :
http://www.nikonians.org/dcforum/DCForumID71/4952.html#1

I'm no expert in this, so please read and comment.

 

[MontyDog]

#1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax;

 

[Rich Gibson]

Guys, there's an article on the Nikonians about multi-CAM 2000 AF :
http://www.nikonians.org/dcforum/DCForumID71/4952.html#1

I'm no expert in this, so please read and comment.

Wow! I'm going to have to print these articles out and read in quiet. Thanks for the tip!
Rich

 

[DiverX]

Sweet shots Jim! I've used that before as well and had some good success. I have to keep notes because I keep forgetting what was good and was was not and under which circumstances...getting old sucks! :lol:

Good article on Nikonians. I have YET to try FOCUS PRIORITY in AF-C mode...I guess I will next time out but I have my doubts although I have been wrong too many times to discount anything! :roll:

 

[greyflash]

Beautiful images Jim, I don't see any focus problems. Nice sunset image for sure.

 

[general]

Nikonians article

Just a note about the article in Nikonians. It is a work in progress; it is being modified at times as a result of input from readers. A worthwhile effort and I am looking forward to its completion.