Just Held The D200 For First Time

[phatkid77]

i wont go on about what i loved, but i dow have some concerns i need help with...

alot of the pics i took are OOF, i was using my VR lens....turns out for the outside ones i was on S servo not continuous focus....thought that was it.... still had mor than enough OOF....??

i was outside at 1/500s f.2.8... so that should of been more than enough, could it be....

1. the camera was handed to me with like one bar left on the battery... dying, and it actually died after say 30 pics?? i figure this is it since it would control AF motor and the VR focus, no? the camera guy sluffed it off, which didnt really impress me....
what do u guys think? i will post pics when i get a sec..

2. looking at the photos the files are like 2.5mb... id figure they would be bigger than my D70s?

please advise..

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f364/phatkid77/d200g.jpg

out of focus
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f364/phatkid77/d200e.jpg

in focus
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f364/phatkid77/d200f.jpg

OOF


http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f364/phatkid77/d200e.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f364/phatkid77/d200d.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f364/phatkid77/d200B.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f364/phatkid77/d200.jpg

[erichlund]

Well, it's hard to say. Power could be an issue if the battery was that low. Also, I suspect that the camera was not yet dialed in. It's pretty well known now that the default settings on the camera will not produce the best "out of the box" images. They will need significant post processing.

But these appear out of focus. At f2.8 you don't have a lot of depth of field, so if you miss by just a little, you miss by a lot. I tried some USM on the dog photo, and you can pull a lot of sharpness out of that shot. I suspect that the camera was set on the default sharpness, which is soft. You definitely focused on the nose of the dog rather than the eyes. At f2.8, that makes a big difference. Also, at f2.8, you targets will be in focus when you press the shutter release, and out when the shutter actually releases. In fact, the more I think of it, this is probably the biggest issue.

Now, as it happens, my 18-200 appears to be on the fritz. Beyond 50mm, it won't focus worth beans. So, it's off to the dealer tomorrow. Stuff happens. And, of course, I leave on vacation in 5 days. C'est la vie.

[George Riehm]

i wont go on about what i loved, but i dow have some concerns i need help with...

alot of the pics i took are OOF, i was using my VR lens....turns out for the outside ones i was on S servo not continuous focus....thought that was it.... still had mor than enough OOF....??

i was outside at 1/500s f.2.8... so that should of been more than enough, could it be....

1. the camera was handed to me with like one bar left on the battery... dying, and it actually died after say 30 pics?? i figure this is it since it would control AF motor and the VR focus, no? the camera guy sluffed it off, which didnt really impress me....
what do u guys think? i will post pics when i get a sec..

2. looking at the photos the files are like 2.5mb... id figure they would be bigger than my D70s?

please advise..



1. Should not make a difference. The AF system should work until the battery is dead (just like it does on your D70s).

2. Maybe an obvious question but did you check to make sure that it is set for large/fine?

My question has nothing to do with the focus issue but... Have you considered shooting in NEF? And a follow-on have you tried NC4 yet?

Back to the focus issue... I assume that you have tried the 70-200 on the D70s without a problem (?)

[phatkid77]

i won hte D70s... focus fine

this was a store model i was playing with... so didnt shoot NEF...not sure wen i will get into raw....
another site mentioned the camera has AF settings such as.. FOCUS priority, and REALEASE priority... which would let it fire OOF.... that my be it..

im thinking the files were medium... im gunna go back, and view the settings more in depth..

[George Riehm]

i won hte D70s... focus fine

this was a store model i was playing with... so didnt shoot NEF...not sure wen i will get into raw....
another site mentioned the camera has AF settings such as.. FOCUS priority, and REALEASE priority... which would let it fire OOF.... that my be it..

im thinking the files were medium... im gunna go back, and view the settings more in depth..

Different camera, different settings. Hope it works out.

NEF/RAW opens up a whole new world of possibilities. The reward is worth the effort. Recommend you use that 30 day trial of NC4. Even the straight JPEG batch conversions turn out very well, and you might get a whole new look at your D70s.;)

JPEG medium setting would explain the small file size.

[erichlund]

Now, as it happens, my 18-200 appears to be on the fritz. Beyond 50mm, it won't focus worth beans. So, it's off to the dealer tomorrow. Stuff happens. And, of course, I leave on vacation in 5 days. C'est la vie.
Well, I got the answer about my lens. It appears that one reason you cannot find them is that Nikon had to pull them off the shelf and rechip them. It took mine until now for the chip to go bad, so it's off to El Segundo to get rechipped. Apparently, if you have a D2h, you also have to get the camera rechipped, because the camera is not compatible with the newer software.

Can't find a Sigma 70-300 APO or Nikkor 70-300 ED locally to save my life. That's all I can afford since I bought the Nikkor 17-55DX to restore my wide angle end (OK, I think that counts as a gloat ;) ). The only 70-300 I can find locally is the Tamron, and I haven't exactly been overwhelmed with the good thoughts about that lens. I may have to wait until I get to Colorado Springs or Denver (on my vacation) to pick one up.

Now, back to the OP. You are correct. There are two switches that control focus method. There is the Continuous, Single and Manual. The continuous focus is the one that allows you to take an autofocus photo without focus lock.

The other switch, on the back of the camera, controls what and how focus areas are used. There's single area, dynamic, group dynamic and dynamic closest subject. When you can combine this switch with the other on the front of the camera, and do so without looking, and know exactly how the camera is going to respond, everytime, Nikon should send you an honorary doctorate in all things Nikon. The safest mode is single servo (camera won't fire if not in focus) and single area, with the area locked in the center. Oh yeah, that's another switch, around the 4 way controller. When it's on lock, you cannot, accidently or otherwise, move the set focus area. When it's unlocked, you can initiate a focus, with the shutter or the AF-ON button, and move the selected focus area around with the 4 way controller. The there's the AE-L / AF-L button which locks exposure or focus, depending on what you are doing at the time.

If all that sounds complicated you are not alone. Just remember, S and S is [S]afe. That's single servo and single area.

[cwphoto]

The other switch, on the back of the camera, controls what and how focus areas are used. There's single area, dynamic, group dynamic and dynamic closest subject. When you can combine this switch with the other on the front of the camera, and do so without looking, and know exactly how the camera is going to respond, everytime, Nikon should send you an honorary doctorate in all things Nikon. The safest mode is single servo (camera won't fire if not in focus) and single area, with the area locked in the center. Oh yeah, that's another switch, around the 4 way controller. When it's on lock, you cannot, accidently or otherwise, move the set focus area. When it's unlocked, you can initiate a focus, with the shutter or the AF-ON button, and move the selected focus area around with the 4 way controller. The there's the AE-L / AF-L button which locks exposure or focus, depending on what you are doing at the time.

If all that sounds complicated you are not alone. Just remember, S and S is [S]afe. That's single servo and single area.

Bloody Hell! Sounds like you need a license to drive the thing!:eek:

[erichlund]

Bloody Hell! Sounds like you need a license to drive the thing!:eek:
Actually, it's easier than it sounds. There are a couple of new things in the D200 vs. say the D70s, but one very real difference is that I don't have to search through menus to do any of what I described. Jeff calls this button clutter. I call it convenience.

Frankly, the additional ways to select focus areas may seem complicated, but typically, you will only use the ones that are specific to the type of photography that you are doing. For landscapes, you will stick with Single area, because you then manually set the focus point used. But if you are photographing children at play, then this mode is not necessarily responsive enough, and you are going to set continuous servo and dynamic area auto focus. This gives you the best chance to "capture the moment". But you are not necessarily going to be changing the settings a lot, just be aware of using the setting that's most appropriate for what you are doing.

For me, I have no kids, so I hardly use the dynamic modes. But, when I need it, it's right there at my fingertips.

[DFish]

Shooting at f/2.8? Theres your problem.

[coldrain]

Shooting at f/2.8? Theres your problem.
What a silly remark, that is not the problem at all. f2.8 gives a quite shallow depth of field, not totally unsharp photos. The photos are just incorrectly focussed, probably because it was in the wrong mode where it can select what to focus on itself.

The lens is fine, the camera probably is fine, just the camera focussing on the wrong areas.

[DFish]

What a silly remark, that is not the problem at all. f2.8 gives a quite shallow depth of field, not totally unsharp photos. The photos are just incorrectly focussed, probably because it was in the wrong mode where it can select what to focus on itself.

The lens is fine, the camera probably is fine, just the camera focussing on the wrong areas.

If you are shooting a distant subject with a high focal range and your aperture is too high, even if you are focused correctly, the whole image can be blurry and out of focus, like number two. It's happned to me before. The only other possibility is the person just had a lot of focusing problems which I don't think is the case.

[cwphoto]

If you are shooting a distant subject with a high focal range and your aperture is too high, even if you are focused correctly, the whole image can be blurry and out of focus, like number two.

What's a "high focal range"?:confused:

[Ray Schnoor]

What's a "high focal range"?:confused:
I can't be sure, but it seems to me that DFish is talking about a large focal length (say 200mm or above) with a small aperture, causing a slow shutter speed, which would possibly give blurring due to camera shake, not out of focus problems. This is not the case in the posted photos, as the posted values are at f/2.8 and 1/500s shutter speed.

It seems to me that Eric is probably right that the camera may not have been in the best focus mode for the way you were shooting these subjects.

Ray.