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DPChallenge Forums >> Hardware and Software >> Nikon D90; Focus while moving camera
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 05/21/2010 04:47:02 PM · #1
I had a question that may be super-easy. I'm very new to photography and I have a D90 that I was shooting while in Maui this past weekend. We were driving down some roads and stopping to take pictures and occasionally, we would just snap a picture out the window of the convertible. We were shooting trees and landscape stuff and were mainly just trying to capture some shots for memories. We had plenty of sharp images while stopping and shooting with the tripod, but my girlfriend insisted on shooting while we were moving.

I tried everything I could think of to get the camera to focus quickly for her but nothing seemed to work. She was trying to half-hold the shutter to get the focus-beep and then take the picture but I guess the camera was trying to focus on everything as we were driving (I was trying to slow down as much as possible to allow for these shots). So it would never focus fast enough and she could not take the picture.

Does anyone know of a setting or something that I could have tried to get the camera to just take the pictures? Maybe lock the aperture to a the smallest number and turn auto-focus off or something to try to get a broad focus shot for every shot? I tried to force the camera to bypass using the AE-L/AE-F button and I tried to adjust the AF to only look at the center point but again, the results were spotty at best. Thanks in advance for any help and sorry for the long post...
 05/21/2010 08:36:17 PM · #2
That autofocus isn't going to grab the same as it does when you're standing still. You may have better luck on full manual focus.

Also...are you sure it is the focus and not motion blur? Depending on the lens...you likely need a pretty high shutter speed. Can you post a shot or two?
 05/22/2010 12:05:32 AM · #3
I'm pretty sure there a continuous focus option, it basically continues to focus as you move or with the subject. I have it on D70 should be there on D90!
only drawback though it could be a battery drainer.
 05/22/2010 08:13:09 AM · #4
More than likley a shutter speed issue from a moving car. What was the recorded shutter speed and F stop?
 05/22/2010 08:32:22 AM · #5
What settings for autofocus did u used and how was the light? In I was in your place I would select AF-S and a low aperture... There are lots of settings to be used depending of that moment of the day.
05/22/2010 08:50:51 AM · #6
3 suggestions
1: set the camera to sport mode and try to pan with the moving scenery.
2: choose the widest angle of you zoom lens, set the focus to manual and then focus on middle distance for scenery or the nearest building for urban areas. Still try to pan the camera for closer objects which will be moving by much faster than distant objects.
3: Unless you're deliberately going for blurry shots, stop the car.
 05/22/2010 09:52:43 AM · #7
Thanks for these tips so far, guys.

Let me post responses to all of your questions/suggestions. I also forgot to mention my lens: Nikon 18-200mm 3.5/5.6 DX w/ VR on. (It\'s my first and only lens as of right now)

Although I\'m sure they\'re ALL blurry, I wasn\'t too concerned with that b/c I just wanted the picture to take. I doubt the problem was motion blur b/c the pictures would just not take. She could used her $200 Nikon Coolpix to take shots but my $1500 setup would not focus and therefore would not let her depress the shutter. So she gave up and used her camera. I just wanted to get the D90 to stop trying to focus so much and just take pictures for us. That\'s why I think the manual focus at a medium level with DOF wide open at the widest angle is what I should have done in retrospect...

So I will post a picture, but again, it\'s not the pics that took that I\'m unhappy with; it\'s the pics that just refused to take b/c focus would not lock on that I was unhappy with.

Here is one of the images that actually took. I kept it on full auto mode and these are the setting for this (and most of the pics that took):
iso:200 18mm f/10 1/200sec

{Well since I'm a new user, they will not let me post a link or a picture, so let's seee if this works. Please add "//" to below for my picture...}

farm5.static.flickr.com/4012/4629196503_8f5c9ff5c0_o.jpg

There is a Cont. focus that I\'ve been reading about but I didn\'t know about it then. I will test it out soon for future reference. Thanks, ahmadbaara

@ jbsmithana: mostly 1/200 and 1/250 @ f/10 or so

@ c1p1: Light was overcast to bright sunny, but we were mostly under the shade of the trees as seen in the picture. Auto-focus settings I tried were the default and then I tried to change it to only use the center focus point (That\'s all I could figure out... shoulda brought the manual).

@hesitant: Tried the sport mode thing, but not with panning. Next time I\'ll try that technique. Unfortunately, it would have been impossible to pan, as most of the shots were of the scenery as we were driving into (like the attached picture). So the movement was coming towards us, not rolling beside us. I agree that I should have done that manual focus that you suggested. (I\'m learning...) Stopping the car was not an option. Traffic would have been halted. We stopped enough to get great shots but she just wanted to grab a few \"memories\" of the drive type of shots and I was a little embarrassed that her point-and-shoot could do what my D90 could not. I was well aware and prepared for blurry shots; but she insisted.

Thanks again to everyone for the comments and great tips!!

05/22/2010 11:19:18 AM · #8
I suggest you to use a high shutter speed, try to test A, S, M mode,play with different settings, I'm sure you will get the right option.
I forgot to ask you if the lens have a filter, I was in the same situation like you (out of focus) and when i took down the UV (noname), I was surprised to find that all my pictures were in focus.
05/22/2010 01:09:58 PM · #9
I see you shot on Full Auto. Now that you have a fancy DSLR you need to put a bit of time in learning what it will do for you as they are nothing like a point and shoot camera. A good starting point, that I used when I got here, is JodieCoston's leasons on the basics of photography and using an SLR. You can still find it here. I think that if you take the time to go through the lessons you will have a great grasp on things and be glad you did. Good luck!

Message edited by author 2010-05-22 17:13:58.
 05/23/2010 05:28:17 AM · #10
Originally posted by chrispcall:
I had a question that may be super-easy.


It is easy. Place the camera in AF-C mode. The camera will continuously focus as long as the button is lightly pressed. The camera will ALWAYS fire the shutter when completely pressed in this mode. You will get some blurred shots depending on aperture and zoom setting on your lens. I'd recommend using mostly the wide end of your lens. Place the camera in shutter priority mode. Placing the camera in Auto-ISO mode will give you more latitude for exposure conditions. Try 250 to 500 when shooting facing forward, and 500 to 2000 when perpendicular to the direction of travel. Experiment. You've already paid for all the exposures you'll make on a digital camera. Why not learn from them. Check out some of the challenges here at DPC. There are some amazing shots taken out of moving vehicles.
 05/23/2010 07:32:31 AM · #11
@Firebird: Thank you very much. This seems like the best answer! I will try to learm more about my camera and photography in general, but if most of you read, I was driving, and my girlfriend was shooting. So I put the camera on auto to make it easier on her. But I suspect I could have given her a quick tutorial on shutter priority mode and showed her how to preview her images to see which shutter speed seemed to work best for her. I wish I knew about AF-C during that trip, but now I know...

Thanks again to everyone for their helpful input! I look forward to learning more in the future!
 05/23/2010 01:31:50 PM · #12
Just for fun, yesterday I shot out the window of a moving car (going approx 60km/hr) at f.4, 1/400, ISO 400 and got reasonably clean images. Then at 70-80 km/hr I bumped up shutter speed to 1/640 with similar results. Should mention I was also panning a bit.

I do think it is a bit of a leap, going from a p&s to a D90 - I went from a p&s to the D40, then bought the D90 once I was outshooting the D40. Had the D90 6 months now and still learning it, so don't feel too bad! :-)
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