D7100 -best "action" focus settings

archjack · Aug 10, 2013

Just purchased the d7100 and would really appreciate owners opinions on what are best autofocus settings for capturing a very lively 3 year old dog to freeze the action - An idiots guide on set up would be greatly appreciated.
Also ,I have a 35 1.8 lens and also the 16-85 lens what other lenses with great IQ would owners suggest -also have the sigma 10-20.Was considering Nikon 70-300 but I have read great reviews of the Tamron 70-300 Zoom.

9ck · Aug 10, 2013

I´m not a pro but I would try my way through it, but maybe start somewhere like,

AF-C 3D (or Auto)
S-mode priority
Shutter-speed 1:250 (or maybe higher)

If there is to little DOF you´d have to step down the aperture (by raising the ISO).

Edit: Are we inside or outside? Which colour is the dog (is it black/dark)? This will off course influence on how to handle the camera. If outside with at dark dog you´d want to control the light-metering as well and maybe use A-mode (if there is enough light to give acceptable shutter-speeds)

Kerry Pierce · Aug 11, 2013

archjack said:
archjack wrote:

Just purchased the d7100 and would really appreciate owners opinions on what are best autofocus settings for capturing a very lively 3 year old dog to freeze the action - An idiots guide on set up would be greatly appreciated.

The following link is a very good article on setting up a modern Nikon AF for shooting sports/action type shots. http://johnfriend.blogspot.com/2009/10/nikon-d300-auto-focus-for-sports-i.html

archjack said:
Also ,I have a 35 1.8 lens and also the 16-85 lens what other lenses with great IQ would owners suggest -also have the sigma 10-20.Was considering Nikon 70-300 but I have read great reviews of the Tamron 70-300 Zoom.

Of course, the lens choice will be dictated by the shot you desire. I prefer to use f/2.8 telephoto zooms for shooting sports/action, primarily to get subject isolation from the background and for the AF speed of the lens. Lens AF speed can be hugely important.

The Nikon 70-300 is a nice lens, with fairly fast focus. I'm not at all familiar with the Tamron.

Of the lenses that you apparently own, I'd likely be using the 16-85, probably at/near 85mm, for shooting action shots of the dog, but would prefer a 70-200 or 70-300 zoom. When I first started out with Nikon, I purchased a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 and I used it for several years. If you can afford it, that might be an option worth pursuing.

good luck

Kerry

--
my gallery of so-so photos
http://www.pbase.com/kerrypierce/root

david41 · Aug 11, 2013

Hi...
I am getting to know my D7100 and was shooting some wildlife in variable lighting conditions, and thought it would useful to have an option to be able to set both speed, and aperture, and have the ISO vary to suit the light condition for required exposure.

As usual, not bothering to RTFM.. (Read The Fabulous Manual).. I tinkered around and found that using the M setting there is actually an ISO option on the front dial to do just that, and select "Auto-iso".

This would be good for setting the speed to get the level of freezing you require, and also able to set the aperture to control DOF, and use optimal f-stop of the lens. Of course you would check to see that the ISO is not selected way too high introducing noise.

Have not been out to try this new found option yet.. but it seems like a nice option. Maybe someone can correct me, but I do not find the same option on my D90

--
Cheers
David41
WSSA member #271
'We are all dying of slow oxygen poisoning.. it takes about 85 years'.. I hope!

F9DOG · Aug 11, 2013

Set to AF-C

Set to Af 9 point

Set AE/AL to AF-ON

Set dial to CH (fast burst mode)

Get yourself an Extreme Pro 95mbs card

Set ISO to where you can get high shutter speeds but not so high that you are in the noise zone

Set to M/S or A mode but make sure you can get high shutter speeds and nearly wide open Aperture.

Practice using AF-On as this is the real key to getti g great photos.

I do pet action photography. See my site for eexamples

www.meadowlandsphotography.co.uk

and

www.meadowlandsphotography.co.uk/rookyracers

9ck · Aug 11, 2013

david41 said:
david41 wrote:

Hi...
I am getting to know my D7100 and was shooting some wildlife in variable lighting conditions, and thought it would useful to have an option to be able to set both speed, and aperture, and have the ISO vary to suit the light condition for required exposure.

As usual, not bothering to RTFM.. (Read The Fabulous Manual).. I tinkered around and found that using the M setting there is actually an ISO option on the front dial to do just that, and select "Auto-iso".

This would be good for setting the speed to get the level of freezing you require, and also able to set the aperture to control DOF, and use optimal f-stop of the lens. Of course you would check to see that the ISO is not selected way too high introducing noise.

Have not been out to try this new found option yet.. but it seems like a nice option. Maybe someone can correct me, but I do not find the same option on my D90

GaborF · Aug 11, 2013

Suggesting shutter speed to be at 1/2000, if dog jumps around (or higher). Likely aperture will be F4 or shallower to have good iso (try this at sunlight).

9ck · Aug 11, 2013

GaborF said:
GaborF wrote:

Suggesting shutter speed to be at 1/2000, if dog jumps around (or higher). Likely aperture will be F4 or shallower to have good iso (try this at sunlight).

GaborF I´m not the guy with the dog - it´s archjack

. Although 1/2000 sounds like a lot to me maybe it´s necessary - maybe it´s a racing dog. Inside or outside only archjack knows

. I persumed we were indoor, since it was dark looking out the window yesterday when replying first time - my mistake

.

--
Regards 9ck

Mentatmark · Aug 11, 2013

This pdf was very helpful. The info for the D7000 is very similar to our D7100 settings.

pixelfinesse.com

Diese Domain steht zum Verkauf!

www.pixelfinesse.com

Daisy AU · Aug 11, 2013

archjack said:
archjack wrote:

Just purchased the d7100 and would really appreciate owners opinions on what are best autofocus settings for capturing a very lively 3 year old dog to freeze the action - An idiots guide on set up would be greatly appreciated.
Also ,I have a 35 1.8 lens and also the 16-85 lens what other lenses with great IQ would owners suggest -also have the sigma 10-20.Was considering Nikon 70-300 but I have read great reviews of the Tamron 70-300 Zoom.

I would add the Nikkor 70-300VR (which I own and is a great lens). It pairs really well with the 16-85.

Sammy Yousef · Aug 11, 2013

david41 said:
david41 wrote:

Hi...
I am getting to know my D7100 and was shooting some wildlife in variable lighting conditions, and thought it would useful to have an option to be able to set both speed, and aperture, and have the ISO vary to suit the light condition for required exposure.

As usual, not bothering to RTFM.. (Read The Fabulous Manual).. I tinkered around and found that using the M setting there is actually an ISO option on the front dial to do just that, and select "Auto-iso".

Just don't try this with flash. ISO is raised before flash power is raised on all cameras after the D90. (Works beautifully on a D90 with flash....one more reason I'm not upgrading). I'm not aware of a workaround that actually works. (Some have set flash commander mode but testing by myself on the D90 and others here on the D7100 confirm all that does is disable auto ISO. ) Horrible move by Nikon.

So if you care about ISO at all switch off auto ISO when using flash, or limit it and expect it to be raised more than necessary given your flash's power.

Skylane · Aug 12, 2013

Sammy

I have set up the U1 settings just for flash, with Auto ISO Off. Once all the parameters are saved, you can change them as the situation requires, but do not save them. So each time you go to U1 you are at your "normal" basic flash set up quickly and can proceed as required.

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D7100 -best "action" focus settings

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