D750: What about auto-focus in Live View?

[Timur Born]

So everyone is raving about the AF sensor of the D750, which is nice and dandy. But what about AF in Live View, both for stills and video? Are there any improvements over older Nikon designs, especially considering that the D750 comes with a tilt screen? The processor should be able to crunch quite some numbers and seeing how the Samsung NX1 is coupled with a beast of a processor these things get more and more important.

The release times listed for Live View in the manual are not the most promising as far as speed is concerned. What EV can it focus down to? How smooth and prevalent is the hunting, especially in video mode?

--
Red flash eyes save lives and eye-sight!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retinoblastoma

 

[ryanshoots]

Most probably still second rate. Only the Sony SLT line, Canon 70D and 7DII and mirrorless will have decent (quick) live view focus.

 

[Mrpong]

To my view, it is good but not outstanding. Nikon's liveview AF is based on CDAF and Nikon does not use PDAF detector on sensor (if I'm not mistaken).

Unlike D750, hybrid sensor in mirrorless, 70D and 7DII deploy PDAF on senor, and thus, AF is more efficient and faster.

 

[Timur Born]

Many mirrorless cameras used CDAF for focusing only and still it works very fast even when mostly only useful for AF-S. Whenever I tried a DSLR in Live Mode the CDAF implementation shocked me with its lack of performance and features. A faster processor always means faster and better AF when used properly, so I wonder if anyone sees a real improvement or if it's still the unloved steep-daughter with Nikon?!

 

[Ray Sachs]

Many mirrorless cameras used CDAF for focusing only and still it works very fast even when mostly only useful for AF-S. Whenever I tried a DSLR in Live Mode the CDAF implementation shocked me with its lack of performance and features. A faster processor always means faster and better AF when used properly, so I wonder if anyone sees a real improvement or if it's still the unloved steep-daughter with Nikon?!

I'm pretty sure the lenses make a big difference in CDAF performance too. I'm not sure how or why, but a lens designed to work primarily with CDAF does better than a native PDAF lens. Not sure why if the camera is directing the lens on how far to travel and in which direction, but that does seems to be the case.

I came from mirrorless to Nikon full frame and the lack of good fast live view really kind of shocked me at first too, but now I'm used to it. I think live view on these cameras is mostly intended as "tripod mode" where you probably want the mirror out of the way anyhow and you're not shooting all that fast in the first place.

-Ray
--------------------------------------
We judge photographers by the photographs we see. We judge cameras by the photographs we miss - Haim Zamir

Ray

Explore Ray’s 2,013 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

 

[Mrpong]

Many mirrorless cameras used CDAF for focusing only and still it works very fast even when mostly only useful for AF-S. Whenever I tried a DSLR in Live Mode the CDAF implementation shocked me with its lack of performance and features. A faster processor always means faster and better AF when used properly, so I wonder if anyone sees a real improvement or if it's still the unloved steep-daughter with Nikon?!

 

[Timur Born]

This remains to be a major drawback then. I am considering the change from MFT to FX because I am mostly tracking my fast moving kids in any light from sunny to dark(er) indoors. Especially the latter situations usually also mean that space is rather cramped (with busy background) so I need to use wide lenses and thus can afford loosing DOF in exchange for better ISO performance. Indoors I also don't care about camera weight.

But I do care about having to lower my 1.90 meters down to the level of 2-4 year old kids playing on the ground. A tilt screen (better even full swivel) helps tons to get shots without breaking my back, but only if it works fast enough (on sensor AF) and doesn't produce whole series of clack sounds (mirror slapping down/up/down using conventional AF) that alerts everyone around about me pointing that large photon-collector-canon (hm, interesting pun) at them.

So which lenses from the Nikon range can be expected to work better with CDAF? Is anything with a "G" in its name new enough to have CDAF at least considered in its design?

 

[ryanshoots]

If you want fast live view today on a FF dslr, the Sony A99 is the only game in town. The next iteration of Canon's FF will have the same technology as the 70d and 7dii no doubt, but that's at least 2 or 3 years away. The Canon probably won't have a flippy screen, the Sony does and it's very good.

If this feature is important to you, I would not buy a DSLR other than the Sony today if your requirement is FF.

 

[Mrpong]

So which lenses from the Nikon range can be expected to work better with CDAF? Is anything with a "G" in its name new enough to have CDAF at least considered in its design?

 

[Powerstroke2000]

I'm trying Liveview for the first time, having the D750 with a Sigma 50mm F1.4 lens, and with the menu set up in 'on' for Liveview, I'm not getting AF happening? I can switch the lens button to off (AF to M) and the camera to Manual, and manually focus, resulting in a fine shot, but when I switch them both back to AF, it just shows a non focused view of what the lens is pointing at? Each time I push the shutter half way, it shows AE-L on the left side of the screen. So, I'm not getting AF - any ideas? Am I missing a setting in the menu for focusing in Liveview?

 

[Avrflrut]

The D750 is definitely not for you.

 

[Digital Shutterbug]

The D750 is definitely not for you.

Since this thread is more than a year old and the OP still lists the D750 in his equipment list, I think we can assume he decided it IS for him.

 

[Avrflrut]

It definitely won't do what he says he wants to do, which is useful advice for people who want a camera to track children at crotch level

 

[Timur Born]

Yes, out of the cameras available on the market the D750 is the right one for me for what it can do. It still lacks in the Live View department, though. While I understand that PDAF optimized lenses vs. CDAF mode play a role I also very much miss having any form of focus peaking. Especially for videos the AF is useless, so I always focus those manually. Without peaking it's rather hard to do so properly using fast lenses.

For stills I sometimes use Live View when my target doesn't change distance too much. One has to keep in mind that the D750 measures exposure differently in Live View, though.

--
Red flash eyes save lives and eye-sight!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retinoblastoma

 

[windsprite]

I'm trying Liveview for the first time, having the D750 with a Sigma 50mm F1.4 lens, and with the menu set up in 'on' for Liveview, I'm not getting AF happening? I can switch the lens button to off (AF to M) and the camera to Manual, and manually focus, resulting in a fine shot, but when I switch them both back to AF, it just shows a non focused view of what the lens is pointing at? Each time I push the shutter half way, it shows AE-L on the left side of the screen. So, I'm not getting AF - any ideas? Am I missing a setting in the menu for focusing in Liveview?

I'm not sure about this, but I have the feeling I've read that some of the older Sigmas (and other third-party lenses?) will not do live-view AF with the newer cameras. Is your 50/1.4 the old HSM version, or the new ART version?

Sorry I can't provide better information, but I didn't want your post to get buried before you got an answer. Maybe it would be better if you were to start a new thread with a title like "Sigma lens won't AF in live view?" I'm interested myself, as I have some older Sigma lenses that I'm using with older cameras, but eventually I'm going to have to upgrade the bodies.

Julie

 

[Digital Shutterbug]

Yes, out of the cameras available on the market the D750 is the right one for me for what it can do. It still lacks in the Live View department, though. While I understand that PDAF optimized lenses vs. CDAF mode play a role I also very much miss having any form of focus peaking. Especially for videos the AF is useless, so I always focus those manually. Without peaking it's rather hard to do so properly using fast lenses.

For stills I sometimes use Live View when my target doesn't change distance too much. One has to keep in mind that the D750 measures exposure differently in Live View, though.

 

[Powerstroke2000]

I'm trying Liveview for the first time, having the D750 with a Sigma 50mm F1.4 lens, and with the menu set up in 'on' for Liveview, I'm not getting AF happening? I can switch the lens button to off (AF to M) and the camera to Manual, and manually focus, resulting in a fine shot, but when I switch them both back to AF, it just shows a non focused view of what the lens is pointing at? Each time I push the shutter half way, it shows AE-L on the left side of the screen. So, I'm not getting AF - any ideas? Am I missing a setting in the menu for focusing in Liveview?

I'm not sure about this, but I have the feeling I've read that some of the older Sigmas (and other third-party lenses?) will not do live-view AF with the newer cameras. Is your 50/1.4 the old HSM version, or the new ART version?

Sorry I can't provide better information, but I didn't want your post to get buried before you got an answer. Maybe it would be better if you were to start a new thread with a title like "Sigma lens won't AF in live view?" I'm interested myself, as I have some older Sigma lenses that I'm using with older cameras, but eventually I'm going to have to upgrade the bodies.

Julie

Thanks for the reply Julie. Since I bought this Sigma used, I'm unsure of it's age, albeit, to look at it, it looks new! No, it's not an ART lens. This was the first time I'd tried Liveview since owning my D750, and I didn't try it with my Nikon lens, thus the question above, using the Sigma. I'll throw on the 70-200mm VR lens, and see how that goes. I thought I'd put out the question prior to heading to my grandson's birthday party, to see if it was 'me', the lens, or the camera settings. It may just be the lens, although it is fast at AF and works beautifully using the viewfinder.

 

[Powerstroke2000]

Yes, out of the cameras available on the market the D750 is the right one for me for what it can do. It still lacks in the Live View department, though. While I understand that PDAF optimized lenses vs. CDAF mode play a role I also very much miss having any form of focus peaking. Especially for videos the AF is useless, so I always focus those manually. Without peaking it's rather hard to do so properly using fast lenses.

For stills I sometimes use Live View when my target doesn't change distance too much. One has to keep in mind that the D750 measures exposure differently in Live View, though.

 

[windsprite]

I'm trying Liveview for the first time, having the D750 with a Sigma 50mm F1.4 lens, and with the menu set up in 'on' for Liveview, I'm not getting AF happening? I can switch the lens button to off (AF to M) and the camera to Manual, and manually focus, resulting in a fine shot, but when I switch them both back to AF, it just shows a non focused view of what the lens is pointing at? Each time I push the shutter half way, it shows AE-L on the left side of the screen. So, I'm not getting AF - any ideas? Am I missing a setting in the menu for focusing in Liveview?

I'm not sure about this, but I have the feeling I've read that some of the older Sigmas (and other third-party lenses?) will not do live-view AF with the newer cameras. Is your 50/1.4 the old HSM version, or the new ART version?

Sorry I can't provide better information, but I didn't want your post to get buried before you got an answer. Maybe it would be better if you were to start a new thread with a title like "Sigma lens won't AF in live view?" I'm interested myself, as I have some older Sigma lenses that I'm using with older cameras, but eventually I'm going to have to upgrade the bodies.

Julie

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner.

Thanks for the reply Julie. Since I bought this Sigma used, I'm unsure of it's age, albeit, to look at it, it looks new! No, it's not an ART lens.

It's not so much the exact age of the lens that matters; it's just that the situation seems to be different with the ART lens vs. the old version, in the sense that you can hook the newer lens up to the dock and update the firmware yourself, but you can't with the older lenses. At least, that's my understanding.

With your version, you would probably need to send it back to Sigma and have them do the update for you. Here is a thread that may answer some of your questions:

D750: no focusing in live view

Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I discovered that I can't focus in live view with Sigma 12-24mm Sigma 150mm macro f/2.8 Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Sigma 85mm f/1.4 The only lens were focusing is possible in live view is the Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 Who can give me a hint or sharing his/her expercience...

www.dpreview.com

Julie

This was the first time I'd tried Liveview since owning my D750, and I didn't try it with my Nikon lens, thus the question above, using the Sigma. I'll throw on the 70-200mm VR lens, and see how that goes. I thought I'd put out the question prior to heading to my grandson's birthday party, to see if it was 'me', the lens, or the camera settings. It may just be the lens, although it is fast at AF and works beautifully using the viewfinder.

--
Still trying to get better...