# Please help me for action shots with Nikon D90



## abhishekdg (Jun 2, 2012)

Hi friends,

Got hold of my first zoom lens .. a Tamron 70-300 mm VC lens and wanted to try out some flying birds in the mid air. Now basically I use AF-S with AF Area mode as Single.

Now i have tried to use AF-C with AF Area mode as Dynamic. However, still keeping the metering at Single point only. 

However, still most of the birds come out still blurry.. I know its a novice question but want to know what am i missing in my settings? Also would like to know more about the AE-L and AF-L button and how do you use it? I really do not understand the feature of this button..

Expecting your help as always....


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## KenJulio (Jun 2, 2012)

Are you panning?  What is your shutter speed?

If you are panning, turn off any type of vibration reduction system on the lens if it has it.

If you dont mind, post an image in which youre having an issue with and leave the EXIF data intact.


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## abhishekdg (Jun 2, 2012)

Well i don't know anything about panning..Need to look into this.

Well I had the VC on.. Well the shutter speed might be an issue as i was only at 500... 
So do you recommend to up my Shutter speed?And  what about the AF area mode? Should I keep it single or dynamic?


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## ZapoTeX (Jun 3, 2012)

It depends a lot on which kind of birds, but sometimes I get blurry wings even at 1/4000. I would say a reasonable setting for most not too small birds is 1/1600.

I have the D90 too and I use spot metering in the middle, AF-C. I tried both single point AF and 3D-tracking. Can't really tell which one is better. 3D-tracking is a little quicker in "hooking" the bird, but single point is a little more accurate in following it once I have it hooked.

Ciao!


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## SCraig (Jun 3, 2012)

abhishekdg said:


> Hi friends,
> 
> Got hold of my first zoom lens .. a Tamron 70-300 mm VC lens and wanted to try out some flying birds in the mid air. Now basically I use AF-S with AF Area mode as Single.
> 
> ...



First, when shooting birds in flight you cannot use AF-S mode unless you have a very small aperture so that you have plenty of depth of field.  AF-S mode will not allow the focus to change as the distance to the bird changes.



abhishekdg said:


> Well i don't know anything about panning..Need to look into this.
> 
> Well I had the VC on.. Well the shutter speed might be an issue as i was only at 500...
> So do you recommend to up my Shutter speed?And  what about the AF area mode? Should I keep it single or dynamic?


Therein lies the other part of your problem.  You MUST pan with the subject or forget about trying to take those photographs.  You won't find a shutter speed fast enough to prevent blurring a bird in flight if you are just holding the camera in one position.  You are going to have to learn to pan with them, end of story.  Not to mention that if the camera is held in one position the background is going to be sharp making the bird blend in.

As to Single or Dynamic, to me that dynamic stuff is useless.  I have it disabled on all three of my cameras.  They are set to single point autofocus with the point locked in the center.

The AE-L / AF-L button locks the exposure and/or focus to the values that are metered when the button is pressed.  It allows you to meter on one area of a view and then recompose on another area that would have a different exposure or focus setting. without changing it.  Very handy to have.


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## KmH (Jun 3, 2012)

Also investigate using 'back botton focus'.

The camera normally auto focsues with a half-press of the shutter release button. That function can be moved to the AE/L/AF-L button on the back of the camera when the *AF-On* option is chosen in the D90's Custom Settings menu f4 (page 200 in the D90 user's manual).


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## Mach0 (Jun 3, 2012)

KmH said:
			
		

> Also investigate using 'back botton focus'.
> 
> The camera normally auto focsues with a half-press of the shutter release button. That function can be moved to the AE/L/AF-L button on the back of the camera when the AF-On option is chosen in the D90's Custom Settings menu f4 (page 200 in the D90 user's manual).



Do you have every Nikon dslr manual ? Lol jk


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## abhishekdg (Jun 3, 2012)

Ok guys.. You are just awesome..So I have figured out the problem. Its basically I was trying to use a fast shutter speed which my camera is not capable of. Hence, I came up with a plan of the settings :-

1. AF - Continuous mode
2. AF area mode - Single point
3. Use the AE-L/AF-L button as AF Lock.
4. Switch onto CH mode - My camera allows only 4 fps 
5. Switch onto Shutter priority and choose 1/25th of a second - I hope this a good starting point for panning.
6. Keep the subject focus in the middle focus point
7. Press the AE-L/AF-L button as long as I want to keep focus on the moving bird.
8. Then press the shutter button .

Now , my question is do you remove the thumb from the AE-L/AF-L button before pressing the shutter? So if I do lock my focus between the eyes and the beak of the bird, after I remove my thumb from the AE-L/AF-L button , does the focus still remains locked on?

Also , it requires some practice to enage this decoupling of teh focus point from the shutter release button... But I wonder what's the advantage in case of a stationary object other then the fact that now i can use AF-C for all situations?


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## Mach0 (Jun 3, 2012)

abhishekdg said:
			
		

> Ok guys.. You are just awesome..So I have figured out the problem. Its basically I was trying to use a fast shutter speed which my camera is not capable of. Hence, I came up with a plan of the settings :-
> 
> 1. AF - Continuous mode
> 2. AF area mode - Single point
> ...



1/4000s is pretty fast


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## SCraig (Jun 3, 2012)

abhishekdg said:


> Ok guys.. You are just awesome..So I have  figured out the problem. Its basically I was trying to use a fast  shutter speed which my camera is not capable of. Hence, I came up with a  plan of the settings :-
> 
> 1. AF - Continuous mode
> 2. AF area mode - Single point
> ...


I don't understand what all  of those gyrations with the AE-L/AF-L button are for.  All you need to  do is push the shutter halfway down and the camera will autofocus.  If  the AF mode is set to AF-C it will constantly refocus as necessary to  keep the subject in focus, which is what I want my camera to do.  I do  not want it "Locking" focus on anything when I shoot birds, I want it to  constantly change as necessary.

1/25 second is far too slow.   The wings will be nothing but a blur and, most likely, the head will as  well since birds frequently move their heads while flying, especially when looking for food or watching something on the ground.  Start at  1/250 second and go up from there.

Have I ever shot birds in flight with a D90?   Yes, I have.  Here are a few.  The embedded EXIF data will show you all of the parameters.
Canada Goose
Canada Goose
Canada Goose
Canada Goose
Mallards
Mallards
Mallards
Ring-Billed Gull
Ring-Billed Gull
Ring-Billed Gull
Ring-Billed Gull
Ring-Billed Gull
Common Pigeon
Common Pigeon
Common Pigeon


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## ZapoTeX (Jun 3, 2012)

> choose 1/25th of a second


????????????????????????????? No way!
I think you have misinterpreted what we told you and/or what you read on Google about panning.

You need to lower the shutter speed if you want to BLUR THE BACKGROUND MORE. If you want the subject sharper, you need to INCREASE SHUTTER SPEED. And given that you're shooting (relatively) small birds with a long telephoto, your background will probably be pretty blurred out anyway, even at 1/4000.

The beautiful photos posted by SCraig are all from 1/800 to 1/2500 and even so in some of them the tips of the wings are slightly blurred. Those birds move really fast.


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## abhishekdg (Jun 3, 2012)

Ok... I got it. I had misinterpreted as panning all i have read is about taking the shutter speed down to 1/25th of a second.. Anyways will try as you all have mentioned and see whats the result..


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