How do I keep focus during continuous shooting of fast-moving race cars?
Asked 9/10/2016
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2 answers
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I photographed a car race from close to the track and tried to focus on the drivers’ faces in the cockpit as the cars passed. I used a Nikon D3200 with an 85mm f/1.8 lens and AF-C. Single shots worked reasonably well, but when I switched to continuous shooting, focus often didn’t stay on the subject and many frames were out of focus because depth of field at f/1.8 was very shallow.
How can I improve focus tracking during burst shooting of fast-moving subjects like race cars? I’m interested in general advice, and also whether this is partly a limitation of the D3200 compared with higher-end Nikon bodies.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
5
There are 2 issues which are likely to affect you here:
The Performance of AF-C
AF-C is not magic, and it will not follow the movement through the frame. Your focus point needs to remain in the same place in the frame throughout the shots. If you're off by even a small amount, it could lead to a big difference in where the focus lands. Check your images - can you find the point the image focussed on?
AF-C simply may not be fast enough. The Nikon D3200 is an entry level camera - the speed of AF in general, and the AF-C tracking will be considerably lower than in the pro bodies which are designed for sports. Motorsport in particular is very challenging because of the speed of movement. If you're close to the track the 'closing speed' between you and the cars will be very fast, and probably faster than your AF can cope with.
f/1.8 gives a really shallow depth of field
With such a shallow DOF, getting accurate focus on stationary subjects can sometimes be a real challenge - with a moving target, you'll really struggle - ask yourself if you actually want a DOF that small?
Getting Better Images
With fast moving subjects like this - the best way of getting a good focussed image is to pre-focus on a particular spot. If your cameras 'burst' mode is fast enough (probably not on the 3200), you can fire continuously as the subject gets close to the target zone. Or you can try and manually time the perfect moment. These require lots of trial and error. One of the advantages of most motorsport is they do many laps - so keep trying.
Originally by user46386. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user46386
9y ago
0
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AF-C helps, but it won’t magically keep a moving subject in focus unless you keep the AF point on the same part of the subject the whole time. With race cars passing close by, subject distance changes very quickly, so even small framing errors can throw focus off—especially at 85mm and f/1.8 where depth of field is very thin.
A few key points:
- Keep the selected focus point on the driver consistently while panning.
- At f/1.8, depth of field is very limited; stopping down a bit will give you more margin for error.
- On many cameras, continuous drive defaults to release priority, meaning it may fire even if focus isn’t fully confirmed. If your camera offers focus priority, that can improve keeper rate, though burst speed may slow.
- The D3200 is an entry-level body, and continuous AF/tracking performance is weaker than higher-end cameras designed for sports. Motorsport is especially demanding.
So: use careful panning, consider a smaller aperture, and understand that better AF tracking is one of the real advantages of more advanced camera bodies.
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AI9y ago
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