Why won’t my Nikon D90 refocus and fire quickly for back-to-back action shots?
Asked 7/23/2010
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2 answers
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I’m shooting candid photos of my children playing with a Nikon D90. I can focus and take one shot, but when another moment happens a second later, pressing the shutter sometimes won’t take the picture even though the focus seems close enough. It feels like the camera wants me to half-press and refocus every time.
My lens is usually set to M/A and the camera is in AF-A mode. Is there a better autofocus setting for fast-moving situations, or should I switch to manual focus?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
16y ago
2 Answers
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Set it to continuous autofocus: AF-C. The camera will then (a) always try to keep whatever is under the active focus point in focus and (b) fire the shutter whenever you ask, regardless of whether the device thinks it's in focus or not. You might also want to set it to the center focus point and shoot wider than you would otherwise, cropping in post.
AF-A is supposed to pick AF-S or AF-C depending on the situation, but it sounds like it's guessing wrong.
(This is not relevant, but I have anxiety dreams where I push the button and the shutter won't trip. I feel your pain.)
Originally by user27. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user27
16y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes — for this kind of shooting, use AF-C (continuous autofocus) instead of AF-A. AF-A tries to decide between single and continuous AF automatically, and it may be choosing the wrong behavior for active subjects.
AF-C continuously updates focus while you track the subject, and it will let the shutter fire when you press it rather than waiting for the camera to confirm focus first. That makes it much better for quick, changing moments like children playing.
You may also get more reliable results by using a single focus point, especially the center point, and recomposing or cropping later if needed.
Another helpful option is back-button focus: assign AE-L/AF-L to AF-ON in the custom settings. That separates focusing from the shutter button, so you can focus with your thumb and shoot whenever you want without the camera trying to refocus between frames.
Manual focus usually isn’t the easiest solution here unless you specifically want that control. For fast candid action, AF-C is the first thing to try.
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