Help me understand!

Andybtsn said:
Well for example these two pictures, she was looking at me smiling, I press the button, the camera makes the shutter sound and the picture then comes out like below:
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Are you sure you're not mistaking the sound of the auto focus mode with the 'shutter sound', if you seem to think there is a delay between you pressing the button and the image being taken.

It sounds potentially like the autofocus is hunting before the picture is taken. Do you hear the autofocus 'beep', before you take the pic, indicating the camera has focussed prior to releasing the shutter?

The shots you've posted aren't particularly sharp, so I imagine the shutter speed wasn't particularly fast, and she moved also.
 
You maybe right. I only just make sure the focus is highlighted green then take the shot. Maybe it is focus related, no idea what to amend though. I appreciate the help people are trying to give.
 
I took a quick look, I don't know if I am reading them correct but it seems shots where taken at f22 and 1/200th of a second, ISO 3200, I think that's not really a good setting to be used, a lower f number would allow a lot more light in and that would mean a lower ISO would be used and a faster shutter speed.

But it don't explain the delay in taking the pic, not to me anyway.

I think the best range on the kit lens is f8, maybe try some in aperture priority next, pick the ''A'' mode and use the dial until the lowest f number is shown
 
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I must admit I was messing around with settings so I didn't expect them to be correct.

Funnily enough the following cropped up when I was googling. Basically the exact problem I have.

I got a new D5100 with 35mm 1.8, the 15-110mm (cant remember exactly). I tried to take some photos of my 4 yr old nephew but its really difficult to take photos of kids. He's always running around, and even when he's sitting in one place, his head or body moves around. It also seems my D5100 is slow to auto-focus. Seems like I press shutter half way to focus, takes a bit of time. Then even after I fully press the shutter, it seems to take awhile before it then auto-displays the photo for review. Is the D5100 particularly slow in terms of auto-focus and/or shutter? Any tips, get a different lens, use it a different way, or get a better camera? Thanks.
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f22 is very small, that's why the quality is low as the ISO was pushed up by the camera creating the low quality pic with noise.

Do you understand the modes you are using or is it just set it and see what happens?
 
To be honest I wasn't concentrating on quality just increasing the shutter speed.

I do understand the different modes yeah, or the principle anyway.

Is the LCD screen basically there for viewing pictures and not actually taking them?
 
I find the LCD good for seeing what settings are in use, pressing the info button will bring up the settings and let you see what is being changed when you flick the command dial, not for taking pictures though as it will focus differently.

that's a slowish shutter speed you set, what was the max you tried?
 
I would probably use it for videos too. I just find it strange they make is so big just for a settings screen and picture viewer.

Anyway, I'll take on board everything that's been said and have a play tomorrow.

Thanks again.
 
As above f22 & ISO 3200 are completely wide the mark for getting any decent quality shots. So my advice would be to get you started:

1: Use Auto ISO.
Set the Minimum to 100 & Maximum to 800 (in daylight). Set the minimum shutter speed to 1/100th.

2: Use aperture priority or 'A' on the dial.
Then simply use the rear control dial and set the aperture to lowest number / widest setting.

3: Use 1 centre AF point
Limit the AF to the centre point, set the Auto focus to AF-S and keep the subject in the middle of the frame.

4: Dont use Live View
Nikon & Canon's Live View doesn't use the fast phase detect AF during live view only Sony's do. AF is much slower because it uses a contrast based system when in live view.
 
Thanks for that ManCuBuS. I put the whole camera back to factory settings and got some much better results today. (Only using Auto mind)

It seemed I was getting the pictures I wanted although the focus was out on a lot, mainly because of me.







I was playing around with Lightroom for this one

 
That's much better results:cool:, the focusing could be down to it picking it's own focus point in auto mode, once you get to know the settings a little better there is a way to set a single focus point to use which would be preferable overall.

To get it to use a single focus point while in auto you press the info button to bring up the settings screen, then press the ''i'' button and navigate around to the AF-area mode, press ok and select ''Single-Point AF, press ok and press the ''i'' button to get back to the settings screen, on there on the lower left where you focus points are there should now be just one, it is movable between all the other focus points by lighting the screen with the info button and using the direction/navigation pad:)
 
Sounds like focus delay was causing your problems, or as hyperst said it could be the autofocus choosing the wrong point to focus on. Single point focus (or if you fancy a challenge, manual), or try continuous autofocus (I use this for my nephews who like to run at me). That way when you fully press the shutter button it should be in focus and focussing on the right point. Having enough light certainly helps keep your shutter speeds fast enough to freeze movement, and it helps speed up the autofocus a bit too, so days out to the park are a good practice ground.

Some lenses focus much faster than others, so maybe in the future it may be something to invest in.
 
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