In Focus!!

When I have my camera set up on 'macro', with 'aperature priority', then zoom right in, and it is on 'auto focus'. How can I tell what it is actually focusing on?

This shot was supposed to be focused on the truck.
 

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Drew1125

Active Member
Nice shot Drew!
I really like all the clutter, & junk laying around...the stuff in the bed of the truck looks exactly like what's in the back of the one out in my driveway!!:D
It looks like maybe they've had a flat tire, & have the right front jacked up to change it...:)
 

Bob Collins

Active Member
Sorry, but I have not gotten far enough along with developing my layout to know "Jordan." I assume it is a brand of model vehicles. Idf the pickup is representative of what they produce I am impressed.

Thanks for sharing with the pix.

Bob
 

Gary Pfeil

Active Member
Drew, What a great job you did building and painting that truck! I'd be real happy if I'm ever able to match it.

Gary
 

jon-monon

Active Member
Prob. are more ways AF cams focus than brand names of cameras. Some just focus on whatever is in the center, but many are more sophisticated than that. Perhaps the camera documentation will tell you, and understanding how it "thinks" may lead you to better control. My old Canon has a red light I can see on the subject only if I hold it out and don't use the rangefinder and where the red dot is, is the focal point. What a cool truck!
 

aartwmich

Member
Agrees with Jon. Maybe Shamus can help ya out. I have found that my digi cam often focuses on the brightest/lightest thing in the feild. which seems might be the case in your first pic.

Nice modeling anyway ;) awesome truck!
 
super bit of weathering on the truck drew and yes, you're right, Jordan vehicles are another reason I had started in HO. Alas they will have to remain unbuilt in my drawer as I'm changing to N gauge.

About the camera auto-focus.... it should tell you in the user manual which part of the rangefinder is the focus target area.

Chuckling here, when in doubt... read the manual! :D :D

Errol
 

Vic

Active Member
Excellent Truck Drew!!!:)

Many digital cameras don't have a "spot" like auto focus SLR's do and they focus on the brightest object in the frame. Perhaps there's away to overide the auto-focus. Check the manual and if that doesn't turn up anything, if not, try talking to some other owners of the same camera...thats how I found out how to overide the autofocus on my Sony. See my post in Charlie's thread about his Four Sisters Branch.

http://www.the-gauge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4098
 

railohio

Active Member
Originally posted by Vic
Many digital cameras don't have a "spot" like auto focus SLR's do and they focus on the brightest object in the frame.

Errr.... What SLR's have you used?
 

shamus

Registered Member
Hi Drew, No need to use Macro & Zoom together, zoom will overdride the Macro setting with what ever it looks at. Macro is really used for closeup work say (3" - 10") even so, depth of field will not be brilliant. Zoom isn't used much in Model Photography due to less depth of field than ever.

It is the f-stop that makes a difference to depth of field. I have my Digital set on f8 and 30th second shutter and on a tripod. You can get away with just using Aperture priority letting the shutter take care of itself but it would still need to be on a tripod. Use as much light as possible also.

Shamus
wink.gif


 
Sorry!

Thanks to all for the reply, sorry for the late reply. Just got in tonight from work and thought I better write back!

Shamus- OK, I won't use macro and zoom at the same time:eek: :eek: But when I do zoom in a bit to fill the frame better, the fstop # does increase automatically to about f4, then I can bump it up to f16 manually, which I try to do on all shots.

Vic- thats the problem, when I switch to manual focus, there doesn't seem to be a very acurate way to focus. It is kind of erratic, in and out of focus. I think I'll leave it on auto.

Satokuma- the truck is a Jordan kit, and it is the fourth one I've done now. The detail is very good, and delicate!! It is very hard to drybrush and apply weathering because the detail is so small. You really have to be carful when your holding it too, or you can brake a rear tire right off!!

kettlestack- the Jordan bus is next!! and oh yea, the manual ... now where did I put that:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Charlie- that is the first thing my wife said, "look, the one tire is off the ground". Come on, it's not like they have a 'working' suspension system!!

Jon- and you mentioned the documentation as well:eek: :eek: OK, I get the point!!

Santa brought the AC adapter for the camera, so I should just set it up now, and snap away. I can try all the variables to try to figure out, how to get the better shots.

OK Shamus, I've summed it up this way,
lots of light
use a tripod and remote
highest aperature setting
least amount of zoom.

sound about right?:) :)

Drew
 

jon-monon

Active Member
Drew, there shuld be nothing wrong with just using aperature priority instead of full manual, except that you may not be able to take an exposure other than what the internal meter "thinks" is right. You probably can though, because most cameras have some sort of adjustment you can make to the auto settings. On my 35 mm it has a +/- 1 to 3 steps in 1/4 steps, and the old standby is to just lie about the film speed if I need more than 3 steps over. You may have a "backlight" setting, which will cause an overexposure, if nothing else. But all the better if you can expose in 1 or 1/2 step incremnets.

Originally posted by shamus
Zoom isn't used much in Model Photography due to less depth of field than ever.

Shamus, is the depth of field reverse proportional to the focal length? I always thought the loss in DOF was due to the poorer light gathering of a longer lense, resulting in a larger aperature setting. So if I take an 80 to 210 mm zoom and take a shot at 80 mm, then 160 mm,all other settings identical, will the DOF halve?
 
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