Have nature and wildlife photography questions? Check out the BCG Forums! Ask and answer gear and technique questions questions, post photos and more. Check it out and sign up today! bcgforums.com/index.php Bonus - I also post exclusive tips, tricks, and techniques to the forum you can't get anywhere else! Check it out!
I wasn't expecting to learn much but was I surprised. Never knew AF sensors could get dirty and that the AF points in the viewfinder could be inaccurate. Will be printing the test chart and checking my cameras. Excellent.
Thank you Steve, and I also know that that alot of people are not getting a sharp focus because their camera's auto focus is on while using a tripod, with this, the camera will think there is something it needs to adjust just when you take a photo shot.
I've purchased and chewed through your Metering/Exposure book as well as Secrets to Auto Focus. Both are fantastic. I'm a Canadian Military photographer, Imagery Technician, and both books have been invaluable to me at work and at home while shooting. Highly recommended.
Hi Steve, this is an excellent presentation. Judging by the ratio of likes to dislikes, it is amongst the best videos on the topic. Really appreciated your insight of the dirty AF sensor and the proper cleaning techniques.
Thanks! It's funny - on my last trip my D500 wasn't focusing very well and wasn't able to track anything. I actually thought maybe the camera was having an issue but first blew off the AF sensors. A small little dust bunny floated out of the mirror box and my AF problems were over :) And that's not the first time that little trick has worked for me.
I was super happy and a lucky one to fixed the issue by just cleaning the connectors. the af would not focus at all, or would work but in af-c would constantly rattle, trying to find focus. Now it's buttery smooth. thanks!
Excellent. I had a major focus problem with my K-1 for only one lens, a TAMRON 28-75, i have gone to the K-1 setup to fine adjust the focus for this lens and got a right focus now. Thank you for these useful informations.
You always present great videos Mr. Perry! Consistently clear, concise, and very informative. You, Lindsay Adler, Joe McNally, Daniel Norton and Jerry Ghionis comprise my A list of youtube instructors. I have learned a lot from your videos even after shooting professionally for 15 years. Please keep them coming!
Another great video, Steve. I especially like the pacing of your presentations, the precise terminology, and the high production quality. And I always learn something! Many thanks.
I'm a total novice and wilderness photography & mostly video will be my focus. Thank you for a well put tutorial that was easy to understand. Too many pros talk to newbies as if they are already packed with the technical terminology.
Steve, I want to thank you for your wonderfull works. I love the way you present thing. Even if I am French from Quebec, I always understand your explanations. I follow you since at least 4 or 5 years and I realy appreciate your presentation. It's clear, accurate and very very interesting. And your shots sometime makes me falling down of my chair ! Sorry for my English. Thanks to you Steve
Steve: I enjoy your videos much, even though I have a hard time understanding them. For two years I have been unable t walk which puts limits on my mobility and thus my ability to make a contribution to your website at this time, plus I suffer from a form of dimentia related to my condition. I hope you understand. Bob Nicholson
Thank you so much for this video! I tried everything on my mirrorless Olympus Pen EPL9. One of my lenses was working fine while the other was no longer able to autofocus, which I need for videos. I thought I broke my lens as the problem occurred after my lens was exposed to humidity during a longer trip. I don't have a cleaning mode on my camera, but I blew air inside after turning it on without the lens, as I figured this was the only way of getting in that area. The problem was solved thanks to this, really appreciate your time in making this video!!
Hi Steve, I had been shooting for....rrrr...and embarrassingly I had been shooting single point AF-S for over 20 years until i bought your ebook yesterday. One word for you here is - a BIG THANK YOU for reducing the amount of my blurry images moving forward!
Hi Steve, Here's another cause and solution (which I have discovered the hard way) - settings in-camera for AE-L and AF-L remain in force even if the camera is switched off. So, if your camera is not auto-focusing, take a look at your AE-L/ AF-L settings.
OMG! Thank you. Just bought a 7200 and could figure out why my AF was off across the entire frame. From a distance it seemed like it was sort of focusing but zoomed in nothing was and having watched this I adjusted my camera from AF-S A to AF-S S and bingo problem solved. I love this camera now.
THANK YOU for this video! My Canon EOS 5D Mark IV began being unable to autofocus when the central AF point was selected and I've spent the most horrific 24 hours pretty much tearing my hair out, convulsing out of despair, and wondering what to do, as I have a planned trip coming up soon and I'm just not going with a slightly malfunctioning camera. Your advice to clean the AF sensor solved my problem and I am nearly in tears of joy at the moment. My camera got me quite emotionally unstable these past 24 hours, but I love it so.
Steve, you rock! What you made here is a simple, yet effective video on a subject that everyone kinda knows, however you gave it a meaning and logic behind it. Good job and thank you
Another great and extremely informative video. Thanks so much Steve, your knowlege and ability to present has helped me out a several times. It is greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much. You advice was very valuable to me. I just bought a Nikon F4s and it is suppose to arrive today. I am so excited to start taking pictures of wildlife.
Many thanks for the tips!! I was having issues with my 70-200mm F2.8 Nikon (on multiple bodies) and was going quite nuts trying to figure out why it wouldn't focus properly. If I pushed it to one extreme end of the range, it would come back and focus but then I'd have to do it again for the next shot. Quite a PITA as Grizzlies don't tend to want to wait around! I had tried everything (at least I thought I had) and couldn't get it to work properly. I was just about to send it in for service when I saw your video and realized that I hadn't tried cleaning the contacts!! (Duh!!) You guessed it, working like a charm again and no big service charges for sending it in. Thank Steve!!!
Awesome! I actually just had to clean the contacts on my D5 and 600mm - it was acting odd from time to time - and everything went back to normal instantly.
Thanks for this great video! Easy to understand, well paced so that notes can be taken while listening to your presentation. Biggest challenge for me with my Canon t7 has been trying to capture birds in flight. I am a newbie that is trying not to get frustrated in trying to capture them. The good news is that this is digital and I am not going through a lot of film (LOL), so the saving grace on that. Thanks
Here is a thing about Auto Focus Fine Tuning. I have a Nikon-D850 body and one of my favorite lens is the 200-500mm. I use this 90% of the time on the far end. And therefore decided to calibrate the lens at 500mm, using the AF Fine tuning. Having set up the camera and high contrast target, I went through the procedure. Everytime it would give a different value for adjustment from +1 to +10. I proceeded as Steve had suggested in his book. Well after twenty different reading, I took an average of about +8.63. Set the value as +9. Absolutely no improvement. Set it at +8, nothing. In desperation tried all the value from +1 to +10, -1 to -10 with useless results. Then I switched off the AF Tuning. And oh! boy! Crisp, Clear and highly focused Photos. Then I tried my 70-200mm f2.8 and other lenses. They all work the best with AutoFocus switched off. So before you plunge your hard earned money in useless gadgets and software, Manually check setting at all points of adjustment as well as AFT turned off.
Steve, As always a very impressive video! To say that you have a remarkable talent for explaing technical subject matter with absolute clarity would be quite an understatement. Although a very experienced photography I never fail to learn something new when reading your articles or watching your videos. And if your fantasic E Book "Secrets To Stunning Wildlife Photography" was a printed on paper version I'd have worn the pages out months ago I refer to it so often. Keep up the Great Work!
Great video with a lot to digest. I took a shot of our cat (Nikon D3200/18-55mm/1/250@F8/Manual focus) in bright daylight. One eye is sharp, the other is slightly blurred. Driving me nuts!
Stopped by, picked up some valuable information, liked and subscribed. I've had my Canon 5D Mark IV almost 3y, and it's a BIG learning curve up from a 50D. Many thanks.
Steve, I tried your tip of using AF GRP setting for my sports images with the D500 and my images are actually sharper than using single focus point - thanks - wonderful reviews
Very helpful content, Steve. Also like your unpretentious yet passionate presentation style. Would not hesitate to recommend your channel to anyone looking to improve their technique and get more out of their zoo/wildlife photography.
Glad I found this video. Going to try the calibration tricks. I’m wondering if some of my issues are my eyesight. Was shooting some raccoons playing in a pond yesterday using my viewfinder due to the sun being a bit too harsh for using live view. Came home and looked at the photos to find out other parts of the scene were in focus but a lot of the time the raccoons weren’t. In the viewfinder they looked in focus but they ended up not.
Steve is such a nice guy and is one reason I don't make UA-cam videos lol...I wouldn't have put that, "I recently ran into a guy stuck in Single point!" Haha
This was fantastic, I just wish I would have seen it yesterday. My first time using AI servo, single point focus to shoot my nephews football game...a disaster. I hope in a way it's one of these problems you've mentioned. Canon 80D with a Tamron 2.8 G2. Out of about 450 shots, maybe 5 were in total focus, (sharp)...the rest were out of focus, actually the players next to him were much sharper, even though I know I had the 1 focus point on him. I'll have to check lens calibration...and technique. Thanks for the very informative video.
Thank you Steve - much appreciated.!. Very Interesting presentation - It gave me a chance to learn new functions of my camera - while trying to figure out why my D7200 body and 200-500 doesn't seem to synch. I'll make sure to listen to your other presentation as well.!.
Hi Steve, great video, I shoot football pics and my method of fine tuning my lens is with f2.8 take a pic of a stationary players feet at about 50 yds and fine tune the lens on the surrounding grass, easy!
Have nature and wildlife photography questions? Check out the BCG Forums! Ask and answer gear and technique questions questions, post photos and more. Check it out and sign up today!
bcgforums.com/index.php
Bonus - I also post exclusive tips, tricks, and techniques to the forum you can't get anywhere else! Check it out!
i tried today. said no new ppl now
Please 🙏 and a few others are doing it in the firstz lives kpmkkm0iipp~=~~××~~{1¶∆∆∆∆
I wasn't expecting to learn much but was I surprised. Never knew AF sensors could get dirty and that the AF points in the viewfinder could be inaccurate. Will be printing the test chart and checking my cameras. Excellent.
Thank you Steve, and I also know that that alot of people are not getting a sharp focus because their camera's auto focus is on while using a tripod, with this, the camera will think there is something it needs to adjust just when you take a photo shot.
Holy Auto Focus Batman, that's a lot of info, Fast! Great Tutorial.
Excellent, excellent, excellent. Steve shares professional advice with the world. And does so in a very instructive way. Thanks.
I've purchased and chewed through your Metering/Exposure book as well as Secrets to Auto Focus. Both are fantastic. I'm a Canadian Military photographer, Imagery Technician, and both books have been invaluable to me at work and at home while shooting. Highly recommended.
This is the best AF troubleshoot video on youtube
Wow you have a way with words, so easy to understand and very informative.
Hi Steve, this is an excellent presentation. Judging by the ratio of likes to dislikes, it is amongst the best videos on the topic. Really appreciated your insight of the dirty AF sensor and the proper cleaning techniques.
Thanks! It's funny - on my last trip my D500 wasn't focusing very well and wasn't able to track anything. I actually thought maybe the camera was having an issue but first blew off the AF sensors. A small little dust bunny floated out of the mirror box and my AF problems were over :) And that's not the first time that little trick has worked for me.
I was super happy and a lucky one to fixed the issue by just cleaning the connectors. the af would not focus at all, or would work but in af-c would constantly rattle, trying to find focus. Now it's buttery smooth. thanks!
Thanks! I didn't even think to look for dirty AF sensors.
Excellent. I had a major focus problem with my K-1 for only one lens, a TAMRON 28-75, i have gone to the K-1 setup to fine adjust the focus for this lens and got a right focus now.
Thank you for these useful informations.
Thank you for this.. just tried the 1st step.. and it works perfectly on my 70-200 gm1 lens..🙏🙏☺️
You always present great videos Mr. Perry! Consistently clear, concise, and very informative. You, Lindsay Adler, Joe McNally, Daniel Norton and Jerry Ghionis comprise my A list of youtube instructors. I have learned a lot from your videos even after shooting professionally for 15 years. Please keep them coming!
Another great video, Steve. I especially like the pacing of your presentations, the precise terminology, and the high production quality. And I always learn something! Many thanks.
You sir are the best! Straight shooter. I’ve learned more watching your videos than any other camera youtuber. Keep up the great work!
I'm a total novice and wilderness photography & mostly video will be my focus. Thank you for a well put tutorial that was easy to understand. Too many pros talk to newbies as if they are already packed with the technical terminology.
Wow. 2 minutes googling autofocus issues and found this. The information in this video will keep me experimenting for days. Thanks Steve.
I have a problem with Nikon D810.The problem is there is a dark side in the outline of the pic.Anyone can help me.
Steve, I want to thank you for your wonderfull works. I love the way you present thing. Even if I am French from Quebec, I always understand your explanations. I follow you since at least 4 or 5 years and I realy appreciate your presentation. It's clear, accurate and very very interesting. And your shots sometime makes me falling down of my chair ! Sorry for my English. Thanks to you Steve
Steve: I enjoy your videos much, even though I have a hard time understanding them. For two years I have been unable t walk which puts limits on my mobility and thus my ability to make a contribution to your website at this time, plus I suffer from a form of dimentia related to my condition. I hope you understand.
Bob Nicholson
I saved this so that I can watch it again after following your suggestions. Thanx
Thank you so much for this video! I tried everything on my mirrorless Olympus Pen EPL9. One of my lenses was working fine while the other was no longer able to autofocus, which I need for videos. I thought I broke my lens as the problem occurred after my lens was exposed to humidity during a longer trip. I don't have a cleaning mode on my camera, but I blew air inside after turning it on without the lens, as I figured this was the only way of getting in that area. The problem was solved thanks to this, really appreciate your time in making this video!!
That's awesome! Glad it helped :)
you never cease to impress with the tips and tricks you have in your videos. thank you so much
Hi Steve, I had been shooting for....rrrr...and embarrassingly I had been shooting single point AF-S for over 20 years until i bought your ebook yesterday. One word for you here is - a BIG THANK YOU for reducing the amount of my blurry images moving forward!
Thanks for the purchase and I'm glad it helped :)
Thank you for the great review Steve, your experience and knowledge are what makes your reviews the best.
Hi Steve, Here's another cause and solution (which I have discovered the hard way) - settings in-camera for AE-L and AF-L remain in force even if the camera is switched off. So, if your camera is not auto-focusing, take a look at your AE-L/ AF-L settings.
OMG! Thank you. Just bought a 7200 and could figure out why my AF was off across the entire frame. From a distance it seemed like it was sort of focusing but zoomed in nothing was and having watched this I adjusted my camera from AF-S A to AF-S S and bingo problem solved. I love this camera now.
THANK YOU for this video! My Canon EOS 5D Mark IV began being unable to autofocus when the central AF point was selected and I've spent the most horrific 24 hours pretty much tearing my hair out, convulsing out of despair, and wondering what to do, as I have a planned trip coming up soon and I'm just not going with a slightly malfunctioning camera. Your advice to clean the AF sensor solved my problem and I am nearly in tears of joy at the moment. My camera got me quite emotionally unstable these past 24 hours, but I love it so.
thank you so much..was facing issue with AF...i cleaned the contacts ..it worked
Great video explained a lot to me as a beginner in photography having a blast TY
Awesome 👍. Your tutorials are always rich in information . Thanks
Excellent! I got some great tips from this video! Will be watching it again and again.
Hi Steve. I came across your video while looking for a solution for my autofocus problems. Thanks to your advice I'm back up and running!
Plain, simple, fact presentation, solutions...GREAT VIDEO! TY!
Thank you! I blew the AF sensors with the blower and now AF works.
Another great video, Steve!
You are fast becoming a favorite photo channel for me! Keep up the great work!
Wow! I've had problems with focus for a while! Big piece of lint on af sensor. Thank You!
You’re really growing on me, Steve! Thanks for all the awesome content
Steve, you rock!
What you made here is a simple, yet effective video on a subject that everyone kinda knows, however you gave it a meaning and logic behind it. Good job and thank you
Another great and extremely informative video. Thanks so much Steve, your knowlege and ability to present has helped me out a several times. It is greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much. You advice was very valuable to me. I just bought a Nikon F4s and it is suppose to arrive today.
I am so excited to start taking pictures of wildlife.
Thanks, you really explain the difficult very simply.
Great straight forward video and a good refresher on autofocus - thanks
Many thanks for the tips!! I was having issues with my 70-200mm F2.8 Nikon (on multiple bodies) and was going quite nuts trying to figure out why it wouldn't focus properly. If I pushed it to one extreme end of the range, it would come back and focus but then I'd have to do it again for the next shot. Quite a PITA as Grizzlies don't tend to want to wait around! I had tried everything (at least I thought I had) and couldn't get it to work properly. I was just about to send it in for service when I saw your video and realized that I hadn't tried cleaning the contacts!! (Duh!!) You guessed it, working like a charm again and no big service charges for sending it in. Thank Steve!!!
Awesome! I actually just had to clean the contacts on my D5 and 600mm - it was acting odd from time to time - and everything went back to normal instantly.
Thanks for this great video! Easy to understand, well paced so that notes can be taken while listening to your presentation. Biggest challenge for me with my Canon t7 has been trying to capture birds in flight. I am a newbie that is trying not to get frustrated in trying to capture them. The good news is that this is digital and I am not going through a lot of film (LOL), so the saving grace on that. Thanks
Here is a thing about Auto Focus Fine Tuning. I have a Nikon-D850 body and one of my favorite lens is the 200-500mm.
I use this 90% of the time on the far end. And therefore decided to calibrate the lens at 500mm, using the AF Fine tuning. Having set up the camera and high contrast target, I went through the procedure. Everytime it would give a different value for adjustment from +1 to +10. I proceeded as Steve had suggested in his book. Well after twenty different reading, I took an average of about +8.63. Set the value as +9. Absolutely no improvement. Set it at +8, nothing. In desperation tried all the value from +1 to +10, -1 to -10 with useless results. Then I switched off the AF Tuning. And oh! boy! Crisp, Clear and highly focused Photos. Then I tried my 70-200mm f2.8 and other lenses. They all work the best with AutoFocus switched off. So before you plunge your hard earned money in useless gadgets and software, Manually check setting at all points of adjustment as well as AFT turned off.
I agree 100% - ONLY use AFFT if you have an actual problem.
you've given me hope and tools. thank you
Steve, As always a very impressive video! To say that you have a remarkable talent for explaing technical subject matter with absolute clarity would be quite an understatement. Although a very experienced photography I never fail to learn something new when reading your articles or watching your videos. And if your fantasic E Book "Secrets To Stunning Wildlife Photography" was a printed on paper version I'd have worn the pages out months ago I refer to it so often. Keep up the Great Work!
+boatman222345 Thanks so much for the kind words and the book purchase! I'm glad it's been helpful :)
clean image sensor option in NIkon solved my focus hunting problem . Thanks a tons
There is so much information in their video, thanks for taking the time to make it.
Thanks Steve. I like your pace and straight forward style.
Great video with a lot to digest. I took a shot of our cat (Nikon D3200/18-55mm/1/250@F8/Manual focus) in bright daylight. One eye is sharp, the other is slightly blurred. Driving me nuts!
I haven,,t watched his videos before but I find this one very informative. I hope to here more from him in the future.
An enjojable well thoght out video about one of my gret passions. Great work Steve.
Thank you for helping me solve a decade old problem on my Nikon D90. Subscribed!
One of the best photography videos I've ever watched, thaaaanks Steve
Stopped by, picked up some valuable information, liked and subscribed. I've had my Canon 5D Mark IV almost 3y, and it's a BIG learning curve up from a 50D. Many thanks.
Your absolutely an amazing photographer!! Thank you for all your videos! Lifesaver
Really excellent video, Steve! Some things covered in here I've never seen covered elsewhere before.
couldn't for the life of me work out why my d7200 was focus hunting so badly on the last trip I took, thanks for the tips on cleaning the AF sensor!
Great video, Steve. I did buy your ebook a while back and found it to be a treasure trove of useful information to help me in my wildlife photography.
+Casey Balvert Thanks for the purchase - and for the kind words :)
Thank you for this excellent tutorial.
So glad I just found you. Was about to sell my Nikon d3300 and pay much more for another camera. Thanks.
I really liked you video. It helped me solve a persistent issue. A minor note: "The lens needs" to be "calibrated".
Another excellent and highly professional video thanks Steve
Another fantastic and helpful video Steve. Thanks!! 👍🏻📷
Very educational indeed......so much to learn in Photography.........!
Excellent video Steve.... Lots of detail. Appreciate your sharing.
Steve, I tried your tip of using AF GRP setting for my sports images with the D500 and my images are actually sharper than using single focus point - thanks - wonderful reviews
Excellent video. Thanks, Steve.
Thx... very helpful... all my best from Bucharest...
Thank you so much for this informative, organized and articulate video.
thanks Steve.. you are really my inspiring mentor in wild life photography:)
Great video that covers a ton of information., THANK YOU
Thanks Steve! An excellent and worthwhile video!
Very helpful content, Steve. Also like your unpretentious yet passionate presentation style. Would not hesitate to recommend your channel to anyone looking to improve their technique and get more out of their zoo/wildlife photography.
Clearly explained. Easily followed. Great info!! Thank you!
I love your videos. I have a Nikon D7100 and a D800. I've learned to much from you.
Excellent presentation. Very valuable even if you have been using a camera for 40 years. Love your pdf book
Glad I found this video. Going to try the calibration tricks. I’m wondering if some of my issues are my eyesight. Was shooting some raccoons playing in a pond yesterday using my viewfinder due to the sun being a bit too harsh for using live view. Came home and looked at the photos to find out other parts of the scene were in focus but a lot of the time the raccoons weren’t. In the viewfinder they looked in focus but they ended up not.
Steve is such a nice guy and is one reason I don't make UA-cam videos lol...I wouldn't have put that, "I recently ran into a guy stuck in Single point!" Haha
Great tutorial! This really helped! Thank you!
Your videos are always great with a lot of info, your books are also packed full of info. Thanks for your efforts
Good video! This is my first time watching your stuff and you have a couple of points I have never heard of before. I appreciate the effort!
Really helpful, my af is driving me barmy so I’ll take each one on board
Thanks
Great information
You’re a gifted communicator
Your work is awesome, thanks for sharing your experience & knowledge. Gratitude mate.
Fantastic video, Steve really A+, keep up the good work.
No.1 photography. 👍🙏🇮🇳
This was fantastic, I just wish I would have seen it yesterday. My first time using AI servo, single point focus to shoot my nephews football game...a disaster. I hope in a way it's one of these problems you've mentioned. Canon 80D with a Tamron 2.8 G2. Out of about 450 shots, maybe 5 were in total focus, (sharp)...the rest were out of focus, actually the players next to him were much sharper, even though I know I had the 1 focus point on him. I'll have to check lens calibration...and technique. Thanks for the very informative video.
Thanks Steve. I'll check out the cleaning of the contact points. My D500 has been dissapointingly soft vs the D4
Excellent video ! Thank you 👌🏾
Great tips Steve!!! Thanks a lot for this very informative video.... It helps a lot
Thank you Steve - much appreciated.!. Very Interesting presentation - It gave me a chance to learn new functions of my camera - while trying to figure out why my D7200 body and 200-500 doesn't seem to synch. I'll make sure to listen to your other presentation as well.!.
I really enjoy how present your content. one of the best I listen to thanks
Thank you so much. My camera started working again!
Hi Steve, great video, I shoot football pics and my method of fine tuning my lens is with f2.8 take a pic of a stationary players feet at about 50 yds and fine tune the lens on the surrounding grass, easy!
Thank you so much for your video, very helpful. Will go and try those tips right now.
Didn’t know about the AF sensor, and contacts clean! 👏
Hi Steve I am very impressed with you UA-cam video. I find it very useful. I'm a photographer.
i use many lenses bat not properly work on focus