Why won't my camera take the pic?

[JerryR]

Hello all,

I'll admit that I'm pretty much brand new to wildlife photography and particularly ignorant sometimes when it comes to the operation of my camera. I am working hard to grow in knowledge but there's still things that perplex me sometimes. I have a low end kit camera a d5000 Nikon that I like and have gotten some good images from but I know it's not at the tier of many of the cameras that you use. Still I'm hoping you can advise me about a problem I'm having with it. I recently switched to using BBF on the camera and I really like that technique. I use it to activate focus when I press down on the AE/AF button and lock the focus when I release it. This seems to work well for locking in the focus at the best moment but I have an issue in that sometimes after doing so and having removed my finger from that button when I press the shutter release nothing happens. I was using the camera in continuous mode and I realize it doesn't have much of a buffer nor does it have much ability to capture sequential images and there seems to be some kind of cool down period too. I don't know if that's factoring into this reluctance to take the image when I press the shutter release but it's really maddening to have the subject dialed in and press down on the shutter release and have nothing happen. The only thing I have been able to observe is that it 'seems', and I use that word loosely, that when I have the image in the focusing rectangle then it will more frequently take the picture rather than if it's slightly off to the side of the centered focusing rectangle. However that's very empirical and could be completely wrong. So I'm hoping some of you may have used one of these cameras in the past or have some ideas about why the camera is reluctant to take the image when I press down on the shutter release given that I am not using the shutter release to do focus as well. I do believe light metering is still tied to the shutter release button. Could this be affecting it? Anyway thanks for any tips you can give me and I greatly respect you and I appreciate your help.

Kind regards,
Jerry

 

[BillW]

Are you using AF-S and focus priority for your AF mode? If so, the camera will not take picture unless it has achieved focus. I haven’t used a D5000, but my other Nikons DSLRs and mirrorless bodies work that way. With AF-C and release priority, the camera will take a picture when the shutter is released, even if focus is not perfect (but will continue to focus and may achieve it in time). Most wildlife shooters use AF-C and release priority in my experience.

 

[aolander]

The best use of AF-C would be to keep the AE/AF pressed while shooting even if it's a fairly static subject. Also, you may have Focus Priority set to Focus instead of Release. I don't know where to access that on a D5000 though. If you're focusing and recomposing, then press and release the AE/AF button. Otherwise do as above.

 

[Griffym]

There are lots of possible reasons for a camera not firing. What shutter release priority have you set? ( Focus or Release?) The D5000 doesn’t that have the old D90 focus unit in it? Only the centre point is reliable on that unit. How much contrast is in the scene? How large is the object you are aiming at? What are your focus limiter settings on the lens set to? How is the light (is it getting dark?)

 

[Patrick M]

with BBF on a D you may have set AF-S to focus priority and AF-C to shutter. However its possible to have changed other things too. try to do a reset

 

[bleirer]

I don't know, but the internet says to do this. It was on dpreview but I didnt save the link where I saw it.

"you need to set up the camera so it will take a picture even when focus has not been achieved. This is preferable in most situations because you may have focused and recomposed the shot. To do this, go to your Custom Setting Menu and choose Autofocus. Within this menu, select A1 “AF-C priority selection” and set it to “release.” Then set AF-S priority selection to “release” as well."

 

[Patrick M]

I don't know, but the internet says to do this. It was on dpreview but I didnt save the link where I saw it.

"you need to set up the camera so it will take a picture even when focus has not been achieved. This is preferable in most situations because you may have focused and recomposed the shot. To do this, go to your Custom Setting Menu and choose Autofocus. Within this menu, select A1 “AF-C priority selection” and set it to “release.” Then set AF-S priority selection to “release” as well."

with BBF its probably better to have AF-S set to focus release as that's probably why, using BBF you'd be in AF-S in the first place. AF-C has a double advantage in that you can really use it as AF-C but its ok too for single and recomposing,. The only advantage in using AF-S is that the focus square goes green when focussed.

 

[bleirer]

with BBF its probably better to have AF-S set to focus release as that's probably why, using BBF you'd be in AF-S in the first place. AF-C has a double advantage in that you can really use it as AF-C but its ok too for single and recomposing,. The only advantage in using AF-S is that the focus square goes green when focussed.

I think so too, but I can't think of a reason anyone would ever want af-s for bbf, but if they did use af-s, wouldn't it not fire unless the thumb was held down( if set to focus release)?

 

[Patrick M]

I think so too, but I can't think of a reason anyone would ever want af-s for bbf, but if they did use af-s, wouldn't it not fire unless the thumb was down?

I use it a lot that way for static subjects. and AF-S is set to focus - that means if I'm a tad unsteady I still get sharp images. I use AF-C 95% of the time as its simply great for just about everything else. I've used BBF for a century and when I tried to revert to shutter release focus my addled old brain stopped talking to my fingers. LOL