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Following autofocus on Nikon with pocket wizards?
Daniel Malmberg, Photographer
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Huskvarna | Sweden | Sweden | Posted: 4:05 PM on 03.23.10 |
->> I am trying to help a friend to get following AF on a Nikon D3 with Pocket Wizards (had it working with Canon).
Anyone that had it working?
I suspect that the problems i due to a bad pre-trigger cable.
But i would be thankful for any input. |
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Brad Barr, Photographer
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Port St. Lucie | FL | USA | Posted: 4:24 PM on 03.23.10 |
| ->> I dont think this will work...even if it did "focus" how would you determine if it was indeed focusing on what you wanted it to???? |
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Daniel Malmberg, Photographer
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Huskvarna | Sweden | Sweden | Posted: 4:45 PM on 03.23.10 |
->> Brad.
I don't know if it is possible with Nikon.
I do know that you can achieve this with Canon and Pocket Wizards.
Would be interesting to know if anyone have tested it with Nikon att all? |
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Jonathan Castner, Photographer
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Denver | CO | USA | Posted: 4:54 PM on 03.23.10 |
| ->> If the camera is set to AF and you use a prerelease cable it acts as if the shutter button is halfway down. Thus it will focus on what the active AF is on. But for a remote that's tricky since you aren't sure what is actually in the viewfinder at the time. Sounds like a recipe for lots of misfocused images. |
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Brad Barr, Photographer
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Port St. Lucie | FL | USA | Posted: 4:59 PM on 03.23.10 |
| ->> how do you get the pw to "keep sending"....since its essentially an on/off signal. You'd think it would need to remain "on" in order to enable following..just like you have to keep your finger on the shutter/af on button to keep tracking your subject....am i missing something here?? |
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Daniel Malmberg, Photographer
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Huskvarna | Sweden | Sweden | Posted: 5:00 PM on 03.23.10 |
->> Thanks Jonathan!
Then it is the prerelease cable that is broken.
(Which was my theory from the beginning). |
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Brad Barr, Photographer
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Port St. Lucie | FL | USA | Posted: 5:09 PM on 03.23.10 |
| ->> Looking at Vincent LaForets blog...I'd say that perhaps you have misinterpreted what he said about follow focusing being capable with canon cameras....since it seems its not only not something that can be done via PW...it would seem it cant even really be done well using the just the "Canon" camera itself. |
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Brad Barr, Photographer
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Port St. Lucie | FL | USA | Posted: 5:14 PM on 03.23.10 |
->> Daniel,
You are talking about follow focusing for video purposes right? Since thats the normal use of the term "follow focus". I guess I'm wondering if I misunderstood what you were asking. Follow by definition implies a continuous effort of focusing...not sure how you would accomplish that via a brief signal such as a pw generates. |
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Jack Megaw, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Pittsburgh | PA | America | Posted: 5:35 PM on 03.23.10 |
->> Daniel,
I'm just taking a guess here - but could it be that you have the camera to only autofocus on the back button (AF-ON) setting and the camera won't focus plugged into the pre-trigger cable because it's waiting for the back button to be pushed?
-Jack |
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Mark J. Terrill, Photographer
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Simi Valley | CA | USA | Posted: 5:51 PM on 03.23.10 |
->> Jack has it right. You need to set the camera to front button focus. I've done it with both platforms. It does work. It's just not that consistent. 51 point autofocus works pretty well for this sort of thing.
Mark |
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Daniel Malmberg, Photographer
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Huskvarna | Sweden | Sweden | Posted: 5:55 PM on 03.23.10 |
->> Jack!
It's not due to settings.
We (i and my friend) managed to get it work with a wired remote trigger.
I really just wanted a confirmation that it is the pretrigger cable that is the problem for my friend.
All of my questions is answered.
Thanks everybody! |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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Boise | ID | US | Posted: 8:32 PM on 03.23.10 |
->> Daniel-
The trigger cable is the only thing that does anything with autofocus; the pocket wizards themselves just send a single trip across the shutter release terminal. The cable has to be it, if it works with another cable.
Brad-
It is an on/off signal - but it uses different pins for different purposes. With canon, you short one terminal to the ground terminal to simulate half-down, and the other to ground to simulate the shutter button. Nikon seems quite similar, but with a few other pins mixed in. |
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Brad Barr, Photographer
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Port St. Lucie | FL | USA | Posted: 10:26 PM on 03.23.10 |
->> Israel, I know how that works...but...I thought he was talking about true follow focus which is a function of video coverage...and one that isnt really doable with a dslr at this time...using pw or not.
PW only sends a single signal...doing true follow focus would require a constant signal.....like pressing the af button constantly to maintain tracking until you let up on it......its not a one signal sort of function. |
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Scott Serio, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Colora | MD | USA | Posted: 11:25 PM on 03.23.10 |
->> I am having trouble following this. All I know is that if you leave the AF on when you put down a remote, and don't put it into manual focus, every D3/D300/D700 I have ever used autofocuses. How? Who knows. All I know is that I have enough out of focus photos of horses running by from forgetting to kick the AF off to prove it.
I do know of some folks who will throw down a long lens on a remote, like a 400 and the D3 will cooperate and if the horses move towards the camera in the right plane, the D3 is sharp enough to get in focus images. |
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Mark J. Terrill, Photographer
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Simi Valley | CA | USA | Posted: 1:24 AM on 03.24.10 |
->> Brad,
The pocket wizard (using the proper cable) DOES send a constant signal to cause the camera to constantly focus just as though you had your finger pressed half way down whether your pushing the pocket wizard trigger or not. You can do this with a pre-release cable or with an ACC cable which is a stereo plug instead of a mono and goes in the bottom of the newer Pocket Wizard Multi Max's. The ACC cable also allows you to put the camera up days before you need it and then wake it up and put it in pre-release mode just before you shoot.
Mark |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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Boise | ID | US | Posted: 1:32 AM on 03.24.10 |
->> Mark-
Do they have the pinouts documented anywhere? I might like to make use of that sometime (I tend to make my own cables, etc). |
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Mark J. Terrill, Photographer
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Simi Valley | CA | USA | Posted: 3:20 AM on 03.24.10 |
->> Israel,
I'm sure it's out there somewhere. |
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Paul Roberts, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Cheltenham | UK | England | Posted: 3:30 AM on 03.24.10 |
->> Brad -
I'm sure Daniel is refering to 3D AF Tracking when he says 'follow focus' he's not talking about video at all.
All the OP was trying to find out was can it be done with a PW and if it's not working, is it the cable. |
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Daniel Malmberg, Photographer
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Huskvarna | Sweden | Sweden | Posted: 9:42 AM on 03.24.10 |
->> Thanks all of you!
SS is fantastic :)
It is 3D tracking my friend is asking for.
Now i know it is possible to achieve with the right cable and setting.
Israel:
Instructions for building the pretrigger cable is found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fslucas/1283253683/ |
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