Nikon 50mm f1.8 Not Focusing??

[MrJulius]

I bet it was because at 1.8 the shallow depth of field and the time between autofocus lock and shutter click was a fraction of a second too long.

Since the D90 doesn't have conitnous focus (I think), it may lock on focus wise, but 1/100 of a second later the skater may have moved 1 foot (just throwing out numbers) away from the camera, thus making the point of focus off, even though it is "locked on" in the camera's mind.

I am 98% sure that is what happened...

[rawHulk]

Mr Juluis.. You were right in the sense that I didn't use the Continuous Servo focus mode in my D90 and Yes the camera has it.

Lesson Learned: Always use Continuous Servo focus for moving objects and use as minimum an aperture as possible unless you need the DOF or the low light possibilities of the maximum apertures.

[Wombat]

Try next time shoot with hyperfocal settings. With 50mm f/1.4 it can be done very easy, and you can shoot sharp photos with out any problems. (you still have to set your shooter speed - but you can bracketing nicely on Nikon).
Hope it helps.

[Palladius]

I'm currently using the Canon 50mm 1.8, and I'm finding it a very challenging lens. The majority of my shots are coming out out-of-focus, even if they seem pretty good at the time. It's a bit dispiriting, but when it works it's very good.

[oktronic]

I have the D90 and the 50mm 1.8 and what got me was the DOF. Took me freaking forever to figure it out as well, I thought it was the lens, but if I set the apature to something like 7.1 then its all good. Its a very nice sharp lens.