How do I make my camera shoot faster?

foghorn

Hello, when I push the Shutter-release button, it seems like it takes forever to take a photo. I took a picture with my friends camera and when I pushed the button, it took 4 pictures in a matter of seconds. Can the D3200 do the same? Thanks.

bruto

Is your problem with the initial time to take the first picture, or the speed with which it repeats?

For initial time, it should be fairly fast, but the speed will depend largely on how long it takes to auto focus. You can speed up auto focus partly by making sure that you aim at something auto focus likes - a bright contrasty point in the picture, not a dark shadow. If you can, prefocus near the point you're planning to aim at. Turn on the focus aid light too, which can help it to find a point to focus on when light is poor. Wider angles will usually focus faster than telephotos, and fast lenses (large aperture) will usually focus better than slower ones.

Some cameras might work faster if their priorities are reset, something the D3200 cannot do. Except in "back button focus" mode, the D3200 is "focus priority" only, and that means it must lock onto focus before the shutter fires. Many other cameras allow you to choose "release priority" for at least some focus modes, which allows a picture to be taken before focus has been found.

You might want to experiment with different auto focus modes. Auto area usually focuses pretty fast though not always where you want it. All the others start at a single point. If that single point is focusable, it should work very fast. For very difficult subjects, one option is single point, single servo focus. You can focus on any object, and then recompose while holding the shutter button halfway down, and the camera will fire without trying to refocus.

On the D3200, it is terribly easy to accidentally move the single focus point off center by bumping the control. If the focus point is off center in the sky or somewhere, it will cause problems. Use the [OK] button to recenter the focus point.

Just to make sure that your problem is focus speed and not something else, try turning AF off at the lens. Now shoot a picture. It will probably be blurry so you can erase it. But did it shoot quickly? If not, you have some other problem. The camera should have very little shutter lag.

For multiple shots, you can change the shutter actuation button from single to continuous. Depending on whether you're set to Raw, or to which of various JPG sizes, you'll get anything from 8 to endless shots in quick succession.

If you want auto focus and still want to shoot fast, you might want to look into mastering the use of back button focusing. A bit tricky to get used to, it can allow for very fast shooting at the risk of forgetting to focus sometimes. I will not bother to detail this, but you can look it up. Back button focus is the only way you can get release priority on a D3200.

foghorn

Thank you for the great response. I always used a point and shoot camera before I bought the D3200.
Now I can take multiple shots but they are not focused well. I will go over what you sent me again, thanks for the great help.

bruto

I should mention, just to be clear, that the camera is always in release priority if you choose manual focus. You need not switch AF off in the camera if there is an A/M switch on the lens. That is enough. When it's so dark or lacking in detail that you can't auto focus, such as when shooting skies or night scenes, you can switch to manual focus and it will always fire.