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SITUATIONS WHERE AUTOFOCUS MAY NOT WORK AS EXPECTED
MANUAL FOCUS
Advanced Photography
3
Use Manual focus in situations where autofocus may not work as expected (➡P.42) or a lens
other than an AF Nikkor lens (➡P.19) is attached.
Focus can be set manually when the focus mode selector is set to M.
Focus the camera by turning the focusing ring
on the lens until the image can be seen clearly
in the matt surface of the viewfinder screen.
h When using a lens with the A-M select
function, set the switch/ring to “M” to focus
manually. If “M/A” (autofocus with manual
priority) is available with your lens, Manual
focus is possible either with the switch/ring set
to “M” or “M/A”. See the instruction manual of
your lens for details.
Autofocus may not work as expected in the following situations. In such situations, focus
manually using the clear matte field or focus on a different subject located at the same distance,
use AF lock (➡P.33) then recompose.
Low-contrast scenes
For example, where the subject is wearing
clothing the same colour as a wall or other
background.
Scenes with subjects within the focus brackets
located at different distances from the camera
For example, when shooting an animal in a cage
or a person in a forest.
Patterned subject or scene
For example, building windows.
Scenes with pronounced differences in
brightness within the focus brackets
For example, when the sun is in the background
and the main subject is in shadow.
Focus Aid
This allows you to check the focus of your shot
using the focus indicator “●” in the viewfinder.
You can use Focus Aid when the lens mounted
has an f-stop setting brighter than f/5.6.
1Position the selected focus area over the
object on which you want to focus.
2Turn the focusing ring on the lens.
Press the shutter button down halfway. When
the shot is in focus, the focus indicator “●” lights.
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Focus indicator
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To make focusing easier on this camera, the range in which the focus indicator “●” lights is set to a
fixed size. As a result, the camera does not react to slight movements of the focusing ring, thereby
avoiding flickering in the focus indicator “●”.
However, this means that the focusing position at the wide-angle setting is very slightly different
from the focusing position at the telephoto setting, so that the shot may not be optimally focused
even when the focus indicator “●” is lit. In this situation, you can focus precisely by positioning the
focusing ring in the middle of the range in which the focus indicator “●” lights.
