Focus point

Hi all

I thought I would ask the community if they could help explain something to me. When I look through the view finder of my camera, I set my focus point directly on the eye. (Brackets are around the eye). So as far as I am concerned, my focus is spot on. My photos are not coming out sharp though. I look in viewNX 2 and it shows the focus point as being lower than the eye, just under the eye in fact. What is happening here? is my camera focus points wrong or ViewNX 2. Totally confused with this.

angelamorgan said:

Hi all

I thought I would ask the community if they could help explain something to me. When I look through the view finder of my camera, I set my focus point directly on the eye. (Brackets are around the eye). So as far as I am concerned, my focus is spot on. My photos are not coming out sharp though. I look in viewNX 2 and it shows the focus point as being lower than the eye, just under the eye in fact. What is happening here? is my camera focus points wrong or ViewNX 2. Totally confused with this.

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Well a couple questions first...

1. Are you shooting JPG or RAW?
2. What lens, aperture and shutter speed were you using on these not-so-sharp photos?

While I don't use View NX to post process, I would hazard to guess the issue you're having is because View NX is simply not rendering the location of the focus point precisely. If you post up one of the shots that you're not happy with it might help us give you some suggestions.

....

ViewNX 2 simply saves the point where focus was made in the view at the time of focus lock. If, for instance, you focus on the eye, and then shift the view before the shot, the focus point shown in VNX 2 will move also, even thought the true focus point is still the eye.

So, what VNX 2 is showing is which focus point(s) in the viewfinder were used, not the actual point of focus of the image.

Posting the image in question with info mentioned by Horoscope Fish would help us see what is happening.

Many thanks.
Because quite a few of my photos were off focus, and I am a relatively a new person to photography, I thought that I would test my focusing by doing a test with a focus chart. I was shooting in RAW. Nikon 55-200mm @ 55mm. Shutter 1/125. Apertrure f4. ISO100. The white box is where my focus point was in the view finder. The Red box is where ViewNX 2 is showing the focus point. (I did double check after to make sure that my focus point was correct).
I used back focusing which locked my focus. A Tripod and a release shutter button so there would be minimal movement.

Is your camera set to a single focus point? Or the matrix or combination of focus points?

The D3100 comes with four different focus point options.

Single-point AF: You select the focus point.

Dynamic-area AF: You select the focus point and the D3100 will use surrounding focus points if the subject moves after locking focus (with AF-A or AF-C enabled).

Auto-area AF: The D3100 automatically chooses the best focus point.
3D-tracking: You select the focus point and the D3100 tracks the subject as it moves through the frame (with AF-A or AF-C enabled).

Most beginners leave Auto-area AF on all the time, allowing the D3100 to make all the decisions. However, if you want to make sure your intended subject is sharp, you may want to experiment with Single-point AF. I use Single-point AF whenever I shoot portraits to ensure the eyes are in focus. I use 3D-tracking and Auto-area for sports and fast moving subjects. Dynamic-area AF is good for shooting macro subjects outdoors and portraits of babies. In both instances, if the subject slightly moves from it’s original focus point dynamic-area AF will use the surrounding focus points to lock focus. [/QUOTE]

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I was using AF-C.

Watching you tube videos, they say this is best so that you get a single point auto focus if you focus and lock or AF-C if you hold the back button in and track the subject. Sounded a really good idea.

Change from AF-C to Af-S

I will try that tomorrow to see if it makes any differece to the focus point position in Viewnx 2

Hi all.
I have sorted out my dillema.
I put my camera back to shutter focus and to AF -S and ViewNK 2 had the focus point in the correct place. Just to check the back focusing as well, I put the focus back onto back focusing, still using AF-S. Again ViewNX 2 had the correct focus point. Put it back to AF -C and the focus point was out again in ViewNX 2.

So it just goes to show really, diagnose all possibilities before reaching out for answers from the community. I would like to thank Fred Kingston who responded to my cry for help. Excellent.

angelamorgan said:

Hi all.
I have sorted out my dillema.
I put my camera back to shutter focus and to AF -S and ViewNK 2 had the focus point in the correct place. Just to check the back focusing as well, I put the focus back onto back focusing, still using AF-S. Again ViewNX 2 had the correct focus point. Put it back to AF -C and the focus point was out again in ViewNX 2.

So it just goes to show really, diagnose all possibilities before reaching out for answers from the community. I would like to thank Fred Kingston who responded to my cry for help. Excellent.

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The shift in focus point with AF-C means you shifted a bit.

Does that mean that with AF-S the focus is maintained at the point you chose even if you shifted a bit, or that the point is just shown as selected with camera not refocusing.

Not really sure what you mean.

In AF -C I had the camera on a tripod. I focused the camera using a separate shutter release button. I never touched or moved the camera and I never recomposed. I Checked in the view finder before and after the shot was taken and the focus point was in the same place, so no movement as far as I know. but in ViewNX 2 the focus point was different to my view through the viewfinder as shown in my pics. I put it back to AF -S and the result was exactly the same as I saw through the viewfinder Strange eh!