More Questions From the D7100 Newbie.

L

Lawrence

Senior Member
With a choice of 11 0r 51 focal points to choose from what is best?
It makes sense to use 51 to me purely because they are there (I figure there must be a good reason) ...

Does 51 chew up more battery?
Does it give sharper focus?

Talk to me and advise please.

I am sure my mate [MENTION=6277]Don Kuykendall[/MENTION] can answer this from a perspective of personal experience :)
 
L

Lawrence

Senior Member
Ironwood said:
I just use one focus point and move it to where I want it.
Click to expand...

Brad I understand that but with 11 points you can only move it to 11 positions so with 51 I assume one can be more pinpoint because there are an additional 40 points to choose the 1 from. Hope that makes sense.
Is your camera set to 11 or 51?
 
B

Blacktop

Senior Member
Mine is set to 51, but honestly I mostly use the center one and a few that surrounds it. I can easily live with 11, but I paid for 51.;)
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Lawrence said:
With a choice of 11 0r 51 focal points to choose from what is best?
It makes sense to use 51 to me purely because they are there (I figure there must be a good reason) ...

Does 51 chew up more battery?
Does it give sharper focus?

Talk to me and advise please.

I am sure my mate [MENTION=6277]Don Kuykendall[/MENTION] can answer this from a perspective of personal experience :)
Click to expand...
A really good read on this subject is Nasim's article, DSLR Autofocus Modes Explained on Photography Life.
....
 
P

Pretzel

Senior Member
From what I understand, Lawrence, limiting to just 11 choices instead of 51 just allows you to jump to specific points faster when shifting on the fly. I typically just run in 51 point mode for the added flexibility.

When the focus is specific and critical, I go center point only. Lock the focus, then re-frame and shoot.
 
W

WayneF

Senior Member
99.9% of the time, mine is on single point. I don't do much birds in flight. Landscapes and portraits and macro and such really don't move, and I strongly prefer focus to be where I put it. It would be something really exceptional to need more than one. Manuals all say "use single point for stationary subjects".
 
J

J-see

Senior Member
I'm always on AF-C. If birding mostly on d9. I tried the others but more points result in more focus problems. I mostly have something in focus with more points but rarely what I intended. There is loads of background here which tends to grab my focus. If not birding I'm always on S.
 
L

Lawrence

Senior Member
Those are awesome reads. So thanks to everyone for posting and contributing.
This was time well spent to learn more about the camera's capabilities. I won't remember all the stuff initially but knowing about it is good.
My head is spinning from all the info and if it wasn't 9.00 am I would have a drink! :)

This is a seriously impressive camera.
 
M

Moab Man

Senior Member
I'm curious, those of you that are majority 51 points focus, what are you taking pictures of utilizing that many points and in what focusing mode? Or maybe I"m not understanding something that's being said.
 
L

Lawrence

Senior Member
Moab Man said:
I'm curious, those of you that are majority 51 points focus, what are you taking pictures of utilizing that many points and in what focusing mode? Or maybe I"m not understanding something that's being said.
Click to expand...

That's a good question George and I hope someone replies.
From my reading (lots of it) there is no disadvantage to using 51 points. Basically you've bought the camera with the goodies so why not use them?
The article posted earlier https://photographylife.com/dslr-autofocus-modes-explained is an interesting read on this (as are the other articles but this was a bit easier to follow for me)

Looking forward to hearing more definitive answers to your question as to "why" peeps on here use 51 points
 
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