my opinions on my new d500 and easy way to change focus mode

egosbar

Senior Member
having the camera for a few days , my opinions so far without shooting too much is awesome but it has small flaws imo

at this stage im thinking single point and group might be my main two focus modes

single for portraits and group for wildlife

there is no great way to change focus modes imo , the memory banks suck and you cant assign a focus mode to them ( why nikon)

so playing around i might use the top front function button to go to group focus mode , only problem is you have to hold it in , shame you couldnt cycle through the modes with this button release and the mode stays on , now that would suit my style , (nikon please look at that with a firmware update)

no easy iso , dam i know the iso button is close but i shoot mainly aperture priority so i have a back scroll wheel doing nothing , i can cut the step of pressing the button with easy iso , ( nikon please put that back with a firmware update)

memory banks absolutely suck , (nikon just join the two bank modes together and add assign focus modes to a bank and remember the default setting)

other then that so far a very very nice camera
 

captain birdseye

Senior Member
Yes.This is the only thing that bothers me about the system.
I was hoping to be able to change modes with the single press of a button without taking my eye off the viewfinder.
 

captain birdseye

Senior Member
There is a way to easily change focus modes but I think you need to use AF-ON to take advantage of it.
Apparently, if you set a function to select focus mode and AF-ON when you hold the button the camera will focus in the selected mode and return to its earlier setting when released.
Also, if you are an AF-ON user you can also program the joystick centre button to initiate focus in a selected mode.
I have not tried it yet but it looks promising.
Some of it is explained here;
https://www.flickr.com/groups/393420@N25/discuss/72157669060554191/
 

Daniel Aegerter

Senior Member
Yes, that works very well. At least for me.

My setup:
- BBF
- AF-ON set to single point
- Joystick set to group AF

That way, it is really easy to switch between two different AF modes.
 

egosbar

Senior Member
There is a way to easily change focus modes but I think you need to use AF-ON to take advantage of it.
Apparently, if you set a function to select focus mode and AF-ON when you hold the button the camera will focus in the selected mode and return to its earlier setting when released.
Also, if you are an AF-ON user you can also program the joystick centre button to initiate focus in a selected mode.
I have not tried it yet but it looks promising.
Some of it is explained here;
https://www.flickr.com/groups/393420@N25/discuss/72157669060554191/

be better if you could push the joystick to change focus modes , you can deselect the ones you dont use so maybe scroll through three or so
 

captain birdseye

Senior Member
be better if you could push the joystick to change focus modes , you can deselect the ones you dont use so maybe scroll through three or so

It is possible to have 3 different focus modes ready to change between without taking your eye from the viewfinder.
IE;Single point using the shutter half press to focus, goup using the af-on and D25 with the joystick button which still leaves the fn and pv buttons free for whatever you choose.
 
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