Focus Priority

Ratsalad

New member
Hi Newbie to the forum here so please go easy on me ;)

I have a D5300, and am trying to set up for focus trap photography, but I can't seem to get the camera not to take pictures while out of focus, I've set it to af-s, back-button focus and single point focus. but locking the focus with the back button and then turning the camera away so the whole viewfinder is out of focus and pressing the shutter still takes a shot, the way I understood it is if the shot was out of focus the camera wouldn't fire?

Any help on this please... I'm running out of expletives to shout at it....

Thanks
 
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SteveH

Senior Member
Just to add - It seems that models of camera that don't have a dedicated auto focus button, change the focus priority mode when you set up back button focusing. My D7100 is the same.
 

Ratsalad

New member
Hmmmmm thanks Steve, that would make sense, as during my attempts to get it sorted out I switched to shutter release button focus and it didn't fire. But it wasn't the result I was trying to achieve from reading 'how to's' on trap focusing. So dismissed it.

Is there any way I can use focus traping with D5300, or is it another limitation of these entry level cameras.

Thanks again.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
I don't have the D5300 or manual handy, but on my Nikons there's a Release Priority menu option for each of the focusing modes and you can set it to Release or Focus. It is in the Autofocus section of the Custom Menus.
 

aroy

Senior Member
I find no "Custom Menu" in the D3300. That must be in the higher end models only.

Even I cannot set the Focus Priority mode, hence my AF-C shots are generally out of focus, one of the reasons I do not use it.
 

Vince1551

New member
There's an option to fire without being in-focus. I can't remember where but it's in the menu I'm sure


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Ratsalad

New member
There's an option to fire without being in-focus. I can't remember where but it's in the menu I'm sure


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you do remember please let me know, I can't find it, obviously I need it to do the opposite, I DON'T want it to fire while out of focus, but it fires no matter what I set the focus mode to, AF-A, AF-S or AF-C all fire while the shot is out of focus, I'm beginning to think there is a fault or a bug in my D5300's system.
 
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Lawrence

Senior Member
I think Jake is on to it.

I have a D5100 and the option to fire without focus is:
Custom setting menu > a Autofocus >a1 AF-C Priority selection > Release or Focus

Select release and you should be good to go. Or if it is on release then select focus.
I assume you want it to be in focus but able to recompose after locking focus.
 

Ratsalad

New member
I think Jake is on to it.

I have a D5100 and the option to fire without focus is:
Custom setting menu > a Autofocus >a1 AF-C Priority selection > Release or Focus

Select release and you should be good to go.

I've found that one, and tested in both focus and release and it fires while out of focus in both cases :(

Thanks for the help though guys, it is appreciated. :D
 

cbg

Senior Member
If I remember correctly, all of the research I have done on line seems to indicate that trap focus does not work on any of the recent Nikon bodies, except possibly the D4s. I don't have any of the links from that search, bit if you do a google search for trap focus and Nikon D5300, I think will be the result. Trap focus does not work on the newer bodies.
 

Ratsalad

New member
If I remember correctly, all of the research I have done on line seems to indicate that trap focus does not work on any of the recent Nikon bodies, except possibly the D4s. I don't have any of the links from that search, bit if you do a google search for trap focus and Nikon D5300, I think will be the result. Trap focus does not work on the newer bodies.

That would seem about right from the attempts I've made and failed, shame :( thanks for the heads-up though.

Although I still have a problem with the 'firing while out of focus' in all focus modes.... :(
 

aroy

Senior Member
That would seem about right from the attempts I've made and failed, shame :( thanks for the heads-up though.

Although I still have a problem with the 'firing while out of focus' in all focus modes.... :(

Inspite of all the brick bats he gets, at times Ken Rockwell can talk sense. Here is his take on "Trap Focus"
How to Shoot Sports

"[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]TRICK: you can get most AF Nikon cameras to wait and release the shutter only when an object has moved into a preset focus distance if you set the AE-L/AF-L button to AF ON (set in a custom function) and then keep the shutter pressed all the way down while NOT pressing the AE-L/AF-L button. This is called Trap Focus. How does this trick work? Presuming you have the camera set to AF-S mode the camera won't shoot until it thinks the subject is in focus. By setting the AE-L/AF-L button to AF-ON the camera won't focus itself unless you press that button. If you don't press the AF button the camera has to wait for the subject to move and when the "in focus" dot lights up the camera will shoot so long as you've been holding the shutter button all the way down. This trick works so long as you have the camera and lens set to AF-S mode and keep holding the shutter all the way down. If you set the camera to manual focus or touch the focus ring on an AF-s lens while holding down the shutter it will shoot at the wrong time. It's a primitive hack and I doubt it's smart enough to predict subject motion for good results photographing something like horses jumping over a fixed object, but worth a try. It also doesn't work if the subject is moving so fast that the camera doesn't notice it's in focus as the object flies by. Of course you need to prefocus the lens where you want it while not holding the shutter down.

I am going to try this today on bees today.
[/FONT]
 

Deleted

Senior Member
I understand that you can focus trap with the D810 & also the D800 with latest firmware. I am just trying to figure out how to do it.
 
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