Helpful Tip; Focus in live view for macro shots

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Eraserfish

New member
I've had my D7000 for about 6 months now, and while I know quite a bit about it, I stumbled on a quick way to make macros turn out great while shooting yesterday. Many of you will know this, but some may not. I almost never use live view mode, due to the fact that focus is derived from contrast (like video uses) rather than the great phase detection it usually uses. This makes it slower to focus and to snap pictures, so I've only used it for framing shots on a tripod or when I physically can't get my eye to the viewfinder for some reason. Here's the TIP: While using your camera on a tripod to take a macro shot- switch to live mode and press the + button a couple of times to zoom in on the focus point (single point focus works best for macro obviously). While seeing this exploded view of your subject, you can manually focus your shot to perfection. I Kept coming home after a shoot to find out that many of my macros/ stills/ or even portraits were just slightly out of focus while using very large apertures, and this method has virutally cured that for stills and macros. People move around so most of us reach for the AF lenses at this point. If I really want to use manual focus for a head shot of a person or animal, I set my secondary ring to shoot continuous slow and focus as I snap a few shots (guarantees that you get the eyes in focus instead of the ear or nose).
Good shooting!
 
S

stmv

Senior Member
yes, LiveView really changed for the first time the way I frame a Digital SLR versus a film version. I almost always focus manually (although the D7000 autofocus is so good that been getting lazy lately), so,, the LV zoom mode is extremely handy and useful. A blessing for macro photography.

The other use I have been having is the use of exposure control. I am not sure if the D7000 can do this, but on my D800, the actual exposure is visible on the screen, so I can actually set my exposure by the LV screen. On my D700, I could not, and had to use the light meter. I have been pleased with the results. Now, I use LV for Macros and for water fall exposure control.
 
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grandpaw

Senior Member
stmv said:
yes, LiveView really changed for the first time the way I frame a Digital SLR versus a film version. I almost always focus manually (although the D7000 autofocus is so good that been getting lazy lately), so,, the LV zoom mode is extremely handy and useful. A blessing for macro photography.

The other use I have been having is the use of exposure control. I am not sure if the D7000 can do this, but on my D800, the actual exposure is visible on the screen, so I can actually set my exposure by the LV screen. On my D700, I could not, and had to use the light meter. I have been pleased with the results. Now, I use LV for Macros and for water fall exposure control.
Click to expand...

Yes you can see and use the exposure controls in live view on the D7000 also and see not only the numeric changes in the f-stop and shutter speed but how the actual exposure of the picture is effected in "M" mode. Jeff
 
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