Focusing issues with auto area mode

Hi all,
I purchased the D3200 a couple of months ago and have read the dummies guide to help me understand how to use the different settings. My first SLR camera. Just back from a city break away and I've had problems with focusing using the Auto area mode setting. Anything away in the distance it wouldn't focus and refuse to take the shot. In single point it was fine. Any close objects i found using auto area no problem at all.The full settings I use are Aperture Priority,focus mode AF-S,Auto area mode,metering set to matrix. 90% of the time my photos are landscape and cityscape. I thought auto area used all 11 focus points to focus.

Sorry for waffling on but I love this camera but it's gets frustrating!I know it's operator error somehow

Thank you,
Paul

Welcome to the forum

slates71 said:

Hi all,
I purchased the D3200 a couple of months ago and have read the dummies guide to help me understand how to use the different settings. My first SLR camera. Just back from a city break away and I've had problems with focusing using the Auto area mode setting. Anything away in the distance it wouldn't focus and refuse to take the shot. In single point it was fine. Any close objects i found using auto area no problem at all.The full settings I use are Aperture Priority,focus mode AF-S,Auto area mode,metering set to matrix. 90% of the time my photos are landscape and cityscape. I thought auto area used all 11 focus points to focus.

Sorry for waffling on but I love this camera but it's gets frustrating!I know it's operator error somehow

Thank you,
Paul

Click to expand...

Are you trying to focus on very low contrast areas like all white or all black? Dark environments will also cause this so if you're trying to focus off in the distance and the camera can't distinguish any difference in contrast it won't focus.

I usually use AF-C this way if I or the subject moves the camera refocuses..Try it, it might work for you..

Thanks for your reply guys. The subject was landscape/buildings and no movement. It was a clear sunny day too. What is the ideal settings for landscape and cities that I could try? I wonder if using single point focus that I might not be focusing properly as I'm not 100% sure which is the best focus point

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slates71 said:

Thanks for your reply guys. The subject was landscape/buildings and no movement. It was a clear sunny day too. What is the ideal settings for landscape and cities that I could try? I wonder if using single point focus that I might not be focusing properly as I'm not 100% sure which is the best focus point

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Click to expand...

Generally your going to want a smaller aperture for landscapes and cityscapes so start at f8 and adjust from there. Set your iso according to the available light. Really sunny day then iso 100 and go from there. Shutter speed can be adjusted now. Remember these are very general suggestions and these will always vary a lot in every situation. Take them as starting points and not set in stone settings.

The settings I use for landscape/cities are as follows. Please offer your frank opinion:
Aperture Priority
F8-F11 generally
AF-S Focus Mode
Auto Area AF
Auto ISO
Matrix metering

I read that these settings were generally good to use but the auto area AF doesn't always focus. I switch to single point but worry it might not focus correctly

If you really want to learn your camera and improve on your skills start shooting in manual only as it will force you to start analyzing the settings needed for the shot. The more you do it the better you will get at it. After you take a photo look at your histogram as this will help you in the long run.

Do this while you are around the house just messing around at first so you start to understand all the relationships between Shutter Speed, Apeture, and ISO.

Also use your exposure meter in your viewfinder to help guide you as you make changes to your settings.

slates71 said:

The settings I use for landscape/cities are as follows. Please offer your frank opinion:

Aperture Priority
F8-F11 generally
AF-S Focus Mode
Auto Area AF
Auto ISO
Matrix metering

I read that these settings were generally good to use but the auto area AF doesn't always focus. I switch to single point but worry it might not focus correctly

Click to expand...

Those settings sound fine.

I suggest you use "AF-A" auto-focus mode; in this mode the camera will switch automatically between several different modes and it's really good at knowing when to do this and which mode to use. Second, for your AF-area use "Auto-area AF", this too is the default mode and the camera should do a pretty good job of figuring out what to focus on. It can, however, be distracted or fooled, by a lot of stuff in the foreground. If that's the case simply switch to "Single point" and choose what you want to focus on yourself.

...

slates71 said:

The settings I use for landscape/cities are as follows. Please offer your frank opinion:
Aperture Priority
F8-F11 generally
AF-S Focus Mode
Auto Area AF
Auto ISO
Matrix metering

I read that these settings were generally good to use but the auto area AF doesn't always focus. I switch to single point but worry it might not focus correctly

Click to expand...

Try shooting in manual mode primarily and learn the relationship between shutter speed, aperture and iso. It will give you a better understanding of what's going on in any particular situation. With the settings you have, you're letting the camera do a lot of the work and it can be wrong.

These are the general settings I start at for a landscape shot:
Manual mode - I personally don't want my camera doing any guess work
WB Auto - shooting RAW so I can fix this in post
iso - manual - start at 100 on a really sunny day and higher with less light
Aperture - start at f8 and adjust for better depth of field if needed
Shutter speed set according to the exposure meter with the above settings in place
AF - Continuous and the focus activation moved to the AE-L/AF-L button
Dynamic Area
Matrix Metering

To me, the most important thing any photographer should know before he takes any pictures is What is my point of interest, what do I want to show in this picture. The answers to these questions cannot be answered by any camera's focusing system. Only the person behind the lens knows what the picture will be about. Hence, I only and always use a single point focus and will focus on the area I want in focus and then recompose. For me, this is the best way to use auto-focus. And if I want to be really certain and the subject don't move, I'll then use Live-View focus.

Enjoy your Nikons!

Thank you all for your help. I'll have a play around a bit mo to receive. Seam to think that auto Af works fine with something in the foreground be it a building or a tree etc but I shoot a lot of distance landscape which obviously isn't liked by auto Af. Thanks anyway.

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