D3300 Newbie questions on Autofocus and Sports Mode

Hello All! I am a new owner of a D3300 and have the 18-55mm Kit lens and also purchased the 35mm F/1.8 DX lens to improve my photography and DSLR skills.

Recently, I chose to use the sport mode for photos of kids in our swimming pool, and noticed I was getting two consecutive shots every time I pressed the shutter release button. Is this by design?

Another issue I'm having is when I half-press the shutter release more than once to autofocus, it appears as if the camera wants to cycle through different objects or depths within the frame to focus on instead of locking in on my desired object (usually at the center focus point). Again, is this by design, and how can I change it to consistently focus only on the object at the center focus point?

Thank you for your insights!

gustafson said:

Recently, I chose to use the sport mode for photos of kids in our swimming pool, and noticed I was getting two consecutive shots every time I pressed the shutter release button. Is this by design?

Click to expand...

Could be that you're unaware you're double-pressing the shutter button or the camera's control dial could be set on C (Continuous) instead of S (Single). Check the control knob; the one on the left end of the body as you look at the back of the camera.

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gustafson said:

RAnother issue I'm having is when I half-press the shutter release more than once to autofocus, it appears as if the camera wants to cycle through different objects or depths within the frame to focus on instead of locking in on my desired object (usually at the center focus point). Again, is this by design, and how can I change it to consistently focus only on the object at the center focus point?

Click to expand...

See this tutorial on the D3300's Auto-focus Area Modes for a complete explanation regarding this.
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gustafson said:

Hello All! I am a new owner of a D3300 and have the 18-55mm Kit lens and also purchased the 35mm F/1.8 DX lens to improve my photography and DSLR skills.

Recently, I chose to use the sport mode for photos of kids in our swimming pool, and noticed I was getting two consecutive shots every time I pressed the shutter release button. Is this by design?

Click to expand...

On my D3200, at least, and I would assume the D3300 behaves the same, “sport” mode defaults to the “continuous” shooting mode rather than the “single frame” mode. If you hold the shutter button down, while in this mode, it will keep shooting as fast as it can.

The second button from the bottom, on the right side of the screen, just below the multi-selector, lets you change this mode, between single, continuous, timer-delayed, or remote-controlled modes.

gustafson said:

Another issue I'm having is when I half-press the shutter release more than once to autofocus, it appears as if the camera wants to cycle through different objects or depths within the frame to focus on instead of locking in on my desired object (usually at the center focus point). Again, is this by design, and how can I change it to consistently focus only on the object at the center focus point?

Click to expand...

Press the button indicated in red, and go to the menu item indicated in green.




The bottom option on this menu is the default mode, in which the camera tries to intelligently decide which focus points to use. The top item uses only a single focus point. Once you are in that mode, you can use the multi-selector to choose which focus point.

Try back button focus. what I use now and really like. I also have a 3300. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PN9R0D3pF0
Paul

Thanks for your inputs! Makes sense that the sports mode switches to "continuous" shooting. I will verify it. As for the autofocus issue, I had this happen with the 35mm prime lens where the focus seemed to change from nearby to farther objects. Will see if I can replicate it and reply back with more information on the settings. Thanks again!


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Bob Blaylock said:

On my D3200, at least, and I would assume the D3300 behaves the same, “sport” mode defaults to the “continuous” shooting mode rather than the “single frame” mode. If you hold the shutter button down, while in this mode, it will keep shooting as fast as it can.

The second button from the bottom, on the right side of the screen, just below the multi-selector, lets you change this mode, between single, continuous, timer-delayed, or remote-controlled modes.

Click to expand...

Yes, I just did a google and this is true for the d3300 as well. The manual does not seem to explain it though.

Paul, thanks for the vid on back button focusing, that is a great tip!


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So I can report that the D3300 does switch to continuous shooting in the Sports mode, so that explains that. As for the autofocus, I noticed mine was set to AF-Area, and in that setting seems to jump between subjects at wide apertures with the 35mm prime. switching to single point resolved the issue.

Also played around with the back button focus tip. Took some getting used to, but I can see how it can prevent inadvertent focusing errors when using the shutter release for focusing as well as taking the shot. For me, this happens in certain AF modes when taking portraits at wide apertures with multiple objects in the frame at varying depths.

Cool, insights, all. Thanks again!


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gustafson said:

So I can report that the D3300 does switch to continuous shooting in the Sports mode, so that explains that. As for the autofocus, I noticed mine was set to AF-Area, and in that setting seems to jump between subjects at wide apertures with the 35mm prime. switching to single point resolved the issue.

Also played around with the back button focus tip. Took some getting used to, but I can see how it can prevent inadvertent focusing errors when using the shutter release for focusing as well as taking the shot. For me, this happens in certain AF modes when taking portraits at wide apertures with multiple objects in the frame at varying depths.

Click to expand...

Nearly all of my early learning was on completely-manual cameras, which left it completely to me to decide where to focus, and how to set the exposure.

I've been somewhat amazed by the apparent intelligence with which my D3200 can now do all that automatically; but ultimately, the one thing it cannot do is read my mind and know for certain what I intend when I take a picture. It makes very good guesses, that are usually correct, but some times, I just have to take over, and control it manually.

The wide-area AF mode is an example, of course, of a mode where the camera looks at all the stuff in the scene and tries to decide which item on which you mean to focus. Sometimes, it gets it right, and sometimes, it does not. As you've found, single-point focus gives you more control over the chosen focus point. Some times, even that's not enough, and you just have to go to manual focus (not easy, alas, if you have the stock focus screen in your D3100, which, if it is like the one that case in my D3200, was pretty much useless for manual focusing).

Useful insights, Bob! Thanks very much!


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