Nikon D5100 Experience Manual

Also see for D5100: User manual Reference manual Reference manual Reference manual User manual

Nikon D5100 Experience Manual Manual pdf 33 page image

Nikon D5100 Experience32only track the subject as long as it is positioned at the selected AF point, and it will not betracked laterally to the other, surrounding points. As noted above, the single AF point you selectwill track a subject if it moves closer or farther away, but the AF system will not track thesubject if it moves left, right, up, or down and away from your selected AF point. To do this,you use Dynamic-Area AF mode or 3D-Tracking mode.Dynamic-Area AFWith Dynamic-Area AF Mode, you select an AF point and if your moving subject moves awayfrom that point to a surrounding neighboring point, the camera will track it and continue to focuson it. Select this option when you are tracking and photographing moving subjects usingContinuous-Servo AF (AF-C) or Auto-Servo AF (AF-A).3D-TrackingThis mode is used for subjects moving erratically from side-to-side in the frame, and are trackedby areas of color. You may select this option when you are tracking and photographing movingsubjects using Continuous-Servo AF (AF-C) or Auto-Servo AF (AF-A). Again, you choose theinitial AF point to locate the subject and begin the tracking. If the area of color you wish to trackis too small or if it blends into the background, this mode might not be very effective.Auto-Area AFThe camera uses all 11 AF points to detect what it thinks is the subject and automatically choosethe appropriate AF point(s). Typically, the camera will select the nearest subject or a human inthe frame, so it may not focus on exactly what you wish to focus on. That is why it is best to useone of the other modes and select the AF point yourself. However in certain situations such asquick sports or action scenes you may have to make use of this.Checking Focus: You can review your images on the rear LCD Monitor of your D5100 to try todetermine if they are in focus, especially by zooming in as close as possible. But be aware thatthis screen has less than one million dots or pixels, while your actual image has about 16 millionpixels. That means that many images will appear to be in proper focus on your LCD screen, butyou might discover that the actual images are not really as clearly in focus when you view themfull size on your computer monitor.Locking FocusAs I began to discuss in the Custom Settings section you can lock the focus, independent oflocking the exposure. I suggested you set up the camera so that a half-press of the Shutter-Release Button locks focus and the AE-L/AF-L Button locks exposure (see Figure 22). In AF-SAutofocus Mode, press and hold the Shutter-Release Button half-way to lock focus at the currentdistance determined by the active AF point. As long as you continue to hold the Shutter-ReleaseButton half-pressed, the focus distance will not change even if your subject moves or yourecompose the shot. However, in AF-C and AF-A Autofocus modes, this will not work becauseholding the Shutter-Release Button at half-press tells the camera to continuously track thesubject as it moves nearer and farther from the camera. So you will need to use another methodto lock focus if you desire. Or other situations might call for the need to lock focus and exposure