Nikon dSLR Cameras

Compare the current Nikon dSLR cameras, and learn about Nikon cameras, their specifications, functions, and operation:

Tips and Tricks for the Nikon D7100

Tips and Tricks for the Nikon D610 / D600

Compare the Nikon D7000, D5100, D90, and D3100

Taking Advantage of the Autofocus Systems of the Nikon D7100/D7000, D610/D600, and D5300/D5200

Introducing the Nikon D600 Full Frame dSLR

Ten Tips and Tricks for the Nikon D5100

Set up and Customize your Nikon D7000

Taking Advantage of the Autofocus System of the Nikon D5100

Compare the Nikon D7000 to the Canon 60D

Compare the Nikon D5100 to the Canon T3i

Learn to use your Nikon D5100 with my eBook User’s Guide Nikon D5100 Experience

Learn to use your Nikon D7000 with my eBook User’s Guide Nikon D7000 Experience

How to Choose a New dSLR Camera

and

Much more in the Nikon dSLR Cameras category of posts.

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4 thoughts on “Nikon dSLR Cameras”

  1. Hi Douglas, I have read your Nikon D7000 Experience and thank you so much, it has helped me a lot. I am new to photography and bought a camera over my head, the Nikon D7000. After trying to get a sharp photo for 2 years and having taken the camera into the photo shop a few times with no results I am wondering if you could help me. I was with a very experienced photographer a few days ago who set my camera on a tripod and focused on a sign in the distance, he turned on Live View. After a short time the view moved, it seemed to sway back and forth. The photographer said it was drifting. He could not fix it, he showed me the view in his camera and it was very still. Is this a fault in the camera or is there a setting to stop this?

    1. I’m glad you have found the book helpful! To be honest, I’m not sure why the focus was “drifting” – I would need to see it in person to try to resolve it. But I have some thoughts:

      Perhaps the exact area that the camera was trying to focus on was causing the camera difficulty, such as repeating patterns, metallic reflections, or it encompassed objects at various distances. Perhaps the Autofocus Area Mode was on Wide-Area AF and your camera was looking at the sign as well as a neighboring shrub, and was going back and forth deciding which to focus on. While at the same time, perhaps his camera was on the smaller Normal Area AF and his was only focusing on the sign.

      Or perhaps your camera was in AF-F Live View focus mode (similar to AF-C Viewfinder focus mode for tracking moving subjects), and was continuously updating the focus, assuming the object was moving. And/ or perhaps the Autofocus Area Mode was on Subject-Tracking AF. While at the same time, his camera was on AF-S and was not updating focus. In fact, this may be exactly what was going on. With AF-S, the camera doesn’t continuously update the focus once you half-press the shutter button for focusing, so there shouldn’t be any “drifting.”

      Try the experiment, in Live View, using AF-S focus mode and Normal Area AF area mode.

      Also, Live View autofocus works differently from Viewfinder autofocusing, so solving the focusing issue in Live View will likely be separate from any Viewfinder autufocusing issues.

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