How to tell my Nikon D90 to focus on one particular subject

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Lita (Manila, Philippines) asked :  I do lots of wild photography. I go to the forest and take pictures of animals and birds. I use Autofocus (AF) feature usually and most of the time when I try to frame and focus animals, trees and branches get focused instead of my main subject. Can I force my Nikon D90 to focus on particular subject?

In this case, short and quick answer is to use Manual Focus so that you can select the area to be in focus by yourself weather it would be in the middle or at any other focus point. I know how easy it is to have a camera with the AF feature so that camera will focus for you. It works perfectly in many situations but sometimes you have to take time and switch to Manual Focus Mode to take more control of your camera. But don’t worry, we have solution for AF users also.

If you do shoot in just AF mode you need to change your Autofocus option using CSM because the default mode is for the camera to choose focus point for you, which is what is giving you trouble as the camera does not know what object is the subject. Now to change that setting, press MENU button and go to the CSM (Custom Setting Menu). Then choose first option (a Autofocus) and then select Single Point. Now you can select focus point by using Thumb Pad (Multi-selector button) and lock the focus point wherever you want using AF Selector Lock lever next to the LCD screen. This guarantees that the camera is focusing on your intended subject because you’ve told it in advance which of the 11 AF point to use for focusing.

NOTE : One important step to remember for Nikon D90 users when you use Single Focus point using Autofocus menu option. Please make sure that the lever next to the LCD screen is switched to the L (Locked) position after you select your preferred focus point. Otherwise you might inadvertently select a different AF point by bumping the thumb pad. This lock switch on Nikon D90 works very well. Nikon D90 locks focal point in L position of lever switch and allows you to change focus point when lever is set to Unlocked (Single DOT) position.

Related posts

1. Nikon D90 Autofocus Area Mode
2. Understanding an Autofocus Mode with Nikon D90

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