Nikon D7000, Keep them In Focus with Continuous-Servo Focus and Af Focus Point Selection

With the exposure issue handled for the moment, let’s move on to something equally important: focusing. If you have browsed your manual, you know that there are several focus modes to choose from in the D7000. To get the greatest benefit from each of them, it is important to understand how they work and the situations where each mode will give you the best opportunity to grab a great shot. Because we are discussing subject movement, our first choice is going to be Continuous-servo AF mode (AF-C). AF-C mode uses all of the focus points in the camera to find a moving subject and then lock in the focus when the shutter button is completely depressed.

Selecting and shooting in Continuous-servo AF focus mode

1. Press and hold the AF button while observing the control panel (A).
2. Now rotate the Command dial while continuing to hold the AF button. Once you have selected AF-C, release the AF button (B).
3. The camera will maintain the subject’s focus as long as it remains within one of the focus points in the viewfinder or until you release the shutter button or take a picture.

Note that holding down the shutter button for long periods of time will cause your battery to drain much faster because the camera will be constantly focusing on the subject.

When using the AF-C mode, you can use the AF point mode set to Dynamic Area, which makes a focus point of your choosing the primary focus but uses information from the surrounding points if your subject happens to move away from the point.

Setting the AF-area mode to Dynamic

1. To set the AF-area mode, press and hold the AF button on the front of the camera while observing the control panel (A).
2. Now rotate the Sub-command dial while holding the AF button (B). As you turn the dial, your AF modes will be displayed on the control panel. Select from one of three dynamic modes and release the AF button when you have made your selection (C–E).

   

Note that the AF mode is used to select the method with which the camera will focus the lens. This is different from the AF point, which is a cluster of small points that are visible in the viewfinder and are used to determine where you want the lens to focus.