Manual focusing problem......Nikon D610

[Lonnie1212]

I heard on a YouTube video that a DSLR cannot be manually focused through the viewfinder. Today I tried manually focusing on birds in a grassy meadow. Was using or trying to use Live View and manually focus at the same time. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible to do in the sun light. Are there any loopholes around this? If I could manually focus using the viewfinder, it would be great.

Thank you,

Lonnie

 

[480sparky]

Pages 38, 102 and 103 of the user's manual shows how to use three lights in the VF to do this.

 

[Derrel]

YouTube video is not 100% correct....

 

[TonyBallas]

That seems totally preposterous. I’ve never known a camera that couldn’t manually be focused through the viewfinder. That’s what they’re there for. At least that’s what I always thought. I’m glad I didn’t buy a D610 then. Most of the time I have trouble focusing with the screen as well. I’m never sure I have full focus. I thought the square that signifies the area in the frame you are focusing in would turn green when dead on in focus, but it’s really hard to ever get it green and it stay there.

So, maybe, are we missing something??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[480sparky]

You are missing the fact that you CAN focus manually. Just turn off auto focus and turn the focus ring while you're looking through the viewfinder.

Again, read the manual and it will tell you how to do this. When you turn off AF, the focus points that show up in the VF will not be activated.

 

[wfooshee]

The idea that it can't be manually focused comes from the fact that the viewfinder is a plain screen, no split-image or rangefinder prism as we had on non-AF cameras. It is rather difficult to focus with precision by eye, but the AF sensors are in play, even with AF turned off, and that's what those lights at the bottom tell you: turn this way, turn that way, or spot on!