Nikon D3 Focusing??

[jodellny]

Hi, I just got a used D3. I had a D7000 which I had no problem focusing sharp eyes with one or more persons in a photo. With my D3 I am not getting the crisp shots at during the day as I did with the D7000. I have tried Matrix, Spot, Center weight metering with Single Point AF, Dynamic Area AF, and Auto area AF and Single and Manual focus. I have 3 lens 24mm 2.8 50mm and 85mm 1.4

Setting suggestions please?

 

[djacobox372]

Keep in mind that with the d3 you will have about half the DOF you had with your D7000 due to the larger sensor, this can make focus more critical.

 

[KmH]

Hi, I just got a used D3. I had a D7000 which I had no problem focusing sharp eyes with one or more persons in a photo. With my D3 I am not getting the crisp shots at during the day as I did with the D7000. I have tried Matrix, Spot, Center weight metering with Single Point AF, Dynamic Area AF, and Auto area AF and Single and Manual focus. I have 3 lens 24mm 2.8 50mm and 85mm 1.4

Setting suggestions please?

Matrix, Spot, and Center-weighted are metering modes, and have no effect on focusing.

It always take a bit of time to get used to using new gear. Which settings you will need to use will vary based on what your shooting.

Focus issues usually boil down to depth-of-field (DoF) since DoF determines the range of distances from the camera acceptably sharp focus can be achieved.
So, as mentioned the D3's and it's larger full frame image sensor produces DoF that is different from the D7000's smaller APS-C size image sensor's DoF.

Based on you have stated above it seems you have some gaps in your understanding of how to effectively use the tools you have.

I recommend you re-visit the Metering and Focus sections of the D3 user's manual.

You may also find this group of online tutorials helpful: Digital Photography Tutorials

You might also find it helpful to play with plugging some different numbers into this online DoF calculator - http://dofmaster.com/dofjs.html