Trouble changing focus points on D600

<p>This is embarrassing!! I am a pro, I really am, but I can't learn from a book. I can change the number of focus points on my D600, but I only see one thru the lens! And I can't control where it goes like I could (easily!) on the D300. What am I doing wrong? </p>

<p>Also (don't laugh), how on Earth do you change the time & date on this camera??</p>

 

<p>Maryann, Sorry but I burst out laughing about changing the time & date on your camera. <br /><br />Wish I could help, but I still have my pair of D300 and I am still learning things about them. Years later and I still have focus problems with them at times. That was after finding out the bodies and lens had issues. Now I don't know if it is me, or my eyes, or the camera and lens again :-(<br />I just got back from doing family beach portraits and wondering why some of my images are out of focus. Ex: Camera on tripod, family sitting on a log for each shot, same distance, settings not changed, but some images come out soft. No wonder my bald spot is growing.</p>

<p>My D300 was great, except for ISO issues. Surprised to hear that.</p>

<p>Hi Maryann. If you have a single focus point selected, you should just be able to move it using the joystick on the back of the camera. If you have area focus, the camera does the selecting for you, which might be why you're having trouble? As for what you can see, the camera shows you the position of the current point, not the total number available to you - except in area focus, where it will show you everything that it thinks is in focus.<br />

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The clock is under the set-up menu (spanner icon after you press "menu"), and scroll to "Date and time". Press ok, then you should be able to select menu options, poke ok for the one you want, and use the joystick controller to change things - and change what you're changing. P.253 of the manual, if learning from one page is an option. Good luck.</p>

<p>Maryann, what is different between D300 and D600 is that on the D600 all the AF-related controls are moved to the button sitting inside the AF-mode lever on the front. Using the rear wheel with this button changes the number of focus points, using the front wheel changes between the Dynamic, Single-point and Auto mode (which is a seperate control on the rear on the D300). Maybe you have it in Single Point mode, or Dynamic Single point, which indeed will mean you see only one point in the viewfiner. If you switch to the 'Auto' mode, you can see multiple points in the viewfinder (though I'd argue it is not the prefered AF mode as it leaves you with less control).<br>

For changing the AF point, check if the "wheel" around the 4-way controller on the rear is not set to "L" - that locks it for inadvertedly changing AF points.</p>

<p>It is not embarrassing at all! I have a D 300s too. When I got my D 600 and I read the manual I had not fully figured out what Wouter just stated above. That is the key to learning how to use this camera. And I never figured out that the camera's default was set to Auto Area which led to me having to delete many of the images I took on my first outing with the camera. Once I turned off that Auto function and made sure I had set the AF functions I wanted, things got better. But you need to double check everything every time you turn it on because sometimes those settings get changed.<br>

The Nikon manual IMO does a terrible job of explaining the AF system on the D 600. Do a search and look for one written by someone else. Maybe someone will post a link for such an explanation. <br>

Joe Smith</p>

<p>Thank you all!! I will go work on this & report back. It's frustrating that they made it harder when supposedly upgrading the camera! The D300 was a snap to use in this area!!</p>

<p>Good luck, Maryann. For what it's worth, I don't believe the D600 behaviour is "harder" - all they did was move the AF area control from the back of the camera and the AF-S/AF-C selection from the focus mode ring, and put them both on a button + dial. It does mean that you can't see from the back of the camera what mode you're in, but you can if you look through the finder or press info. I'm not a great fan of the position of the button - just as I wasn't a fan of the position of the AF-S/AF-C switch - but that's part of my usual "left hand is busy holding a big lens" rant about all of Nikon's ergonomics. I've occasionally had issues where the camera seemed to stop responding, that turned out to be because I was accidentally pressing this button with some part of my hand. On the plus side, at least my right hand can stay on the camera grip.<br />

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Still, all the functionality is still there and - if you have a long left thumb - not harder to access than before. Except for the change in how you access mode, I don't believe the AF behaviour should be significantly different between the D300 and D600. (Though of course you lose some focus points, but gain a near/far set of arrows.) Practice and you'll probably come to be comfortable with it. Switching between my D700 (much like the D300) and D800 (same style as the D600), my biggest issue was the swapped + and - buttons, not the autofocus!</p>

<p>That's another thing!! I can NOT take action series shots! I can't take two quickly in any mode!! I'd scrap this camera honestly if the quality weren't so amazing :)</p>

<p>Hang in there, Maryann. It's just different; it will do all the things you are mentioning, just in a slightly different way than you are used to.</p>