bavarianman

Hi! I have noticed that the auto focus on my Nikon D5000 seems to be significantly better than the manual focus. I would think it would be just oposite. I would expect to have greater control with the manual focus. There is an extremely fine point at which the manual focus is right on focus and it is very difficult to set the focus at that point. It seems sloppy, not tight and accurate. Is this common? I would like a tight adjustment that you can feel, with no play in it. Is this typical or do I just have to live with it? I am a QC Mgr and live with micrometer type adjustments.
Bavarianman

snowbear

The viewfinders have an adjustable diopter (I think that's the proper word) for varied eyesight. Theres a little slide-lever on the right side of the viewfinder - slide it up or down to make adjustments. This could be one reason that MF is not as sharp as AF.

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

Quite right! Near-sighted individuals have more problems focusing a camera than far-sighted or "normal" vision. Near-sighted eyes accommodate, even with diopter adjustment on eyepiece.

A-F does consistently better than I can on my D5000 and D90.

photog11 Loc: San Francisco

It depends on what you are focusing on. As I age I suffer more and more from presbyopia. On the D5000 after you've set the diopter to the right of the view finder, you can switch to live view. There you can see what you're shooting on a larger screen. You can also press the button on the lower left to magnify part of the view. That will give you the right focus in either manual or auto focus modes. For macro shots, you're better off in manual mode always. Set the lens for 1:1, 1:2, etc. then move the camera in and out until you've achieved the right focus.