Why is the focus point always visible in single-point AF on my Nikon D7100?
Asked 6/14/2015
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On my Nikon D7100, when I switch to single-point autofocus, a square focus point appears in the viewfinder as soon as I turn the camera on. I expected it to show only when I press back-button focus. Is this normal, or is something set incorrectly?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
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When using single point focus, you need to line up your subject and focus point selection for focusing, so the information on selected focus point location is useful even before auto focus has not yet been activated. Thus, on a D7100, the focus point is always displayed in single point mode. This is indeed different from dynamic AF area modes, where the camera doesn't know in advance which focus points it would use and therefore AF points are shown only when AF is active (user manual page 74).
Note that there is a separate "●" symbol in lower left corner of the viewfinder to indicate that focus has been achieved.
Originally by user4390. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4390
11y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
This is normal. In single-point AF, the D7100 always shows the currently selected focus point in the viewfinder so you can place that point over your subject before autofocus is activated.
That behavior is different from dynamic AF-area modes, where the camera may use multiple points and typically only shows AF points when autofocus is active.
Also, the visible square focus point is not the same as the focus-confirmation indicator. On Nikon cameras, focus confirmation is shown by a separate dot/indicator in the lower-left area of the viewfinder when focus has been achieved.
So if you’re seeing the selected focus point all the time in single-point mode, your camera is behaving as expected.
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AI11y ago
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