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F717 focus

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william Korn

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Does anyone know if the new adjustable focus (expanded focus, etc) will improve the focusing capabilities of the F717?

I have had trouble with my F707 focusing on the background instead of the subject unless I zoom in first.

Recently I had the opportunity to try a Nikon 5700. The autofocus on this camera was quick, accurate, and even posts a little symbol on the viewscreen to show you what it focused on! I'm a bit jealous.

William
 
The F717 has a multi-point autofocus system. You can manually move this focus point if you wish to one of five zones (Center, North, South, West, and East). You get an onscreen indicator to let you know where you're focusing.

It's said to be quicker than the older system.
william Korn said:
Does anyone know if the new adjustable focus (expanded focus, etc)
will improve the focusing capabilities of the F717?

I have had trouble with my F707 focusing on the background instead
of the subject unless I zoom in first.

Recently I had the opportunity to try a Nikon 5700. The autofocus
on this camera was quick, accurate, and even posts a little symbol
on the viewscreen to show you what it focused on! I'm a bit jealous.

William
Click to expand...
--

Ulysses
 
You are trying to be objective, but I know you want it, Uly.
-EL
Ulysses said:
It's said to be quicker than the older system.
william Korn said:
Does anyone know if the new adjustable focus (expanded focus, etc)
will improve the focusing capabilities of the F717?

I have had trouble with my F707 focusing on the background instead
of the subject unless I zoom in first.

Recently I had the opportunity to try a Nikon 5700. The autofocus
on this camera was quick, accurate, and even posts a little symbol
on the viewscreen to show you what it focused on! I'm a bit jealous.

William
Click to expand...
--

Ulysses
Click to expand...
 
The 5700 uses this multi-point autofocus system as well.

Carmen
Ulysses said:
It's said to be quicker than the older system.
william Korn said:
Does anyone know if the new adjustable focus (expanded focus, etc)
will improve the focusing capabilities of the F717?

I have had trouble with my F707 focusing on the background instead
of the subject unless I zoom in first.

Recently I had the opportunity to try a Nikon 5700. The autofocus
on this camera was quick, accurate, and even posts a little symbol
on the viewscreen to show you what it focused on! I'm a bit jealous.

William
Click to expand...
--

Ulysses
Click to expand...
 
William: Apparently, when you tried the 5700, you had plenty of light. I recently tried this camera for over 300 pictures and it had a horrible time forcusing in less than what I would call ideal light situations. Mine would show the "little symbol" on the tiny screen but that didn't really mean it was in focus. Also, macro shots were not near the quality of the F 707. Regards, Gary
william Korn said:
Does anyone know if the new adjustable focus (expanded focus, etc)
will improve the focusing capabilities of the F717?

I have had trouble with my F707 focusing on the background instead
of the subject unless I zoom in first.

Recently I had the opportunity to try a Nikon 5700. The autofocus
on this camera was quick, accurate, and even posts a little symbol
on the viewscreen to show you what it focused on! I'm a bit jealous.

William
Click to expand...
 
The review I read said it's "revolutionary" compared to the 707. It's supposed to be incredible. Nightshot and Nightfocus or saomething like that. Sees in the dark using lasers.
william Korn said:
Does anyone know if the new adjustable focus (expanded focus, etc)
will improve the focusing capabilities of the F717?

I have had trouble with my F707 focusing on the background instead
of the subject unless I zoom in first.

Recently I had the opportunity to try a Nikon 5700. The autofocus
on this camera was quick, accurate, and even posts a little symbol
on the viewscreen to show you what it focused on! I'm a bit jealous.

William
Click to expand...
 
No, not revolutionary. "Simply" evolutionary. That's not a bad thing. There were things about the F707 that needed fixin.
Eric Ryder said:
The review I read said it's "revolutionary" compared to the 707.
It's supposed to be incredible. Nightshot and Nightfocus or
saomething like that. Sees in the dark using lasers.
Click to expand...
--

Ulysses
 
GLP said:
William: Apparently, when you tried the 5700, you had plenty of
light. I recently tried this camera for over 300 pictures and it
had a horrible time forcusing in less than what I would call ideal
light situations. Mine would show the "little symbol" on the tiny
screen but that didn't really mean it was in focus. Also, macro
shots were not near the quality of the F 707. Regards, Gary
Click to expand...
Hmmm sorry to hear you had this problem Gary. I've had my 5700 since the end of July. When I first heard that some people were having problems with low light focusing I did some test in both low and very low light conditions. To summerize my tests, I found in almost all low light pictures I got a focus lock on my first attempt, and in very low light conditions (just enough light to generate an image in the viewfinder) I got a focus lock most of the time. Excellant results considering the camera has no AF assist light and a long 8x zoom lens. Seems like you might have a had a defective camera.

-Mark
 
EXACTLY! The 717 features seem to be addressing several defeciencies in the original design. I am not sure if it justifies upgrading, or how much I could get for my 707.

William
Ulysses said:
Eric Ryder said:
The review I read said it's "revolutionary" compared to the 707.
It's supposed to be incredible. Nightshot and Nightfocus or
saomething like that. Sees in the dark using lasers.
Click to expand...
--

Ulysses
Click to expand...
 
This is the first time I've seen the autofocus on the 5700 described as quick, unless it was in comparison to the 5000.

How quick is quick?
william Korn said:
Does anyone know if the new adjustable focus (expanded focus, etc)
will improve the focusing capabilities of the F717?

I have had trouble with my F707 focusing on the background instead
of the subject unless I zoom in first.

Recently I had the opportunity to try a Nikon 5700. The autofocus
on this camera was quick, accurate, and even posts a little symbol
on the viewscreen to show you what it focused on! I'm a bit jealous.

William
Click to expand...
--
Pat
http://community.webshots.com/user/pfr_01
http://community.webshots.com/user/skate_adventures
 
If you are taking a picture of a stationary object or person with the 5700 the auto-focus is adequate in most lighting situations.

If the object or person is moving - forget it!

The 5700 is a fine camera - however in terms of auto-focus

Fast - it is NOT!

Ron
 
I have to agree with GLP. I used both the Coolpix 4500 and 5700 and in terms of speed, the F707 is about equal in good light. The F707 is much quieter, if it matters. In low light, without focus-assist (no choice but this on the Nikons), they all were pretty bad. Of course the F707 has the focus-assist laser pattern which is very accurate as long as the subject is the pattern's coverage. The downside is that the laser is exceptionally bright and distracting to anything with eyes. The Olympus cameras I've used had a simple red light which had more of a distance limit but performed as equally well as the Sony in most of the shots I took. I think I prefer this method over the laser.

Considering the number of posts regarding poor low light focus with the new Nikons, I would have to say that Nikon must have a serious production or firmware problem or it is in fact a flawed design in regards to low light focus performance. This is a real shame considering that they make otherwise great cameras. I preferred their color rendition and found them to be equally sharp. I would have kept one of them, but I frequently use my camera at parties where the Nikons just didn't focus or would focus on some small lit area in the background (TV, candle, glare from a glass, etc.)
Mark Abela said:
GLP said:
William: Apparently, when you tried the 5700, you had plenty of
light. I recently tried this camera for over 300 pictures and it
had a horrible time forcusing in less than what I would call ideal
light situations. Mine would show the "little symbol" on the tiny
screen but that didn't really mean it was in focus. Also, macro
shots were not near the quality of the F 707. Regards, Gary
Click to expand...
Hmmm sorry to hear you had this problem Gary. I've had my 5700
since the end of July. When I first heard that some people were
having problems with low light focusing I did some test in both low
and very low light conditions. To summerize my tests, I found in
almost all low light pictures I got a focus lock on my first
attempt, and in very low light conditions (just enough light to
generate an image in the viewfinder) I got a focus lock most of the
time. Excellant results considering the camera has no AF assist
light and a long 8x zoom lens. Seems like you might have a had a
defective camera.

-Mark
Click to expand...
 
william Korn said:
Does anyone know if the new adjustable focus (expanded focus, etc)
will improve the focusing capabilities of the F717?
I have had trouble with my F707 focusing on the background instead
of the subject unless I zoom in first.
Click to expand...
Try this: prefocus, that's the half-press, while aiming directly at subject, then when focus locks, reframe and then full press. Works great for me.
william Korn said:
Recently I had the opportunity to try a Nikon 5700. The autofocus
on this camera was quick, accurate, and even posts a little symbol
on the viewscreen to show you what it focused on! I'm a bit jealous.
Click to expand...
If you lurk around the Nikon forum, you can hear what actual 5700 owners are saying...
william Korn said:
William
Click to expand...
--
JohnK
 
JohnK said:
If you lurk around the Nikon forum, you can hear what actual 5700
owners are saying...
Click to expand...
Yes...and they are saying that the 5700 continues the (really slow auto-focus) tradition that began with the 900 series. I have a 990 - this has been a gripe forever in the Nikon Forum. The site reviewers have concurred with this assessment.
 
I don't think that feature would make any difference as pertaining to Williams problem of focusing on the background. If he wants to focus on an object and keep in centered in the photo and it focuses on the background , then switching to any other focus point he would have to move the cameras focus point to the object focus and recompose photo and it would still focus on the background. Or am I missing something here?
Bill B
Ulysses said:
It's said to be quicker than the older system.
william Korn said:
Does anyone know if the new adjustable focus (expanded focus, etc)
will improve the focusing capabilities of the F717?

I have had trouble with my F707 focusing on the background instead
of the subject unless I zoom in first.

Recently I had the opportunity to try a Nikon 5700. The autofocus
on this camera was quick, accurate, and even posts a little symbol
on the viewscreen to show you what it focused on! I'm a bit jealous.

William
Click to expand...
--

Ulysses
Click to expand...
 
Try turning the camera to portrait angle and focusing in those situations. If iit works hold the focus and turn camera back to landscape position. Sometimes that works for me.
Bill B
william Korn said:
Does anyone know if the new adjustable focus (expanded focus, etc)
will improve the focusing capabilities of the F717?

I have had trouble with my F707 focusing on the background instead
of the subject unless I zoom in first.

Recently I had the opportunity to try a Nikon 5700. The autofocus
on this camera was quick, accurate, and even posts a little symbol
on the viewscreen to show you what it focused on! I'm a bit jealous.

William
Click to expand...
 
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