Trap Focus

Ken-L · May 10, 2005

I just came across this post from another forum. I had not known about this before and will give it a try...

I'm wondering if anyone has used Trap Focusing, and has a comment on it's effectivness, or any special tips on it's use.

Here's the info from that post:

Set your lens for autofocus (switch on lens if available)
Set the camera for autofocus (switch near lens mount)
Go into menus "Pencil menu" and set the following:
- 15: AE-L/AF-L to "AF"
- 03: AF-Area mode to "Single Area"

Now compose your shot and set the focus by aiming the center focus indicator at a good target at the exact distance you want and pressing the "AE-L/AF-L" button near the viewfinder. This will snap the lens into focus.

Now press and hold the shutter button. As soon as something comes into focus the shutter will fire. Not sure yet if this works with the timer.

Probably best to increase your odds of getting it sharp by using a small aperature.
Click to expand...

Tom_Kline · May 14, 2005

The Nikonos RS has a trap focus mode. In over a decade of using RS's I have never used this mode even when doing remote control photography, which I have done a fair amount of. One may not feel the need to be as selective when shooting with a dSLR compared to film, but then there will be the task of editing - at least the subject should be in focus. Manually releasing the shutter IMHO is the better way to go.
Cheers from Alaska!
Tom

Ken-L · May 14, 2005

I've never used Trap Focus either and like you never had a problem with manually releasing the shutter in 35mm or digital.

That's why I was wondering if anyone that has used it could say it helped or found a situation where it would be better than manually releasing the shutter. I haven't gotten around to trying it myself yet.

Joe_Lorenzini · May 14, 2005

I'm wondering if the trap focus is maintained after the shutter fires. If it's only a single occurance I can't see using it that much but if it maintains focus it could be useful in races or events where multiple people pass the same focus point...

When my camera gets back, I'll be sure to try this out.

_/oe

Ken-L · May 14, 2005

I would think that the focus achieved by pressing the "AE-L/AF-L" button would be released after the shutter fires, and you would have to refocus. That is how that button usually behaves, and the author of the original post I found said nothing about releasing the focus in some way, nor did I see any references to that either.

To me the biggest bother would be changing the "AE-L/AF-L" Button setting in the menu if this was not the setting preferred, each time Trap Focus is desired. That makes me wish there was a "programmable" function button that could be used like a Macro for functions like this...or maybe two such buttons....or more?

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Trap Focus

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