3 replies to this topic

[WackfordSqueers]

OK, utter newbie here. Just bought a s/h D3100 from Ebay. It looks mint, looked after at least. I am struggling to get my head around the manual and the YouTube vids I have watched.

I am puzzled about automatic settings. If I put the dial to auto, and the switch on the lens from M to A, when I press the shutter release halfway, should the lens move, whirr, click or something? I have yet to see whether the camera takes automatically set up pictures. I am thinking in the style of a point and click, no?

I am getting so many results from so many things I may or may not be doing I can't tell which pictures I used auto with or without the A on the lens or was it from M,A,S or P, and I certainly can't detect any movement or noise from the lens? I do seem to have a lot of blurred people with wonderfully crisp and sharp passing bin wagons in the background though...

(Apparently it is an AF lens, came as a kit with the camera)

 

Help would be great.

[Malice]

Hi and welcome to the forums!

 

Most probably it would be helpful to know, which lens the camera came with actually. There have been different kits for the D3100, so there are different lenses that can be called "kit lens".

 

Apart from that, at least when you use Nikon's own software (e.g. Capture NX-D) for editing the images, you should also be able to have a look at the settings you used, when you took the exposure.

 

Also, the way you're describing your results, it sounds a little like you let the camera choose which focus point(s) to use. If you for example you switch to P-Mode, you should be able to adjust this behavior by pressing the "i"-button and moving to the focus area selection with the arrow keys. There you can select if the autofocus should try to pick the best spot from an area or just use a single spot for measurement. 

 

If you're not sure, if focus has been acquired, you can also switch to the AF-S mode (single focussing action) and switch on the camera "beep". So, every time focussing is finished, the camera will respond with a short beep... and the shutter won't release until focus actually has been acquired.

 

If you haven't got it along with the camera, getting the manual might be a good idea, to look these things up:

Nikon | Download center | D3100

 

E.g. the focus modes are explained on page 55 and the focus area on page 58.

[WackfordSqueers]

Lens is Nikor VR 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6. As far as I know.

     

[TBonz]

I believe there were several variations of the 18-55 produced.  The specific model info should be on the lens.