# Focus points in lightroom



## abhaypatny

Is there a way to see focus points in Lightroom

when I used ViewNx from Nikon it is able to show where the focus was set in pictures

wondering if the same can be seen in lightroom ?


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## tzalman

Short answer - no.
Slightly longer, not for Canon cameras and I suspect it's also not available for other makers.


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## tommyc

That is one of the things I miss from Aperture. If Apple can do it, Adobe should be able to as well. I'm going to send a little feedback to Adobe requesting this feature.


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## jimburgess

I've often wondered why Aperture can provide this functionality and Lightroom can't.


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## RikkFlohr

Just playing a little devil's advocate here.

How do you use these focus points? Of what value are they in your workflow?


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## abhaypatny

too bad that we dont have this feature in LR

@Rikk - focus point sometimes act as a learning tool for me if I have to see where did I focus in this shot, whether I focussed where I should have been or not OR did camera selected the required focus points in case of AF-A mode or just a cruosity etc.


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## jid9p80vph

Have a look at Luc Renambot's viewfinder plugin (http://luc.lakephoto.org/journal/viewfinder-plugin/), that might work for you.

Correction: the Windows version hasn't yet been released, so that won't help you right now.


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## johnbeardy

Apple probably signed up to use the camera makers' SDK and can therefore write directly back to the raw files (FWIW).

There was a guy working on a plug-in to show focus points - see http://luc.lakephoto.org/journal/lightroom-plugins/ . I suspect he lost interest as he's been quiet for a while.

I'd quite like focus points - or a focus mask such as in Capture One.

John


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## clee01l

abhaypatny said:


> too bad that we dont have this feature in LR
> 
> @Rikk - focus point sometimes act as a learning tool for me if I have to see where did I focus in this shot, whether I focussed where I should have been or not OR did camera selected the required focus points in case of AF-A mode or just a cruosity etc.


You might consider that for a learning tool, it is a little late to be seeing where the focus 'should have been'  If you wait until you have loaded your images in LR, you miss the opportunity to correct your mistakes.   
Actually letting the camera choose the focus points is a bad idea.  By switching the camera to selective focus, you can choose the focus point BEFORE you take the photo with the four way control on the back of the camera.  Another option would be to place the camera in Center-point focus mode and either pre-focus or crop in a good composition in post processing. 

I think the developers of LR correctly assessed that coding time would be better spent incorporating more beneficial functionality into LR.  That you find this functionality in Aperture, leads me to believe that Aperture is geared toward people that take snapshots rather than people that take photographs.


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## MarkNicholas

Our initially found this feature "interesting" in the early days when using zoombrowser but I quickly lost interest. Also I now exclusively use centre point focusing and therefore often focus lock and recompose rendering the feature meaningless.


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## b_gossweiler

I would like to see them from time to time, but not often. I do let the camera choose the focus point when shooting in "rush" situations, and if I want to see the focus point I go back to DPP with the Raw file to do so.

Beat


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## jimburgess

On a Nikon D3 (and many other cameras) there are multiple menu items related to focus, and more than one setting within many of them. Lots of permutations to work with. When shooting sports or other fast-moving action sequences, it is very useful to see where (or if) in the scene the camera focused. This can help determine what changes could be made to the camera's focus settings to do it better the next time around. It is also useful to determine what settings apply best to different sports.

So Cletus, it's never " a little late to be seeing where the focus 'should have been' " since we are always trying to get better at what we do. And "Actually letting the camera choose the focus points is a bad idea" doesn't apply in many areas of photography. Auto-focus design and implementation in the cameras I use is pretty sophisticated these days, and generally performs well in shooting situations where focus is otherwise difficult (manual or automatic). And your comment about Aperture leads me to believe you have never used it. Many of us in the business use, or at least are familiar with, both Aperture and Lightroom. Lightroom is my tool of choice, but Aperture works for a lot of other photographers I know and work with. There have been numerous discussions in different forums about focus points missing from LR, and the argument from LR die-hard supporters is frequently that it's not available in the SDK therefore LR can't do it, or something to that effect. I am simply pointing out that it can be done, since Apple engineers figured out a way to do it.


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## Victoria Bampton

If you guys feel strongly about having the focus points, put in a Official Feature Request/Bug Report Form with detailed notes on how it would benefit your workflow.

It probably can be done, but then, a lot of things can be done but there are just limited time and resources so choices have to be made, and different companies make different choices.  It's also possible that they could only add that functionality for certain cameras - so I can imagine the "focus point is broken" forum posts that would go along with such a feature.  

That's not to say that it wouldn't be a good feature to add, but all of these little features have to get thought through well and then supported through each future release, so you don't want to just add bloat for a few people.


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## b_gossweiler

Victoria Bampton said:


> ... It's also possible that they could only add that functionality for certain cameras - so I can imagine the "focus point is broken" forum posts that would go along with such a feature.
> 
> That's not to say that it wouldn't be a good feature to add, but all of these little features have to get thought through well and then supported through each future release, so you don't want to just add bloat for a few people.


 
Also, there are some major drawbacks in doing reverse engineering to add functionality to your own product (which is what Apple mostlikely has done), one of them - besides it not working correctly in 100% of the cases - being that people will complain why their newest camera is not supported yet for this feature.

For the few uses I have, DPP serves me well, and it comes for free for all Canon EOS users.

Beat


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## johnbeardy

I  believe Apple signed up to the SDKs. They also write metadata directly into raw files (which is a brave move considering the previous unreliability of Nikon's SDK).

Has no-one seen the focus masks in CaptureOne? All done by computing which areas are actually in focus.

John


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## sizzlingbadger

The focus mask shows whats in focus but it doesn't show the initial focus point. You can argue about whether that is important or not 

As for Aperture it uses the Nikon SDK to extract the focus point data. The fact it uses the SDK does not imply it writes to the NEF file. I have yet to see any evidence that shows it writing to my NEF files.


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## johnbeardy

sizzlingbadger said:


> As for Aperture it uses the Nikon SDK to extract the focus point data. The fact it uses the SDK does not imply it writes to the NEF file. I have yet to see any evidence that shows it writing to my NEF files.



Then take a very close look at Metadata > Write IPTC Metadata to Masters. Introduced in 3.0.

John


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## b_gossweiler

sizzlingbadger said:


> The focus mask shows whats in focus but it doesn't show the initial focus point. You can argue about whether that is important or not



It can very well be if you suspect a back- or front-focus in your body/lens combination.

Beat


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## sizzlingbadger

johnbeardy said:


> Then take a very close look at Metadata > Write IPTC Metadata to Masters. Introduced in 3.0.
> John


 
Yes I know, but you have to tell Aperture to do that, it won't touch your files unless you want it too which is the same with Lightroom. I don't use this option as I have the same worries that you have


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## renambot

Hi,
it's not ready yet, but I'll release the plugin eventually. I've been sidetracked with working on Lightroom UI, paypal integration, plugin updates, supporting users of my other plugin, taking pictures. And, yes, a busy day-job.


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## Photographe

johnbeardy said:


> Has no-one seen the focus masks in CaptureOne? All done by computing which areas are actually in focus.
> 
> John


 
I've read about them, but unfortunately my version doesn't have this feature.


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## johnbeardy

Download the trial - that's all I did.


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## Photographe

John, Is there any danger of liking Capture One enough to switch?  I already have Expression Media, but haven't used it.


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## johnbeardy

In my case, no. I didn't feel there was any difference in image quality, and liked some features but disliked just as many. I'm rather tired of using one program to manage my images and another to adjust them!


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## sizzlingbadger

The only thing I liked better in Capture One were the colours, they were definitely more accurate for my Nikons. Lightroom's workflow seemed slicker to me.


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## abhaypatny

Is there a way to see focus points in Lightroom

when I used ViewNx from Nikon it is able to show where the focus was set in pictures

wondering if the same can be seen in lightroom ?


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## Jason

renambot said:


> Hi,
> it's not ready yet, but I'll release the plugin eventually. I've been sidetracked with working on Lightroom UI, paypal integration, plugin updates, supporting users of my other plugin, taking pictures. And, yes, a busy day-job.


 
Paypal integration?  Where you planning on charging each time it got used?  Every 100 images?  I don't understand...  Ah well.

Cheers!


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## MarathonMax

I am a new LR user. I wrote a post on my first impressions coming from the Aperture world. If you really really want to see it again, you will find a link to it way below (so as not to offend anyone here that I might be spamming this forum - sort of an inside joke between me and the moderators)

Last night I was reviewing some shots and I tried to get LR to show me where the focus point was on some of my pictures.

The legitimate question was asked here: why (how) would I use it in my workflow?

Here's why: When pictures are blurry, I want to know if is because the subject (birds in this case) moved, because I moved, because the focus point was not set right, because there was too many "particles" in the air, because because because...

So, yes, I got used to working the focus point active in AP. Option-F on your keyboard.

My search brought me to this post.

Unfortunately, the much discussed plug-in (http://luc.lakephoto.org/journal/viewfinder-plugin/) is not yet available. And a Google search does not give me more.

In my post, I spoke of the good, the bad and the ugly. I had no 'ugly' yet.

Maybe the lack of a focus point will go on that list...

Max

PS: Here's the link to post on my blog: http://maximegousse.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/lightroom-3-first-impressions-from-an-aperture-user/


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## RikkFlohr

Other side of the coin:

I am a serious wildlife photographer and feature intense bird shooting at my Costa Rica workshops. I use the center focus point only and put it where I want focus to be. A feature like this isn't on my radar right now. That doesn't mean I don't think a lot of people would use it or would benefit from the education it might provide by any means but I see it like this. You have to nail focus in the field at capture time. Realistically, it can't be fixed later.  That means you have to focus correctly first.  My cameras flash the active focus point in the viewfinder. I know before I press the shutter if it guesses wrong. If it does, I don't fire the shutter. In critical wildlife captures (flying birds) I hold center on and don't worry about it because I am overriding with the center point. 

Short of taking multiple images of a single scene and tossing them based upon errant focus points and need to see the focus point to tell that quickly, I don't see an urgent need for this feature. I also don't personally know anyone who shoots like this. 

But like I said, this is just how I see it.


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## Brad Snyder

Never once in my photographic career, have I let my camera choose a focus point. Like Rikk, I use a center focus, and reframe, and that's while shooting an action sport. I do have that little thumb widget-joy stick, whatever Canon calls it, to move the focus point manually if I need to. Which is about once a year. 

 I truly don't understand how anybody can shoot with the camera [email protected] around with focus points, it drives me batty.  I've seen dozens of learning Lr users ask for it, so it must be important somehow, but personally I don't get it. 

 I've never missed Lr's lack of display of such, and hence it's way down on my priority list.


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## clee01l

My camera has 11 focus points and three AF methods (Center spot, Selective and Auto) Auto should be really named "Random" since the camera has no way of knowing what I consider the subject of interest.  The method I use is "Selective" with the focus point set on the center spot.  This gives me the flexibility of choosing were to focus without having to prefocus.  I really don't need software telling me where the focus was, because by the time I am looking at the image in the post processing software it is too late.  I agree with Brad and Rikk.  It's about as useful as video on a  still SLR camera.


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## MarathonMax

What is interesting in this discussion is the POV of professional photogs like you guys (and girls?). Goes to show probably that Aperture is more targeted at enthusiasts while LR more at pros. And I kind of like having a Pro Software if you ask me


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## johnbeardy

I really wouldn't draw that conclusion from a single feature. Aperture and Lightroom are both aimed at similar advanced enthusiast / professional users. In this case it looks like during the Aperture 3 development cycle Apple gained access to the camera makers' SDKs and then implemented a range of features from them.

Personally, I wouldn't mind having focus points available and think they would be of educational value, but I'd prefer something more like Capture One's focus mask which shows which areas are actually in focus.

John


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## clee01l

Professional Photographers get paid for their work.    The rest of us are amateurs.  There is something that distinguishes people that just take pictures and people that take photographs.  People that just take pictures use P&S cameras and don't know their aperture from an f-stop. These are the same people that buy DSLR cameras and use them as expensive P&S cameras using the P&S settings. (BTW, there are no 'Scene' positions on my mode dial.)


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## MarkNicholas

When I was a newby I also wanted to see my focus points. You eventually grow out of it.


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## MarathonMax

Mark, I loooooove your comment LOL. I cant wait to grow of it as well


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## wblink

MarathonMax said:


> What is interesting in this discussion is the POV of professional photogs like you guys (and girls?). Goes to show probably that Aperture is more targeted at enthusiasts while LR more at pros. And I kind of like having a Pro Software if you ask me



???
I am using software that meet my needs, be it pro or clumsy, as long as it does what I want it to do.
DxO automated correction is sometimes awesome.


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## Doug B

I can name one instance where having access to focus points might be useful. But it's got nothing to do with composition or how good a photographer you might be. 3D focus tracking. Model is strutting down the runway, running back is making his way towards the goal line, humming bird is floating around the feeder or bush etc etc.. I too use single point focus, but not everybody does. Some pros I know swear by 3D tracking and knowing if it's working accurately, is key. So it's really only a tool to use when you want to double check if you're paranoid or anal about such a thing.  I personally find it useless, but that's just me.


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## sizzlingbadger

Focus points are handy for sports photographers, it can save them some time. You can't put a single focus point on a 180mph motorbike and expect to focus it manually. The 3D tracking in the higher end cameras is very good in these situations where high FPS and luck are still your only options.


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