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Home → Photography Tutorials

Nikon Group-Area AF Mode

By Nasim Mansurov 44 Comments
Last Updated On October 30, 2020

Nikon’s latest DSLRs come with a “Group-area Autofocus” mode. When compared to the regular Single-Point AF Mode, Group-area AF activates five focus points to track subjects. This focus mode is great for initial focus acquisition and tracking of subjects when compared to a Single-Point or Dynamic AF, especially when dealing with smaller birds that fly erratically and can be really hard to focus on and track. In such situations, the Group-area AF mode might give better results than Dynamic AF, showing better accuracy and consistency from shot to shot.

Nikon Dynamic-Area AF

How does Group-area AF work? Basically, within the viewfinder, you see four focus points, with the fifth one in the middle hidden. You can move all four focus points by pressing the multi-touch controller on the back of the camera (ideally, you want to stay in the middle, because the focus points in the center of the frame are cross-type and the most accurate). When pointed at a subject, all five focus points are activated simultaneously for the initial focus acquisition, with priority given to the closest subject. This differs from the Dynamic 9 AF mode quite a bit, because D9 activates 8 focus points around the center focus point, with priority given to the chosen center focus point. If the camera fails to focus using the center focus point (not enough contrast), it attempts to do it with the other 8 focus points. Basically, the camera will always prioritize the central focus point and only fail-over to the other 8 if focus is not possible. In contrast, Group-area AF uses all 5 focus points simultaneously and will attempt to focus on the nearest subject, without giving preference to any of the 5 focus points.

Nikon Group-area AF

Group-area AF is especially useful when photographing birds, wildlife and non-team sports. In the above sample image of speed skaters, if your goal is to focus on the front runner, Group-area AF would do wonders, as it would automatically acquire focus on and track the runner that is closest to the camera. Another good example can be a perched bird sitting on a stick and you are looking at it a little from above, so the ground behind the bird is clearly visible. With Dynamic AF mode, whatever you are pointing at is where the camera will initially attempt to acquire focus. If you are right on the bird, the camera will focus on the bird. If you accidentally point to the ground behind the bird, the camera will focus on the background instead. This can get quite challenging when photographing small birds, especially when the branch or stick they are sitting on is constantly moving.

Getting the initial focus point is important and the quicker you do it, the better the chance of capturing and tracking action, especially if the bird decides to suddenly take off. As I have mentioned above, with Group-area AF, there is no preference given to any focus point, so all 5 focus points are active simultaneously. In this particular situation, since the bird is closer than the background, as long as one of the 5 focus points is near the bird, the camera will always focus on the bird and not the background. Once focus is acquired, Group-area AF will also track the subject, but again, only if one of the 5 focus points is near the subject. If the subject moves fast and you cannot effectively pan your camera in the same direction, the focus will be lost, similarly to what happens in Dynamic 9 AF mode. In terms of tracking, I personally found Group-area AF to be pretty fast, but it is hard to say if it is as fast as Dynamic 9 AF – in some situations, Dynamic 9 AF seemed to be a bit faster.

Another important fact I should mention, is that when you use Group-area AF in AF-S mode, the camera will engage face recognition and attempt to focus on the eye of the nearest person, which is neat. For example, if you are photographing someone between tree branches and leaves, the camera will always attempt to focus on the person’s face instead of the nearest leaf. Unfortunately, face recognition is activated only in AF-S mode, so if you photograph fast-moving group sports and you need the camera to lock and track on a subject’s face (and not on the nearest object), your best bet will be to use Dynamic AF instead.

If you would like to learn about camera autofocus modes in detail, I highly recommend checking out the autofocus modes article.

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Filed Under: Photography Tutorials Tagged With: Advanced Photography Tips, Nikon, Autofocus

About Nasim Mansurov

Nasim Mansurov is the author and founder of Photography Life, based out of Denver, Colorado. He is recognized as one of the leading educators in the photography industry, conducting workshops, producing educational videos and frequently writing content for Photography Life. You can follow him on Instagram and Facebook. Read more about Nasim here.

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Ishtiaq
Ishtiaq
October 30, 2020 2:52 am

Thank you Nasim… Very informative article… I got myself a Z50 recently and learning to use it with ease… Your help is greatly appreciated…

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Pino
Pino
July 18, 2020 3:15 am

Hi Nasim and thanks for the very clear explanation. The manual is not always as “crystal clear” as to allow you to immediately understand the differences between the various AF modes available.
Pino

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Yochi Levanon
Yochi Levanon
January 27, 2018 12:45 am

Hi
Thanks for the very thorough explanation. I am about to buy the D500 and was looking for the best focus setting for the wildlife and birds. I understand that the best for me will be AF C – group?
I’ve had bad experience with the dynamic one with my D7200, it kept moving and choosing focal points which I didn’t like. Is sit better with the D500 or should I stick to the group possibility
Thanks
Yochi

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Stephen Skeen
Stephen Skeen
April 1, 2017 5:52 pm

I am a Nikon D3300 and a new user. I have read thur several articles on various subjects regarding the use of camera. I must say, yours are much easier to understand and out to use. I have started to bookmark your pages I find of interest so I may always go back for quick reference. Keep up the awesome work.

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Frank
Frank
November 18, 2016 1:52 am

This is really good tips. Last week I tried to shoot some birds, big size and used AF-S with Single focus point and put it on the bird eye. I used 70-200mm and was about 40ft to the subject. But the results was not so good. I should have tried this group focus. Will do it next time then. Thanks.

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Ole Thielemann
Ole Thielemann
Reply to  Frank
November 18, 2016 2:20 am

Frank, also consider using the 3D focus system if the birds are in the air.
Was shooting “fast birds” (War aeroplanes) for at few month’s ago – only thing which actually worked was the 3D AF and not the group AF. Hit rate was more than 90%

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Dan Bahrami
Dan Bahrami
December 5, 2015 5:54 am

I use Nikon D810 and have a question. what is the limit of D810 Autofocus? f/5.6? f/8?
for example: if I use and TC-14 or TC-17 teleconverter with my [just for example] 400 mm f/5.6 [FX] lens, will I have still Autofocus?
and on another big important question:
if I set my D810 at DX mode, and use (1.5 Crop Factor) one FX lens [for example 400mm f/5.6 FX] at it, the F-stap of the lens will be become f/8?
thans

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Marcos Martel
Marcos Martel
September 12, 2015 8:03 am

Great article, really, really useful.

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Ole Thielemann
Ole Thielemann
July 15, 2015 4:29 am

NASIM MANSUROV
Are you absolutely sure abot this???

“Another important fact I should mention, is that when you use Group-area AF in AF-S mode, the camera will engage face recognition and attempt to focus on the eye of the nearest person, which is neat. For example, if you are photographing someone between tree branches and leaves, the camera will always attempt to focus on the person’s face instead of the nearest leaf. Unfortunately, face recognition is activated only in AF-S mode, so if you photograph fast-moving group sports and you need the camera to lock and track on a subject’s face (and not on the nearest object), your best bet will be to use Dynamic AF instead.”

This information cannot be verified any where else!!

Thanks for the article

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Reply
ole thielemann
ole thielemann
Reply to  Ole Thielemann
September 12, 2015 3:16 pm

My feeling is that Face recognition is implemented very badly on the D810 compared to eg. D700, where it works more than 9 out of 10
I’m not at all impressed with the Face Recognition.
AF is fine on the D810 when light is strong. When the light drops, my D700 gets far more shots in focus than my D810. It’s been at Nikon for service twice now – small adjustments have been made, but no errors found. Only hope will be that the next firmware update will have an impact on AF as well.

It’s a pity that Nasim don’t reply to the question answered on his blog!

“Unfortunately, face recognition is activated only in AF-S mode” – would be right if we could have that statement verified by someone!

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Gary Worrall
Gary Worrall
June 29, 2015 5:48 am

Much appreciated Nasim,
Just moved from D700 to D4s last week, thought the nikon manual was a bit vague, would like more on
the video mode as well
Regards,
Gary

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Fivesense
Fivesense
March 4, 2015 10:40 pm

Thank you for this explanation Nasim. I just received my D750 and I’m learning the AF modes. I plan to use the AF-S Group for newborn portraiture in the hospital, including pictures of mom, dad, and baby. Will the face detection work for this?

0
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