When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Your Nikon D5300 can bring on some perfect pictures with its viewfinder in auto mode feature.
It is usually seen among new photographers that they are hesitant to move from a point-and-shoot camera or a smartphone camera as they feel like a DSLR is far too complicated.
This fear may have been justified many years ago, but with the advancements available today, there is no fear of complexity.
This is because all modern cameras have point and shoot capabilities too. So you are not forced to navigate the complex settings.
Taking a picture with the Viewfinder in Auto Mode in Nikon D5300
Step 1: Go to Settings of your Nikon D5300
- The first thing you must do to take pictures with the viewfinder is to set the camera in Auto Mode
- This allows the camera to know that you want to autofocus and use default settings
Step 2: Go to Lens setting
- You must set the lens also to the autofocus mode
- To do this, you need to toggle the switch on the side of the lens
- The setting that you must select will be labeled as “A” on the lens.
Step 3: Find an object
- Once all these settings are done all that is left to do is to take the picture.
- To do this, use the viewfinder to locate the subject.
- Make sure the subject is within the autofocus brackets
- If the object is outside this bracket, it will not be in focus and you will end up focusing on the wrong object, with the object you desired becoming blurred.
Step 4: Shooting and camera wizardry
1. Once the object of desire is in the autofocus bracket, you must click the shutter button halfway. If you click it fully, it will just take a picture without running any tests.
2. But if you click halfway properly, the following happens: 1) the exposure reading is taken: In this method, the camera tries to find out how much light is available and sets the exposure level accordingly. If things change, you can manually set it to the desired level.
If the camera feels like there isn’t enough light it will use the auto flash. If you may not or do not want to use flash, go back to step 1 and select Auto No Flash. This is the same as auto, but it will not engage the flash.
3. After the exposure reading is done, the camera autofocus process begins. In this step, if there is not enough light, the camera will shoot a beam to establish the distance between you and your object to autofocus better.
Step 5: Autofocus
1. Once the camera has established focus, it will do two things. First, it will show two boxes on the screen in red. This is where the distance measurement was done. Secondly, the autofocus light will turn on, letting you know that focus has been achieved.
2. Once this has all been done, the autofocus stays on the subject as long as it is not moving. If the object moves, the focus will move with it. Keep it within the autofocus bracket for best results.
Step 6: Record Picture
1. Once you have achieved focus, click the shutter button down to click the picture.
2. If you cannot, try moving away from the subject a little and allowing it to focus properly. This will allow you to record the picture.
