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BillBill
BillBill
New Participant
April 25, 2018
Question

Focus Point

  • April 25, 2018
  • 3 replies
  • 12728 views

I would love to see the focus point on my photos taken with a Nikon D 810. Photos are taken in RAW format.   I don't see an option in metadata or elsewhere to view the focus point(s).  Is it hidden, not available, or need a plug-in?  If a plug-in which one to use with LR CC Classic 7.3.1. 

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      3 replies

      Spindude
      Spindude
      New Participant
      July 27, 2019

      I have also been disappointed with the lack of a focus points over laid on the photo in LR. I have a Nikon so I use their app to show focus points. The Nikon app works great but it will not edit or process like Lightroom! I did find a 3rd party app, it's a free download. It operates as a plugin to LR. I have not tried it because it does not appear to have been updated since 2017.

      Based on the developer's FAQ, the app will not work on photos where back button focus was used. I thought that to be odd. The app's developer states that back button focus data will not be recorded because the camera assumes that the focus lock did not occur at the time the shutter was tripped. So if you used the shutter button the app will display it.

      The Nikon app does show focus points with back button focus without any issue. So who knows what it takes to show focus points. Some proprietary software or function issue? So Adobe has nothing to show focus points. I am going to continue to use the Nikon app for focus points and LR for all other post process.

      D
      duanep16098692
      New Participant
      December 19, 2018

      For Sony a7iii, a7Riii and possibly others -- even possibly Canon or Nikon (obviously I shoot Sony, so I don't know about others), you can see the focus point in-camera. To do so, you simply view the image then hit the zoom button. The camera will display the focal point used on the image and will zoom in on that point.

      I also would like to see Adobe add a focal point display feature to Lr and Ps, but at least this is available on at least two camera models, so I thought I'd comment for anyone who might find it useful (this does not appear in Sony literature, but was an accidental discovery).

      Anyone reading this thread should hit the "I also have this question" button so maybe the folks at Adobe will realize this is a feature desired by many.

      JP Hess
      JP Hess
      Inspiring
      December 19, 2018

      Unfortunately, the camera focus point feature is specific to the camera manufacturer. It is not a standard metadata feature. In order to use that feature is necessary to use software provided by the camera manufacturer. I use a Nikon camera, so if I want to see the focus points it's necessary for me to open the images using software provided from Nikon. If you have a Canon camera then it will be necessary to use software provided from Canon to see the focus points unless that plug-in will work for you. It is unlikely that Lightroom will ever be able to provide focus point preview as a native feature.

        P
        PL474
        New Participant
        July 12, 2019

        Just saw this post as I was looking for "focus point" ability in LR6.  I have been a long time user of Apple Aperture's image editor, currently moving over to LR or possibly DxO (as Apple is dropping support for Aperture).  Anyhow, Aperture has had this ability to show any camera's focus point(s) as a standard feature for quite a few years, not just the focus point used but also the one's not used by the camera.  I always found this feature useful for checking critical focus and checking focus ability of any camera/lens combo.  This only worked on RAW images (not jpeg).  LR is a pretty advanced photo editor so I'm surprised LR (or even Photoshop) does not have this useful feature. From what I understand this focus point information is automatically embedded in all camera RAW files, you just need the ability of the software application to display it.


        Example 2 from Canon 1D mkIII (Aperture image). Single focus point used, the red square.  The other 45 points, shown as white boxes were not selected for use but still shown.

        Bob Somrak
        Bob Somrak
        Brainiac
        April 25, 2018

        This is as close as you will get if your camera is supported.   Show Focus Points Plugin for Lightroom   I have no reason to want to see the focus points so I have not tried the plugin.  Past threads said it worked well.   If you try it let us know if it works with Lr7

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