How to Use the Plane of Focus Mark on the Nikon D40

Learning how to use the focal plane mark of your Nikon D40 camera will help you produce stunning close-up images.

The Nikon D40 is a digital SLR camera with a wide variety of features that allow both amateur and professional photographers to take fantastic photographs of any subject in nearly any environment. Knowing how to use the advanced features of this camera will help novice photographers avoid common photography pitfalls and produce professional-quality images. Use the plane of focus or "focal plane" mark on your Nikon D40 camera to create stunning close-up images.

Things You'll Need

• Nikon-compatible camera lens
• Object to photograph
• Nikon D40 digital SLR camera
• Measuring tape

Instructions

1. Look on the underside of your camera lens for a mark stating the minimum focusing distance. This should be expressed in terms of meters or feet. For example, a Nikkor 18-55 mm zoom lens may be printed with "0.28m / 0.92 ft."

2. Set up the object that you want to photograph.

3. Find the focal plane mark, located on the top rear of the camera.

4. Use the measuring tape to ensure that the distance between the focal plane mark and your subject is equal to or greater than the minimum focusing distance determined in Step 1.

5. Look through the viewfinder and depress the shutter button halfway to focus the image. When the image is in focus, completely depress the shutter button to take the photo.

Tips & Warnings

• If you see a blinking flash image when you depress the shutter button halfway, your camera is too close to the subject. Move the camera back farther and try again. If you have a zoom lens, you can move farther away from the subject then increase the zoom in order to still get a close-up image of your subject.

References

• Nikon D40 Camera Manual
• Nikkor 18-55mm Lens Product Specifications

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish