Using the Nikon Autofocus System with Mike Hagen

Excellent class. I was not aware of camera's ability to focus this well or the adjustments available to take advantage of the systems. Started the class after a bad day at an indoor flower show. With just a few of the modules watched, went back to the show and got some great pictures. Also tried techniques on backyard birds with great results. Can't wait to experiment more!!

This class is exactly what I needed to better understand how to use the autofocus of my Nikon camera in different situations. Mike is a great teacher - an engaging lecturer who can explain things very clearly and concisely.

This was a great course. I just got a Nikon z5 and I also shoot a D750 and your explanations helped me understand how the autofocus works. I pulled out the cameras while you were teaching to follow along and now I have a better understanding. i appreciate at the level you teach, you keep it simple and practical which is helpful. Good job and thanks.

Excellent class!! It helped me a lot!

Good class!

Thank you, Mike. Do you list your custom settings for sports protraits, etc? I would like to start with your settings

Thank you Mike Hagan and Creative Live for presenting this class on the camera’s Autofocus system. I strongly recommend this class to anyone who seeks a better understanding of the Autofocus menu options.

I've recently bought a newer Nikon and felt like I needed to know more about the auto focusing. He reminded me of things I knew but I also learned some that I didn't know. I'll be putting this to use and practice getting better focus. Thank you.

Great class, great teacher, highly recommended!

This class provided me with a clear and easy to understand foundation in Nikon's autofocus system. I've played around with it before, but now I understand how to use the wonderful options available with my Nikon dslr's. Thanks Mike!

Course had a lot of good info, but I was extremely disappointed that iit left out one important subject... the focus points you see when you look through the viewfinder. Mike does mention them in passing, but he never shows the view when they show up, or describe the various configurations showing the clusters of points from single, D9, D21, D51, GrP and shifting those clusters as needed, as well as how and why to make those selections. This is an important element of info, and I'm having to go to other courses to learn about it.

I take classes on creative live primarily because I am new to photography and I don't know what I don't know. Mike's teaching style seems more like a friend describing what you and your camera are capable of. The class does not cover every Nikon camera made or how to set each one up. It did however teach me what I didn't know about autofocus modes. That knowledge and a few minutes with my camera manual greatly improved the quality of my shots.

Good course! I am a beginner and this course helped me a lot. I agree with some students that a better work could have been done in preparing the presentations. It seems to me that Mike is great in having informal live workshops. However, for recorded classes like the ones we buy in Creative Live, the teaching technique should be adjusted. Overall I am glad I bought this course.

After having my camera D800 for 5 or 6 years and never really got the focussing down I can finally do it. This video should be included with every Nikon sold. I am so happy that I am finally get the fullest out of this great camera, I am more of a visual person. Reading the manual is not the same as actually see it done... Thanks Mike, you rock! I have watched the sequences over and over and learned so much. Thanks. And always welcome when you pass in New Mexico...

I'm so thankful I ran across this course! So much useful information that he does a very good job at explaining. I'm much more confident in nailing my focus and can't wait to get out there and practice! I would like to address the negative review left on 8-31-16... This reviewer says he doesn't explain how he did this or that, but he definitely does. About the booby bird critique specifically, he absolutely does explain how he does it. It's just later on in a different segment where he goes into detail. At that moment he was using that image as an example while giving an overview of the different dynamic patterns. The method came later. And yes, you can't see exactly what he sees in the viewfinder while actively shooting. (Is that even possible? I've never seen this capability before.) But he does explain what settings he's using, where he is aiming and why, and how he maintains focus by using back button focusing.

Great class... wonderful detail... I hate to admit how much I didn't know...Thanks so much, Mike...have listened to parts of this several times and learn something new each time.....

I have been shooting for over thirty years and I have picked up a few tips that are new to me. Good instructor. We Nikon people need workshops too,

I have been struggling with Nikon auto focus on five cameras for a little over a decade.. I learned more from this awesome course than all of that time.

Well done, Mike! Mike is a good speaker/teacher and an expert Nikon photographer. I just bought a Nikon D500 and this course was just what I was looking for. He didn't just explain how the autofocus system worked in a number of different scenarios, Mike actually took the time to go into depth on a number of different camera settings. This was, again, something that I was hoping to find. Nikon is notorious for having many camera settings, some of which seem inscrutable at times. Mike explained a number of them in easily understood terms and often demonstrated them using a Nikon camera. Keep it up, Mike. I look forward to seeing more excellent Nikon videos.

Thanks, Mike! I will go on tomorrow's shoot with my new Nikon D500, using autofocus with much more confidence thanks to this excellent class. I especially want to master birds in flight, so that module was of particular interest, as was the detailed review of back-button focus.

I found Mike to be a really good teacher, he explained things really well and I would like to see more of his classes