With this free Lightroom plugin from Chris Reimold, we can view our in-camera focus points in Lightroom 5! According to Chris it works for all Nikon DSLR cameras and post-2002 Canon EOS DSLR cameras. It reads your camera focus metadata (focus points, distance, mode, etc), and displays the results in a separate window that opens.
Click here to learn more about and download the Lightroom Show Focus Points plugin. You’ll find that installation and using the plug-in are straightforward, and instructions are given on the site (as well as a full list of cameras supported, in the FAQ.) It works only in Lightroom 5, but a version for Lightroom 4 and earlier versions is in the works.
The plugin is a great learning tool. In the photo below you’ll see that I made a classic focusing error – I focused on the dog’s nose rather than one of his eyes. Since I was shooting at f5.0 and zoomed in, I didn’t have enough depth of field for the eyes to also be in focus.
At this point the plugin is a beta – so in return for their generosity in offering this for free, I would suggest sending comments about your experience and suggestions for improvements to the developers on the contact form on their website.
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Hi Laura,
Thanks for sharing this new plug-in! It is timely since I recently had problems with focus when photographing an event. Maybe this plug-in will eventually work with ACR which would make it available to people using Photoshop Elements or Photoshop.
Kathy
P.S. I once asked you about a plug-in that would allow filtering images in LR based on pixel dimensions. Can you recommend one that does this? Thanks.
You’re welcome, Kathy! But everyone should use Lightroom, not ACR! Just kidding – of course there are good reasons for some to use PS or PSE. I’d suggest leaving this feedback on the Show Focus Points site.
One more question: Chris says we can install the plug-in to any folder we want or to use the “automatic” add to the plug-in manager that is part of the LR program. Do you have any opinions on which location you would prefer?
Kathy
Just be sure it is somewhere that will be backed up by your backup software, Kathy, and somewhere that you will remember to transfer if you upgrade to a new computer. I keep mine in a subfolder in my catalog folder, but it doesn’t really matter otherwise.
Hi Laura, and thanks for the tip!
Should work fine in most cases. However, what I found, when checking focus points on my Canon’s back screen, is that when you use “focus-recompose,” the focus point will indicate its position not where you actually focused, but where it ended up after re-composing, i.e., not very useful. Just something to bear in mind.
Thanks for the tip, Slobodan!
We should not forget it is a Beta for now. “This plugin is quite new – please let me know if everything worked fine for you, or if you had any problems, or want to suggest any improvements! You can contact me at info@lightroomfocuspointsplugin.com or use the feedback form below.
Thanks for the reminder, Claude – I’ll update the post to indicate this.
Laura
Thank you so very much for this plug-in, something Nikon had with their software some time ago and maybe still do but I do not use that software nowadays.
You might want to mention that it only works on Canikon.
Hi Laura,
I have just installed plug in in LR5 and states that it has been installed correctly but does not recognize my 7d canon camera – any suggestions?
Regards Sandra.
Laura
This is brilliant. Something I’ve always missed in LR. Canon software has it and when I want to check the focus point I always had to swithch from LR to Canon’s S/W. This has now removed that need. Thanks
For Nikonners, the focus points are displayed via nikon View NX 2, but not for the followin cases:
– The image shot with the Nikon digital single-lens reflex cameras attached to Non-CPU lens.
– The image shot by manual focus.
– The image shot using AF-C (Continuous-servo AF) mode without the in-focus indicator appearing in the viewfinder.
– The image edited using another application.
Thanks, most interesting comment.
Hi Laura!
Do you still recommend this plugin for LR CC?
I have not looked at it since then, Christy. Back up your Lightroom catalog before you install it.
Hi, have you been able to use it on a second monitor? I tried using Duet and while I can move it over, the plug in doesn’t say on the iPad if I click on another picture. So have to move it over every time. Not as useful as I’d hoped. I don’t have a second monitor so not sure if the issue is Duet or the plugin?
I haven’t tested it on a second monitor, Arnie.
A friend downloaded this to my laptop a couple of years ago. I really liked it, so I moved it to my iMac. Now Lightroom always tells me there is an update to this plug-in, but the download always fails. Any recent news on this plug in? Is it working as it is supposed to? And is anyone else having trouble updating older versions?
Hi Darlene, I’m afraid that I haven’t followed this plugin since I wrote the article. If you haven’t already I’d suggest trying to contact the author through their website. Alternatively, post your question on the Adobe Lightroom forum in case other users have information to share with you.