Today’s Question: I can choose to display the point of focus of an image when I am playing back the image in the camera. Is it possible to show that when viewing the image in Lightroom?
Tim’s Quick Answer: There is a plug-in for Lightroom Classic that enables you to view which focus point was used. However, this plug-in currently only supports a variety of cameras from Canon and Nikon, with some support for Sony cameras being added.
More Detail: The focus point that was active when you captured a photo is generally stored in metadata by the camera. However, you generally aren’t able to see that information later unless you’re using software provided by the camera manufacturer. Fortunately, for some cameras a plug-in for Lightroom Classic enables you to see the active focus point for your photos.
The “Show Focus Points” plug-in for Lightroom Classic is an add-on that enables you to view the focus point for supported cameras. Note that the focus points won’t be shown directly within the previews you view in Lightroom Classic, but rather will be displayed in a window when you activate the feature for a selected photo.
The plug-in currently supports a number of Canon and Nikon cameras, with support being added for some Sony cameras (currently just the Sony A77II). Hopefully the plug-in will be updated to support a wider range of cameras in the near future.
This plug-in is free to use, though you can also support the developer with a donation using a link on the downloads page. You can learn more about the “Show Focus Points” plug-in here:
https://www.lightroomfocuspointsplugin.com
