How do I keep my Nikon D5100 from attempting to autofocus with every shutter press?

Question

I have a Nikon D5100 and the auto focus works fairly well most of the time. But there are times when I have a subject in focus and want to fire off multiple shots fairly quickly. I do not need to focus every time on the subject yet auto focus will attempt to re-focus the picture every time that I press the shutter down. Only way I have found around this is to switch to manual focus. Is there a way to keep the camera in auto focus mode but have it not auto focus every shot.

An example: I was shooting the moon (no pun intended => ) the other night and the auto focus had the moon in focus without an issue. Every time I pressed the shutter the camera would attempt to focus. I was attempting to fire the shutter as quick as possible to show to motion of the moon rising and having it focus every time causes too much delay.

Asked by Lynda

Answer

You can configure the back button on your camera that is AF/AE lock to lock your focus. You'll focus, press the button, and the focus will lock until pressed again. You want to go to the menu and select "buttons' and then set the button to "AF Lock" I believe.

Answered by rfusca

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