I discovered something new to me with this lens. It is extremally easy to shift to the manual mode, and once in that mode, as you focus on your subject, there's a magnifying effect that let you focus in a VERY close-up view, which once you've set the focus, it returns to the viewing mode as you press the shutter release. It guarantees that your images will be in the maximum focus possible, which is usually dead on. My previous Nikon didn't have that feature.