I took this picture with a Nikon 5200 in the backyard. It was on auto setting for the zoom. As I am just learning to use this camera and DSLR in general to try and take better pictures I would appreciate any advice.

I have always used all in one cameras before. THe focus on the DLSR is a lot harder. I am not 100% sure I can get better picture quality from the DSLR even with the auto focus on the zoom.

Would a manual focus adjust give better quality pictures than auto adjust ?

Thanks,

Mike

Quite the bird to have in the backyard!

That's a tough scene for any autofocus camera, as the camera is just as happy to focus on a tree limb as on the bird.

Can't speak about the capabilities of the 5200 as I've never had one. I like to set up my cameras' menu settings so I can select which sensor I want to use

I also like to (mostly) use the "One Shot" (Canon term) or "Auto Focus-Single" (AF-S, Nikon term) so I can put the sensor where I want it (in this case on the bird's eye) with the shutter release partly depressed, and have the camera hold that focus while I recompose.

I say "mostly" because for moving subject matter such as flying birds it's better to use continuous focusing ("AI Servo" for Canons, Auto Focus-Continuous on Nikons)

Ken Rockwell has some comments on autofocusing this model you may find helpful:

http://kenrockwell.com/nikon/d5200/af-settings.htm

He talks about an AF-A (Auto Focus-Automatic) option on the model 5200, with which I'm not familiar.

Manual focus is certainly an option and may be the best one if there are multiple distracting elements such as tree limbs in front of or behind your subject.

I second Dave's advice. Unless you are shooting fast action sports or fast moving wildlife, use the Single focus setting (not the Continuous focus setting)and use a single focus sensor. The AF-A setting is supposed to somehow sense what you should be using automatically and go to the most appropriate, but I don't think I would trust it.

If you have an AF-S lens you can manually focus, sort of like an override, just by turning the focusing ring. But with a slow lens on a dark day you'll have a hard time finding correct focus.