Auto focus area selection on 7D? Which is best?

[Twizzel]

I usually shoot sport- horses in particular. This week I've bought a 7D and am thrilled with it, just not sure which is the best AF selection mode to use?

Yesterday I tried it out with the single point AF which worked most of the time but on the faster images my puppy's head for example was slightly soft-

Which is the best mode to use specifically for horses, dogs etc; single point af, zone af (I am unfamiliar with this as the 40D doesn't have this option) or auto select af?

 

[u8myufo]

What is the exif on the second shot Rach? To me it looks like you have missed the head altogether, shutter speed aperture obviously all play a part in the final result so it is hard to advise. Normaly single spot and AI-Servo is pretty reliable, have you opened the original in Zoom Browser as in the top of the window in between Edit and Show, you will see an icon for the focus points. Click on that to activate it and it will bring up precisely where the focus point locked on to the target. Apologies if you already know this

 

[Twizzel]

I don't have zoom browser Rich. The exif is f2.8, focal length 200, exp 1/4000 and was using AV mode. Her body seems to be in focus which is spot on in the centre, I wonder if I needed to switch to f4-ish so that the dof is less and the head wouldn't be lost in the front of the image?

 

[Rajkay]

I've found single point with expansion quite good in most situations, think potential problem with zone is that it still could lock onto the nearest area of the subject which could be the nose instead of the eyes?

 

[vaizki]

Single point with expansion, ai servo and tweak the custom functions to get the tracking sensitivity you want. And for me, back button AF.