Beginner Focus basics - few questions

Ronnie Mutch

Ronnie Mutch

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Ronnie
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I am struggling a little bit with focus modes occasionally. My camera is the Sony a5000. Are there any tutorials that I can look at or can someone here give me some pointers into what focus modes I should be using? Options I have available are AF-S (currently using), AF-C, DMF and MF. There's also Focus area available to select. I currently use Flexible Spot M, but also have Wide, Zone and Centre available. I gather the meanings of these, but not really sure what is better/worse and in which circumstances you should be using each of these.

When using Flexible spot, it allows me to first choose the spot that I want the focus spot to be. This is fine, but then there must be an easy way to re-select a new focus spot without going into the menu again?

If using Centre, and imagining I am taking a photograph of a cat and I do not want the cat in the centre of the image. If I put the cat's eyes in the focus point on the centre, depress the shutter half way and then move the camera to where I want the shot to be taken from does the focus stay in the centre of the picture with the focus point or does the focus remain on the cat's face (now in the top right of the image)?

At the weekend I was away to the zoo and having all sorts of focus bothers and I could not figure out why. The only thing I could think of was the weather was quite damp and grey a lot of the time with light rain. I would take my picture then zoom in to find it just was not sharp. This was at 210mm usually.

Also at the weekend, I wanted to take a photo of an animal behind a fence. I got a lovely photo of the fence, with the shape of a wolf behind it. Is there a way to have the camera ignore the fence and take a photo of the whatever is beyond it? Photo shown below. High f stop value?

DSC01815.JPG
 
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I know nothing of anything that is not Nikon, so be aware
that the terms I use are Nikon terms that will translate to
similar terms on your equipment.

AF-S when not shooting for action —focus acquisition priority
AF-C when shooting action —assign auto-focusing function to an other button than SR —focus acquisition priority
MF when focus acquisition may be precarious —as in the shot above

Use the maximum of focus points —in my case 51 —I don't use 3D-AF etc but I set the focus point to wrap around the view finder
Ronnie Mutch said:
Photo shown below. High f stop value?
Click to expand...
MOST CERTAINLY NOT!
Here, I would focus manually and keep a wide aperture trying to sneak between the mesh if possible.

I hope this helps you!
 
Kodiak Qc said:
•


I know nothing of anything that is not Nikon, so be aware
that the terms I use are Nikon terms that will translate to
similar terms on your equipment.

AF-S when not shooting for action —focus acquisition priority
AF-C when shooting action —assign auto-focusing function to an other button than SR —focus acquisition priority
MF when focus acquisition may be precarious —as in the shot above

Use the maximum of focus points —in my case 51 —I don't use 3D-AF etc but I set the focus point to wrap around the view finder

MOST CERTAINLY NOT!
Here, I would focus manually and keep a wide aperture trying to sneak between the mesh if possible.

I hope this helps you!
Click to expand...

Thanks, very helpful.
 
Ronnie Mutch said:
Also at the weekend, I wanted to take a photo of an animal behind a fence. I got a lovely photo of the fence, with the shape of a wolf behind it. Is there a way to have the camera ignore the fence and take a photo of the whatever is beyond it? Photo shown below. High f stop value?
Click to expand...

Faced with your wolf behind the fence shot you could just switch to manual focus and then focus on the wolf yourself. If you use a wide enough aperture the wolf could be largely in and the fence largely out :D
 
Can't help with most of the stuff but as a beginner with mainly old manual focus lenses on a Nex 5N I use MF all the time.

With the wolf I would use focus peaking in liveview to get a general focus established and then use MF Assist at 4.8/9.5 to get an exact focus on the area that I wanted. I think with the a5000 you just enable MF Assist in the menu and turn the focus ring on the lens to get a magnified view. That way you are guaranteed to get the important bit in focus.

I'd then consult a little card that I carry which shows the depth of field details for that particular lens (you can get an app) so that I know approximately how much of the rest of the image is going to be within reasonable focus at any selected f-stop.

see this calculator

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html
 
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Use the longest lens you have, open the aperture as wide as it will go and get as close to the fence as possible ( without getting eaten!) .
That way the fence will be OOF and you will be able to focus on the wolf
 
Yes, that's the key. Either Manual Focus, or have the fence closer than the camera's minimum distance (easier in telephoto).

For the record:
AFS is for single shots where you might lock focus by half pressing the shutter - the camera focuses then, not when you shoot.
AFC ('Continuous') is for when you want the camera to refocus automatically between each shot, e.g. when you're firing off a burst.
I have no idea what DMF is (I don't use Sony - is it Macro mode?) but MF is Manual Focus.

If you have a touch screen, or even navigation arrows on the rear, you don't need to go into the menus to change the 'focus area' - once you've selected the focus assist button, you can either re-select the area on the screen using your finger, or use the navigation arrows to move it around the screen.
 
If manual focus (MF) isn't an option, the AF on most cameras can be fooled into ignoring the fences by moving a little while keeping the AF point fixed on the animal. The AF module will ignore the moving part of the image (the fence) and concentrate on the still bit. Using a wide aperture (low number) and getting as close as safe (and allowed!) to the fence will help the camera to get a fix and will also reduce the impact of the fence on the final shot. Getting as square on to the fence will also help but I can see that the pose in your shot above needs that angle to work.
 
Can you set the camera to spot focus and have the focus point peer through the openings in the fence? You'll have to get close up to the fence to do this.
 
Big Andy said:
Just climb over the fence, problem solved. It will give lots of other people some great photo opportunities as well, everybody's happy. :)
Click to expand...

Aah, not a solution, that wretched fence is still in the way...

Cut the fence down maybe, everyone will shoot everyone else being eaten.................:police::police:
 
get lens as close to fence as possible, make sure big cats are well away first,




fences half edited out to show what can be achieved

DSC_6992a.jpg



fence infront of cat removed
 
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