Focus points on Canon's

dmcaloney

dmcaloney

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Dave
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reading the manual for my 400D there is an option to choose a single manual focus point or AF auto point selection which chooses all 9 points.

I assume the manual selection will always focus on that single point chosen and therefore the rest of the points would be out of focus? And likewise the auto option will focus on all 9 points, or is it just the best of the 9 it can find?

:thinking:

I am not sure what is best, and in what scenarios?

Can anyone expand and explain this for me please?

Apologies for the basic questions.

Thanks in advance.
 
manual is you pick which one is over the most important bit (eyes) auto is it picks the best bit to focus on (usually something else - leaving ****** pics)
 
dmcaloney said:
Cheers Chris, much obliged.
Click to expand...

no worries mate - they maybe a little long, but they are well worth watching.

Auto will focus on the closet point it can focus on.
 
Cheers guys.

Was at a May Day fair the other day, and was getting a bit confused about the settings, as I was taking a lot of pics of moving objects... and wasnt sure what settings I should have been using. Was getting a variation of good pics and blurred pics, but the type of focussing isnt listed in the EXIF data so I couldnt remember which pics were on each setting!

Also plan on taking pics at a football match this weekend, so just need to try and clarify what settings get the sharpest shots the majority of times.

Focussing on static pics seems simple... its when things move around it gets tricky! :D

Will watch the video tuts.
 
David, was using a combination of AI servo and AI Focus in different shots (due to now knowing what would work best) but as I said, this info isnt shown on the EXIF data, so I couldnt really compare what was working best.

:shrug:
 
Don't use "AI Focus".
It's either One Shot for static subjects or AI Servo for moving ones.
 
Question on Af points, when you take a portrait of someone looking straight on at you and you select a focus point do you put the point bang inbetween both eyes or select one eye?

Also I tend to use one shot for static portraits when I'm taking shots of adults that are barely going to move but what about say my son of a year who might move a touch, would people use servo for that?

I watched the Videos and they are excellent It just generated those two questions for me.
 
if focusing on the eyes, you normally focus on the eye nearest to the camera and allow depth of field to get the other one. This is because the brain will always concentrate on the nearest eye.

For your son, maybe use AI Focus as the movement is small enough and slow enough (I hope) to allow the camera time to decide if movement is happening.
 
Thanks Graham, what if my son is square on to me. Both eyes are an equal distance from the camera, then do you aim for the middle of both eyes?

Whats the general rule with movement, perfectly still oneshot mode, small movement, say a head of wheat lightly swaying in a small breeze Ai focus?
 
dannyjo22 said:
Both eyes are an equal distance from the camera, then do you aim for the middle of both eyes?

Whats the general rule with movement, perfectly still oneshot mode, small movement, say a head of wheat lightly swaying in a small breeze Ai focus?
Click to expand...

Choose one eye, not the middle. If the DOF is shallow you'll want an eye in focus, not the bridge of the nose.

If the head of wheat is swaying and your shutter speed is low to capture the movement then use a tripod.
If your shutter speed is fast enough to freeze it then use one shot in a single steady press of the button.
AI Focus sounds like it is the best of both worlds but it is not. I don't know any pros who use it.
 
Thanks username, so in both instances even with the tripod in the examples I used you would be using oneshot mode?

I have been making a mistake aiming for the bridge of the nose when square on to my son, doh! I will pick an eye next time.
 
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