Focus points question

dan_yorkshire

dan_yorkshire

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Dan
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For quite a while now I have used my camera with single point focus and most of the time it does a perfect job for what I want.

However the process can be too slow when taking candids at parties/weddings etc when you move about and try and capture peoples expressions.

I find having to half press the shutter to activate and move the focus point, back button focus and eventually firing the shutter to be a bit too time consuming.

Is there any other tried and tested quicker methods for this other than the unpredictable auto?
 
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Having more focus points isnt really gonna hep you as much as you think it will.
You'd just have more points to choose from, taking up more time.

Im assuming your having a problem focusing, recomposing and firing - and the issue of subjects moving and being out of focus because the process is too slow?

What i do is one of two things.

Choose a single focus point (usually centre) half press between shots just to get your focus close to the subjects your 'scoping out', then when you are ready to take a shot, release the shutter fully and take the shot in a single press. That way there is no delay between reaching focus and firing the shot. You have to keep pre focusing between shot though, so that when you do take a shot, your lens is already close to being in focus, this will prevent a delay.

For moving objects you could use continuous focus/AI Servo.

To answer your question, the only alternative to auto focus is manual focus, give it a try for a while, you'll soon realise how brilliant autofocus is :lol:

Hope that helps, it was kinda hard to understand your post, so if i missed the mark let me know.:)

Adey
 
Is your back button set to AF on? If so, what I do is back button focus with centre focus point, then recompose and shoot. You can usually see if the focus changes when recomposing and just move the camera forward or back slightly to refocus.
 
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Cheers Adrian.

Mike, yes my back button is set to AF-on. The shutter button does just the firing.
With candids etc I think I might use centre point focus method you suggested, with a safe enough aperture set so I dont miss the focus when recomposing
 
Why am I reading more and more in these threads of people not wanting to use any of their camera's attributes.

It seems to me people are thinking that if they don't do everything in manual then they are not a good photographer.

When shooting rugby I use continuous focus/AI servo and set my D5000 to Dynamic.

This Saturday I am going to try ISO sensitivity setting, in which I set Highest and Lowest ISO and my minimum shutter speed, so with everything set up it will almost be like point and shoot....so who cares, if I get the shots I want then job done.
 
I do a lot of macro work where the way to focus is by moving the camera to get the focus where I want it, so I suppose it has become second nature to check focus through the viewfinder. Remember, view through viewfinder is always wide open, so worst case as far as DOF focus is concerned.
 
AFC said:
Dynamic.

This Saturday I am going to try ISO sensitivity setting, in which I set Highest and Lowest ISO and my minimum shutter speed, so with everything set up it will almost be like point and shoot....so who cares, if I get the shots I want then job done.
Click to expand...

Wow, that sounds sweet tbo. I think its about time, theres so many things dslrs could do, i think we are only just getting started.

I cant wait for the day when you can draw your own custom metering patterns, shapes or points in windows paint:thumbs:
 
AFC said:
Why am I reading more and more in these threads of people not wanting to use any of their camera's attributes.

It seems to me people are thinking that if they don't do everything in manual then they are not a good photographer.

When shooting rugby I use continuous focus/AI servo and set my D5000 to Dynamic.

This Saturday I am going to try ISO sensitivity setting, in which I set Highest and Lowest ISO and my minimum shutter speed, so with everything set up it will almost be like point and shoot....so who cares, if I get the shots I want then job done.
Click to expand...

I also use AF-C and auto ISO with min shutter speed and it works great, but I find dynamic focus sometimes picks the wrong focus point.
I don't shoot a lot of sport, so if it gets results for you then that's what counts.
 
Adey said:
....I cant wait for the day when you can draw your own custom metering patterns, shapes or points in windows paint:thumbs:
Click to expand...

Don't like the sound of that Ade, sounds complicated for a thicko like me:thinking:...:lol:

jomike said:
I also use AF-C and auto ISO with min shutter speed and it works great, but I find dynamic focus sometimes picks the wrong focus point.
Click to expand...

Yes I agree Mike, sometimes when I look in the VF and see the point has moved then I just move it to where I want it.
 
I use single point focus (centre point) with SI Servo as I take pictures of horses jumping and I want the focus to be on them and the horse is normally in centre of shot.

Otherwise I might use evaluative focusing on Canon
 
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