Focus points

[steve001]

Hello all,

when taking portraits of single subjects I use the centre point focus option to pick up the eyes and then compose from there but my question is this, when taking group shots or two models in the same shot would I be better off switching to multi point? or would I lose the focus concentration from the eyes?

Thank you in advance on any advice or tips you may have to offer,

Steve

 

[phototuition]

Hi Steve, I suggest that you still use single central point, try and have the sitters in the same plane relative to the camera ie in a straight line, bearing in mind that when focused on distance x the camera is focused on a flat plane distance x away rather than a radius of distance x.

If your sitters are slightly varying distances away focus on a subject that is the mid distance or slightly closer from you. Use depth of field knowledge to assist and bear in mind that in some circumstances such as kids with wrinkly old grandparents a slight loss of focus on those behind may be desirable!!

Do a trial and magnify up on LCD to check.

good luck. John

 

[ryanyboy]

NEVER use the centre point to focus/recompose. Far better to use one of the outer points to minimise the amount of movement when recomposing. In fact i don't use the focus/recompose method at all unless I have to. Try shooting candids at F2 using the focus/recompose method - you'll soon go off it!!

 

[redhed17]

It is a good idea not to use the centre point and recompose as has been said, it can knock your focus out. I'd seen a picture and website that explains it in a bit more detail.

The full article can be found here.

 

[phototuition]

I would happily use centre point recompose with more than one subject because we would be using an aperture that provides a little depth of field.

That said, I would certainly agree that using one of the outer points and doing a very small amount of recompose will be more accurate but depending on the camera and the user the momement could be lost if the shooting is informal rather than set up.