Improving autofocus success

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Oliver
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Hi everyone, I'm new here though looking for advice so a small bit of background info on me

I've always been into photography as a hobby, starting with just a 650D and kit lens, slowly progressing to now a 6D and a couple telephoto lenses. I've always generally shot landscape or more agricultural based images however in the past 12 months or so I've started shooting more canine photos particularly at dog agility shows/'fun time'.

I am generally pleased with what I can get with the 6D for what I do however, as I have read in places the 6D can struggle with autofocus speed etc and when it comes to chasing dogs around an arena I can end up with 40% in focus where I want them to be if I am lucky.

Is there anything I can do in terms of settings, preparation and techniques in order to be more successful? As much as I'd love to upgrade the camera body it's something I'll only do if I really am exceeding the limits of what the 6D can do. I am generally using a 70-200 f2.8 II which is superb though I do find myself creeping up on the f-stops for a fast shutter speed, as I probably do refrain (a bit much admittedly) from increasing the ISO too high. Any dogs running towards the camera is obviously borderline impossible, to which I assume most cameras would struggle to keep up with.

So long story short, what can I do to improve this. Any advice appreciated :)
 
Any dogs running towards the camera is obviously borderline impossible, to which I assume most cameras would struggle to keep up with.

Hi Oliver, and welcome to the forum.

I'm not a canon user so can't offer any wisdom on the 6D, but TBH I'd expect many recent cameras to give a reasonable number of keepers, tracking a dog as it ran towards the camera if you were using continuous AF. Hopefully someone will be along soon who does this kind of work who can advise better than me.
 
Hi Oliver and welcome to TP

Let me start by describing my digital camera path which was all Canon from last Canon film body.

350D, 40D, 7D & 5Dmk3
I was upgrading as the technology improved chasing the better AF especially C-AF (AI-Servo in Canon speak)

Now, to he 6D as you found is great for general and landscape subjects but struggles with fast moving subjects ~ this is no surprise!!!

IMO and purely FWIW
If you want to stick with full frame then the 5Dmk4 I think needs considering. I happy to revert back crop body then look at the higher spec'ed Canon as appropriate....sorry I am out of touch with the current nomenclature but the older 7Dmk2 by all accounts is or was a 'go to' body for action and wildlife subjects.

I no longer use Canon have switched to Olympus mFT on 2018

Hope that helps

PS your statement "Any dogs running towards the camera is obviously borderline impossible, to which I assume most cameras would struggle to keep up with" is a vast over assumption and with modern AF technology is a misguided view ;)

I look forward to seeing your images around the forum.
 
The centre focus point on the 6d is as good as any you’ll find on a Canon DSLR.

The only tip I have is to use BBF and keep the centre point on the dog.
 
I do find myself creeping up on the f-stops for a fast shutter speed, as I probably do refrain (a bit much admittedly) from increasing the ISO too high.

You need to get the fastest shutter speed you can out of the camera.....thats going to be getting your fstop right and upping your ISO.... Remember the golder rule for capturing fast images.."You can save a noisy picture, You can't save a blurry one" or somehting like that :)

My advice is to not be afraid of upping your ISO and don't be so hard on your camera.. a dog running towards you should be the easy pic....
 
I probably do refrain (a bit much admittedly) from increasing the ISO too high.

What's your "normal" end product? To decide how high an ISO you're happy to use, take a series of correctly exposed images at increasingly high ISO values and output them as end products. You'll probably have a different top value for different end products - a 6x4 print can be noisier at full resolution than an A3+ one and a full screen monitor file will probably be about the same as a 7x5 print size. Then try some noise reduction (if necessary).
As an example, I accidentally shot a few frames at ISO 25,600 noisier than I would have liked in an ideal world but definitely useable at screen resolution.

DSCF0015P.JPG
 
To decide how high an ISO you're happy to use, take a series of correctly exposed images at increasingly high ISO values and output them as end products

If hes shooting dogs at different venues then the lightings going to be different.. a high iso pic in bright sunshine and one in poor lighting are going to look different on his camera....its a nice idea but surely lighting will make a massive difference. ?
 
But surely the noise levels at high ISO values will be the same. WB might change and exposures almost certainly will but the maximum ISO that can be used without introducing too much noise will stay the same.
In my example shot, I ended up with a silly fast shutter speed because of the silly high ISO but it is correctly exposed for the values I threw at it. ISO 1600 would have been plenty given that the body I was using has IBIS and I was using a 27mm lens.
My suggestion was to find the highest useable ISO for the OP's wants/needs.
 
But surely the noise levels at high ISO values will be the same..

You did say to output them... I presumed you meant to see visually.. I know ISO will be same but visually for the OP a 25600 ISO shot in poor light will look noisier than one in good daylight.... wether it technically should or shouldnt shot at perfect exposrue is well.. tha knows:)... shoot the same thing in diferent light at same high iso.. shadows highlights blah blah :)
 
A high ISO shot then pushed in PP to rescue it will be a lot noisier than the same shot correctly exposed is my point.
The posted shot is fine for web viewing and a smallish print but I wouldn't want it as an A3+, although maybe a canvas would be forgiving enough...
As you know yourself, (and pointed out above!), a noisy shot is better than a blurry one so don't be afraid of higher ISO values, just be aware of the point beyond which you feel it's too noisy.
 
I'm by no means an expert but here's few things you might want to consider from me.

Initially set: BBF, focus to tracking, centre point focus, ISO to auto, shutter speed to 1/2000 (Tv or manual with a aperture as small as you can to expose correctly, say 5.6 - 2.8 will probably be too small depth of field if the dog's running fast towards you), shoot in burst. Get down low and try to keep steady on the nose as the dog comes towards you before hitting the shutter.

I will always remember what Kipax says, he says it often and it's made a big difference to my photography. Simply, 'It's better to have a noisy image than a blurry one'. So don't be overly concerned by high ISO, getting the shot in focus is what counts.

Being able to predict the movement all helps and of course lots of practice.
 
As spooky goes.. I have a (paid) dog shoot booked for 10am tomorrow :) It's a puppy and only just learnt to come when called.. gonna be fun :) Done a few before and been pushing it as a servive now lockdown rules lessned and still no sport
 
Treats on the ground just in front of you and make sure the puppy knows they're there! (BTW, does your Gran need egg sucking tips?!)
 
The 6D i found when i had it was very good at high iso,i didn,t worry about cranking it up.:)
 
fb8bmwP.jpg


I used to photography a lot of dogs running when we had Afghan hounds. The trick is not for a head on shot but 3/4 on shot. Then you capture the movement. Don't let the dog get too close before taking the shot. so shoot from a distance

zje42Yd.jpg


you can always crop in PP

I8GXWxA.jpg

all taken with a Nikon D300
 
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Do you know that I've never seen an Afghan running? They're always appear to be walking very prim and proper like :)

I always think of them as the posh end of dog society.
 
Steve
The Afghan Hound Association, which we were members of,(southern afghan hound association) used to have monthly race meetings at different tracks around the country. NOT for money just for fun and let the dogs have a good run. We were quite well known back then mainly because we had the only White Afghan being shown at the time.

ZHohPbz.jpg


I could write pages on how we got the dog in the photo above "Pasha" , famous people we met the advertisement we did ,( that our agent got us) Saab cars- clairol foot spa-brother computers etc etc. Even how I made Mrs B "walkies" Woodhouse give up dogs and move onto horses. about our trip to Inn in the Park London for an advert shoot or how we very nearly got our dog onto the Morcombe and Wise show., but they refused to work with animals. Ending up with our own commercial Boarding kennels and cattery and making a huge success with it as it was run down when we got it.

]
one of our litters we bred
.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZL4iBWJ05A

Even knowing how the Afghan hound was used in a hunt is interesting


So sorry ,going off thread heading
 
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Why have you put a dog in front of that nice. clear, in focus photograph of a fence?



I didn't take that photo of our white Afghan Hound ,didn't even have a DSLR camera back in 1973. Maybe check first before making comments. That dear friend who took it has passed away since then. Quite upsetting really remembering
I put it on here to show you don't have to have a "head"on shot
 
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As an aside.. But still on dog photography

Juts done a dog shoot today (very young puppy) ... I am adding little extras to the set to ...be a bit different... couple of examples..

b.jpg

c.jpg

f.jpg

e.jpg
 
Why have you put a dog in front of that nice. clear, in focus photograph of a fence?



I didn't take that photo of our white Afghan Hound ,didn't even have a DSLR camera back in 1973. Maybe check first before making comments. That dear friend who took it has passed away since then. Quite upsetting really remembering
I put it on here to show you don't have to have a "head"on shot


Ah, right. So you are infringing copyright, rather than just posting crap images then?
 
Ah, right. So you are infringing copyright, rather than just posting crap images then?

what an aggressive attitude,to take, there is no need for it



When an author dies, the ownership of the copyright changes. Copyright is personal property, so the person who created the work could choose whom to pass the ownership of the copyright to. ... This makes sense because the law tries to treat a Copyright just like any other asset or property as much as it can.

Think about it
 
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Well, this thread has taken on a life of its own, which is just as well seeing as the OP hasn't been seen in this thread since he posted!
 
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what an aggressive attitude,to take, there is no need for it



When an author dies, the ownership of the copyright changes. Copyright is personal property, so the person who created the work could choose whom to pass the ownership of the copyright to. ... This makes sense because the law tries to treat a Copyright just like any other asset or property as much as it can.

Think about it

You are trying to teach me about copyright? That's really rather amusing.


Of course you are going to claim that copyright was transferred to you. Whether I believe you, or whether it is the truth, is an entirely different matter.
 
Well, this thread has taken on a life of its own, which is just as well seeing as the OP hasn't been seen in this thread since he posted!


To be fair, he had been given a lot of solid advice before the thread switched to dogs!
 
Hi everyone, I'm new here though looking for advice so a small bit of background info on me

I've always been into photography as a hobby, starting with just a 650D and kit lens, slowly progressing to now a 6D and a couple telephoto lenses. I've always generally shot landscape or more agricultural based images however in the past 12 months or so I've started shooting more canine photos particularly at dog agility shows/'fun time'.

I am generally pleased with what I can get with the 6D for what I do however, as I have read in places the 6D can struggle with autofocus speed etc and when it comes to chasing dogs around an arena I can end up with 40% in focus where I want them to be if I am lucky.

Is there anything I can do in terms of settings, preparation and techniques in order to be more successful? As much as I'd love to upgrade the camera body it's something I'll only do if I really am exceeding the limits of what the 6D can do. I am generally using a 70-200 f2.8 II which is superb though I do find myself creeping up on the f-stops for a fast shutter speed, as I probably do refrain (a bit much admittedly) from increasing the ISO too high. Any dogs running towards the camera is obviously borderline impossible, to which I assume most cameras would struggle to keep up with.

So long story short, what can I do to improve this. Any advice appreciated :)


I used to have a couple of Nikon D3 cameras and the AF was brilliant and could keep up with fast moving children and dogs with relative ease. Then I switched to a Sony A6000 for a lighter setup, but I found the AF struggled with fast subjects. I eventually lost patience and switched back to Nikon with a D750 and I'm back to awesome AF, although I'm eyeing up a Sony A7 III because I'm greedy for even better AF :D

I've always been under the impression that a fast moving subject coming directly towards you was one of the most difficult things for an AF system to deal with, especially if it's not the best lighting conditions as well!

Anyway, when I did have the Sony A6000 a little trick I used to work around the lacking AF was to use manual focus and pre-focus on a spot which I knew the subject would come through. Give yourself a decent depth of field and set the continuous shutter on max. Then as the subject enters your zone of focus start snapping away and hopefully you'll have a keeper out of them. It's not ideal and a higher fps helps, but it worked for me on many an occasion.
 
Anyway, when I did have the Sony A6000 a little trick I used to work around the lacking AF was to use manual focus and pre-focus on a spot which I knew the subject would come through. Give yourself a decent depth of field and set the continuous shutter on max. Then as the subject enters your zone of focus start snapping away and hopefully you'll have a keeper out of them. It's not ideal and a higher fps helps, but it worked for me on many an occasion.

That's a pretty much standard technique from the 'good old days' of film photography before effective AF was available, though generally we only had a single shot, so had to be careful with timing. (y)
 
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