How Do You Usually Focus?

[jann1033]

sorry i am so dumb but the * button on canon is the focus lock button? so are you talking that button? guess i need to look at my manual again don't know why but i thought that was exposure lock but maybe i am misremembering it.

and to who ever asked about the group of people...i know on the rebel xt the last setting on the dial ( sorry camera is in car so don't remember the letters) the one past "manual" is for a line of people or things so they are all in focus.

usually i manual focus on macro after i autofocus. other than that i have old eyes as well that are doing good to see the camera so manual focus would probably look like a total blur

 

[jann1033]

I'd like to give the back button focus method a shot but it looks like I have to give up my AE/AF lock button. by default, it locks both the focus and the exposure. I have 11 different options I can assign to that button and one of them is AF-ON.

AF-ON initiates autofocus and takes that functionality away from the shutter release button. It won't hurt anything to try it out but I was wondering what your opinions were. is AF-ON a better use for that button?

Thanks

ok is yours a rebel? maybe i'm not crazy if it is

 

[KrazyPete]

ok is yours a rebel? maybe i'm not crazy if it is

Mine is a D80. I cannot confirm or deny your sanity.

 

[photo_chick]

sorry i am so dumb but the * button on canon is the focus lock button? so are you talking that button? guess i need to look at my manual again don't know why but i thought that was exposure lock but maybe i am misremembering it.

Not by default. You have to set it that way in the custom functions.

 

[Lizziejane]

well, my head is spinning nicely now, thank you all!!

Seriously, I need to clarify this. In a few weeks, I'm attending a dressage competition. If I use the * button, I can pre-pick my favorite spot in the ring, expose and focus on the first horse in that spot, set the AF, then just wait for the others to trot on into the frame? I won't have to worry about focusing anymore? Or does the AF only work if the subject remains in the frame but is likely to move around a bit (like a batter swinging for the ball)? 'cause if so, isn't that what AI servo is for?

 

[photo_chick]

well, my head is spinning nicely now, thank you all!!

Seriously, I need to clarify this. In a few weeks, I'm attending a dressage competition. If I use the * button, I can pre-pick my favorite spot in the ring, expose and focus on the first horse in that spot, set the AF, then just wait for the others to trot on into the frame? I won't have to worry about focusing anymore? Or does the AF only work if the subject remains in the frame but is likely to move around a bit (like a batter swinging for the ball)? 'cause if so, isn't that what AI servo is for?

IF you set it to single shot focus you can do like you said. But if the next horse is not in the exact same spot and if you move at all the horse will likely end up out of focus. Probably only slightly out of focus, likely still acceptably sharp for most people. But still the focus point will probably not be on the exact spot you want for the following horses. Unless there is some lighting changes in the venue the exposure you need should remain pretty much the same.

That said, getting ready for the shot will make taking the shot a lot easier. If you are all set up like you said getting the following horses should be easy with only very minor adjustments needed to the focus.

 

[Groucho]

usually i manual focus on macro after i autofocus. other than that i have old eyes as well that are doing good to see the camera so manual focus would probably look like a total blur

You slay me.

 

[Groucho]

I guess I'm still not really seeing the advantage, unless you don't feel comfortable doing the half-press without accidentally tripping the shutter or something?

If you're interesting in holding focus at one point, isn't it easier to focus with the half-press and flip the switch to manual focus for that time, rather than have to press a button on the back every time you want the camera to AF for you?

Maybe if you do more manual-focus shooting than AF, allowing you to use the focus button in the same way that you'd use an auto-exposure button in Manual mode?

 

[MarkBarbieri]

The focus button thing is sort of a speed and flexibility thing. You can use your AF/MF switch and your One Shot/AI Servo (or whatever the focus lock vs continuous focus is called for you camera). The beauty of the focus lock button is that you can get the advantage of those much faster.

I find it most important in situations where I need to switch between focus lock and continuous focus quickly. Let me give a couple of examples from earlier this weekend.

Example 1: I was taking a shot of a kid throwing in the ball at my son's soccer game. I wanted him on the left side of the frame throwing the ball in towards the right side. Because he was likely to be outside the focus area, I aimed at him, focus, released the button to lock focus, recomposed and shot. Right after that shot, I aimed at the kid who was now running after the ball and pushed the focus button back in. I was immediately in continuous focus mode again. If I hadn't used the focus button, I would have needed to be in focus lock mode (or MF) to get the first shot. I would then have had to switch to continuous shot mode track the action.

Example 2: Erik (youngest son), is running around the backyard firing a water sprayer at people. I'm always in continous focus mode now, but in the past I would be anyway because I don't want to get a focus lock on a moving subject. At one point, the stops, aims at his aunt, and fires. Once he stops, I released the focus button, zoomed out, recomposed with him on the left of the frame and his aunt on the right. If I'd been using the shutter button for focusing, the focus would shift to the gap between them and I'd have missed the shot. With the focus button separated from the shutter release, I was free to lock the focus without shifting into focus lock mode and take the shot with the composition I wanted.

The best analogy I can come up with is the DVR (Tivo). When you first describe it to someone, it sounds like something you could do with your VCR. Sure, it makes programming it a little easier, but isn't it just the same thing? Once you use a DVR, you quickly discover that it makes timeshifting so easy that you do much more of it and it is much more natural. With the focus button, you find yourself naturally switching between tracking and locking focus. Once you've done it for a while, it seems completely natural and having the camera arbitrarily deciding to refocus right when you decide to shoot seems odd.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

So when you shoot action sports, do you ever use IS? If so, in what way? I always used to turn it off, but with this soccer season, I've been using it and really liking it.

I've found myself leaving IS turned on in Mode 2, which is the panning mode. I'm usually shooting at shutter speeds where the IS is probably of very little (if any) benefit. What I find handy is that it stabilizes the viewfinder. At longer ranges, this really helps me see what I'm shooting better.

I use Mode 2 instead of Mode 1 because I'm afraid Mode 1 would mess things up. With Mode 1, the stabilizer always tries to stabilize the image. If you intentionally move, it fights the motion anyway, which can lead to a degraded image. With Mode 2, it continually checks to see whether their is significant movement along either the horizontal or vertical axis. If there is, it shuts down stabilization along that axis. If there is movement along both (panning diagonally), it shuts down the stabilizer entirely.

So with Mode 2, which was designed for panning, I basically get IS when I'm stopped (or panning) but don't suffer from it while moving. I suppose that their might be transition effects (where it starts to stabilize and then quits just as I'm shooting), but I haven't noticed them yet. Anyone else tried this and seen any problems?

 

[Groucho]

I'm still a little fuzzy. It sounds like you're using it as a way to quickly switch between one-time autofocus, continuous autofocus, and manual focus? I can see that benefit, though I'm still not sure that I'd want to hit the button on the back every darn time I want the camera to focus.

I'm trying to picture your interface. I wasn't sure what your camera had so I poked quickly through a review and I'm confused. I see a focus button on top to switch between the two focus modes, but I don't see an on-camera button/switch to go between autofocus and manual focus - is this only on the lens or am I just missing it in the review?

Now, what if you had one physical switch to go between MF and the two autofocus modes? (Or do you already and I didn't see it in the review?) This is what's on what will probably be my next camera, and that seems like it'd be a help (rather than two separate switches/buttons), flipping to MF will effectively lock focus... though even there, I could see an advantage of a button to lock focus, but still not a button to actually tell it to focus. I'm wondering if I'm still missing some key fact or something?

As for Tivos, I certainly can see the reference. I was in the same boat, now I couldn't live with my Tivo, even though it does make you into a SLAVE to the stupid television - "gotta watch this show before I run out of space!" (even with a 120g hard drive)..... even authoring DVDs off it still makes TV watching almost a chore. I realized the other day that we're almost 20 episodes of Mythbusters behind... so we started putting 'em on in the bedroom at night. Life's too short for all the things that need to be done; photos processed, books read, movies watched, TV shows watched, music listened to, places visited, hobbies attempted, etc... I could use a few more lifetimes to get a little bit closer to everything that I want to do!

(Yet, I've spent a few hours here catching up with Disboards - umm, I guess I'd probably get more done if I tossed my computers out the window. )

 

[photo_chick]

As for Tivos, I certainly can see the reference. I was in the same boat, now I couldn't live with my Tivo, even though it does make you into a SLAVE to the stupid television - "gotta watch this show before I run out of space!" (even with a 120g hard drive)..... even authoring DVDs off it still makes TV watching almost a chore.

Hey, mine is full of the entire season of Viva Pinata and about 20 episodes of Pokemon. I don't even watch those shows but a certain almost 7 year old learned how to work the box! I got my DVR about 7 years ago before Tivo was everywhere. I can't live without it the thing. I never watch anything when it is actually on anymore.

Now back to your regularly scheduled discusion.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I'm still a little fuzzy. It sounds like you're using it as a way to quickly switch between one-time autofocus, continuous autofocus, and manual focus? I can see that benefit, though I'm still not sure that I'd want to hit the button on the back every darn time I want the camera to focus.

That's basically it. Pressing the button to focus quickly becomes second nature.

I'm trying to picture your interface. I wasn't sure what your camera had so I poked quickly through a review and I'm confused. I see a focus button on top to switch between the two focus modes, but I don't see an on-camera button/switch to go between autofocus and manual focus - is this only on the lens or am I just missing it in the review?

There is a button with a * near both shutter release buttons. A custom function determines what this button and the shutter release buttons do. By default, this is AE lock. You can reprogram it to any combination of AE lock and auto-focus. If you set it to AF, you semi-permanently switch the focus mode of the camera from "One Shot" to "AI Servo" so that the camera never decides to lock focus; only you do that.

Every AF Canon EOS lens has an AF/MF switch. That switch is on the lens rather than the body. Once again, if you are using the AF button, you just leave the lens on AF mode because you can MF any time you want. I suppose that you might still need to switch to MF for lenses that don't allow you to manually focus while in AF mode.

mine is full of the entire season of Viva Pinata

We just got VP a few weeks ago. My son is a level 56 gardener now. It's taken over our house. We've been recording and downloading the shows where we can, but they aren't on TV very often here and the ones that are on have commercials. I hate having to skip through commercials.

 

[gruZ]

Groucho, the * button the back is literally right next to where your right thumb is naturally located (and on the 1 series larger bodies as well as batter grips, they put an additional * button on the bottom right of the camera, so when you are using in portrait mode the * button is still next to your right thumb).

There's no hunting around the back of the body for this button, it feels very natural and becomes second nature after you've used for a bit.

 

[photo_chick]

We just got VP a few weeks ago. My son is a level 56 gardener now. It's taken over our house. We've been recording and downloading the shows where we can, but they aren't on TV very often here and the ones that are on have commercials. I hate having to skip through commercials.

MY DD is quite obsessed with Viva Pinata. She is having a Viva Pinata birthday at the local water playground next month. It sucked me in for a few weeks at first too, but romancing pinatas only stays entertainign for so long!

Now on topic... I find the * button to be very natural to use. Like the PP said, it is right near your thumb. I like it better than using the shutter button for the AF, but I think it realyl is a personal preference thing. I would not go as far as to say it is better than using the shutter button or anything.

 

[Groucho]

I'm not trying to infer that the button is poorly placed or anything.

I guess it's a "use it to understand it" thing. I think I understand how it works, but I'm still not sure that it's something that I'd want - maybe a "lock AF" button but probably not for it to be the primary focus control. Seems like fixing something that's not broken? Maybe I'll give it a shot one of these days; who knows, maybe I'll be convinced.

As for Tivo, one other side-effect is that we never see commercials any more, so I'm completely out of touch with what ads are out there. Combine that with the Adblock extension for Firefox so that I don't see any web ads, and it means that I'm almost completely unreachable by Madison Ave.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Anyone using a split prism focus screen? I've thought about playing with one for my camera, but I never have bothered.

 

[KrazyPete]

My dad's camera had that. I kind of liked it. It seemed very precise for manual focusing. How difficult is it to modify a DSLR to add that feature?

 

[Groucho]

I think that for most DSLR, it's easy to change focusing screens. Katz Eye makes them for several DSLRs, and there are one or two eBay guys who take old focusing screens and cut them down for use on a DSLR.

The concern is exposure... there's information on their page specific for each application on how it affects the camera. They seem to be pretty honest about it all. It's probably something that you can adjust on a per-lens basis fairly easily, just dial in some negative compensation.

Metering modes that weigh heavily on the center (like center-weighted, spot, etc) will be affected more, and aperture also affects it.

If there were no penalties, I would have to have one... at it is, I may get one for my next camera. Going between my DSLR and my K1000, I really, really miss the microprism focusing screen of the film camera, since I do like to do manual focus.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

With my camera (Canon 1D Mark II), it's as easy as unlatching a little tray, sliding out the old screen and sliding in the new one.

How difficult is it to modify a DSLR to add that feature?

Metering modes that weigh heavily on the center (like center-weighted, spot, etc) will be affected more, and aperture also affects it.

Oddly, Canon recommends that you use center-weighted and avoid center-spot and evaluative. I can't explain why. In theory, I could switch to another spot and meter off of that, but I'm not sure that I could get used to that.

From what I've heard, the metering difference, aside from spot metering with narrow aperture lenses, is pretty minor. I've heard about being 1/3 stop being the typical variance. Maybe I'll pony up the $30 and try it.