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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 5D Mark III doesn't live up to expectations in real world shooting...
« on: April 28, 2012, 12:21:43 AM »dark...i appreciate your comments and perspective.
Here are mine... I'm feeling pretty good about the AF now, but in my first couple shoots trying different AF settings I, like you, was a little disappointed. But after spending some time playing around with AF settings I've come to a point where I think the AF is great...maybe not excellent, but great.
I've added a couple shots where the AF was challenged...I shot both of these images w/ the 70-200 ii with 2xiii (which obviously slows down AF speed)
the ducks were really flying fast as they were flying downwind
the trumpeter swans were moving quickly and a bit erratic (they were fighting)
both groups of birds were about 150 feet away - I think the autofocus nailed these shots
Really nice shots! Could you please share what your AF settings were e.g. Case 1 through 5 in the AF menu and if you did any further adjustments after selecting a Case.
Thanks.
Dark...my AF settings for now: (a work in progress as most of us 5d3 shooters know)
1. I'm mainly using case 1 and 2 right now. I find simple is better, with time I'll experiment with the others.
2. I'm shooting manual, with single point AF point expansion. Center single focus point and the 8 surrounding points..and I believe 5 of those 9 points are the dual cross type af points.
3. I've selected -ONLY use cross type af points
4. In AI servo I'm using the EQUAL PRIORITY for 1st and 2nd image. (still experimenting here)
5. NEVER using AI FOCUS...either one shot or ai servo
6. I set up my dof button to allow me to switch between one shot and ai servo just by pressing the dof.
hope this helps...and good luck.
oh...just because I love to show off the pooch...another AF example
Pooch is moving very quickly/erratically trying to catch that bouncing ball...it's very cloudy, dark clouds. I shot a burst of about 8 images and all are focused about this good...this was a very casual spur of the moment shot taken w/o much thought,(underexposed, iso too low, shutter speed too low) So I think the AF was challenged here and it came through pretty good.
handheld -straight out of cam JPEG with only cropping and bumping the light.
Yes this was very helpful. Thanks for sharing. I'm sure there are many people like myself who are still cutting their teeth with this new AF system so it really helps to get examples and settings from people who are having success with it rather than having people say "you're a crappy photographer and don't know how to shoot". I'm sure those same people also get missed or crappy shots as well even though they will never admit it. I've been a pro for many years and I know many other pros and we all know that missed shots are something that can't be avoided (granted the percentage is lower for pros), so I'm not afraid to admit I screw up and/or may not know how to use a new system. So thank you for your help and I'm sure others reading this post have also learned a thing or two as well.
Hey DKN-- sorry, I should have been more helpful in my previous post beyond just showing examples. Coming from the 7D, the focusing was very similar so the adjustment to the MKIII was pretty easy for me. For club stuff, I typically shoot in either P (with a longer lens) or in T (for a wider lens) allowing the camera to choose ISO (it's almost always wide open since it's dark). For AF, I always use one-shot, metering evaluative (and then just shoot a lot and change exposure comp if the lighting is wacky, which it always is...) and let the camera do the work. If lighting is sort-of stable, I might shoot M which now is nice that the MKIII will auto change ISO.
For focus, I usually use the Expand AF area (the 3rd option) or go down to spot or manual if that doesn't work. With a shot like the one below, you have to be with spot or 1pt AF or it will just go between the hand and face... and the shot will be blurry.
Manual can be too touchy though--depends if it's really dark or band is moving fast (why is it always both?
) Then occasionally, I use liveview!
Which actually focuses well too. This was shot with the camera over my head, wide-open and is surprisingly sharp with my 50mm 1.4 wide open. ISO 100 too (!!)
I'll admit I have not done any microadjustments for my lenses and I've been pretty happy. Of course you throw shots away, but at this point, it's more circumstance than anything.
Keep at it--I think if you shoot with 1-shot AF and get the hang of precision of the points, you'll get more usable. Or I guess something could be funky with your copy and/or the lenses you are using it with.
Cheers,
Matt
