Configuring your 5D Mark III AF for fast action

[cervantes]

Hi,

a week ago I posted some of my pictures to the birds in flight thread and some people asked me how to configure the 5D3 AF to get these results. Since this is a complex topic I wasn't able to simply respond but I took the time to create an article at dpreview.com. If you own a 5D3 or 1Dx you maybe wanna take a look here:

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/9174241280/configuring-your-5d-mark-iii-af-for-fast-action

If you own a different camera there will maybe also be some useful tips for you. I would be be delighted if you took a look and maybe even left a comment here or over at dpreview.

Have a nice day!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDIT:
Dpreview did some weird thing to its article section but my original link seems still to be working. However I have recently launched my new website www.focrates.com and you can find an updated version of this article there under: http://www.focrates.com/articles/configuring_your_5d_mark_3_af_for_fast_action/configuring_your_5d_mark_3_af_for_fast_action.html

Hope to see you on my site!
Best Wishes!

 

[Maximilian]

I would be be delighted if you took a look and maybe even left a comment here or over at dpreview.

Hi cervantes!
First of all thank you very much for your effort and compliments for the really nice pictures.
I couldn't find the time to read concentrated through your article, but the link is already stored
and if I find something to add or comment I will do so right here.

Thanks again.

 

[Northstar]

Cervantes....well written article, very informative, thanks!

 

[candyman]

Benjamin,


I very appreciate that you took the time to write this article. It is very helpful. Thank you!

 

[TrabimanUK]

Cervantes, you're a total hero! Thanks so much for doing this

 

[tomscott]

Brilliant Article thanks for taking the time.

 

[DominoDude]

I don't shoot 5D, but I will most certainly take a very close look to see if there is anything I can make use of on my 7D as I shoot with it. (I bet there are.)

Many thanks for creating such a good article!

 

[Rienzphotoz]

Hi,

a week ago I posted some of my pictures to the birds in flight thread and some people asked me how to configure the 5D3 AF to get these results. Since this is a complex topic I wasn't able to simply respond but I took the time to create an article at dpreview.com. If you own a 5D3 or 1Dx you maybe wanna take a look here:

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/9174241280/configuring-your-5d-mark-iii-af-for-fast-action

If you own a different camera there will maybe also be some useful tips for you. I would be be delighted if you took a look and maybe even left a comment here or over at dpreview.

Have a nice day!

Man that is AWESOME! ... excellent and very useful info. Thanks for sharing. Is it possible for you to post it here instead of going through the link? I think a lot members in CR will benefit from it. Once again, a great job of taking the trouble to put it all together. 8)

 

[cervantes]

Wow, thank you all for the positive response!

@DominoDude: I'm sure that there is some useful info for 7D users also. I would personally be interested if the 7D also supports my 2 zone back button / shutter button AF method. Let me please know when you find out!

@Rienzphotoz: I wrote the article over at dpreview because CR is kind of a pain when it comes to incorporating pictures with captions, a hierarchy for headlines etc. I think a link is the best solution.

 

[East Wind Photography]

Great article, especially the undocumented features. I need to try this but theoretically if you enable orientation linked af point you should also be able to set independent af-on settings for portrait or landscape mode...that is have two selectable zone af points in portrait mode and zone af and 61pt in landscape mode.

Another recommendation is to leave af case mode 1-5 in their default state and use the last case mode 6 for your customized bif settings.

And you can further customize your use modes by recording your ideal BIF fast action settings to custom mode 3 at the end of the mode dial. This will let you switch to this mode quickly without looking and will also save all of your customized settings....one may actually want to use different af and af-on settings for shooting a wedding or portraits or even bif with a different lens.

Pretty much the configurability has endless combinations and even more headspinning combos on the 1dx. Its important to use the settings that work for you and then save them to a custom mode or you may spend a lot of time reconfiguring every time you change shooting environments.

 

[cervantes]

Great article, especially the undocumented features. I need to try this but theoretically if you enable orientation linked af point you should also be able to set independent af-on settings for portrait or landscape mode...that is have two selectable zone af points in portrait mode and zone af and 61pt in landscape mode.

I tried and used orientation linked AF point but the thing is that sometimes you change AF mode setting (e.g. from Zone AF to 61pt AF) in landscape and these changes are then not in effect when you switch to portrait which becomes kind of frustrating and very complicated - so I stopped using it.

And you can further customize your use modes by recording your ideal BIF fast action settings to custom mode 3 at the end of the mode dial. This will let you switch to this mode quickly without looking and will also save all of your customized settings....one may actually want to use different af and af-on settings for shooting a wedding or portraits or even bif with a different lens.

Yes, that's exactly what I do. C1 is my action mode. You also said to leave AF case 1-5 in their default state and use 6 for BIF settings - a good idea but not even necessary because when you save your settings to C1 and then overwrite AF case 2 while inside C1 mode, case 2 will only be overwritten in C1 mode and not in Av, Tv, M etc!

Thanks for your input!

 

[westr70]

Nicely done and greatly appreciated. A lot of food for thought and some insight into the interrelated features of the camera and lens.

 

[tron]

Nice article. Thank you for letting us know.

 

[climber]

@Cervantes: Did you ever try to shoot birds or any kind of sport with AF Expansion mode including 4 or 8 additional surrounding points? I never know which mode is better - Zone or AF Expansion. Can you tell why AF Expension mode would not be appropriate for birds or sports?

Otherwise, very good and informative article!

 

[East Wind Photography]

The single most beneficial aspect of Zone AF is that it will focus on the closest part of the subject. Even in 61pt you have to get AF using the center point first. If that happens to be a tail on the far side then AF will track that point and not the head. There are tradoffs going either way.

Expansion will af on whatever the center is pointed at and the surrounding points will be used to assist AF if the center loses the subject.

The main diff is that Zone will always try to focus on the closest thing in the zones range.

@Cervantes: Did you ever try to shoot birds or any kind of sport with AF Expansion mode including 4 or 8 additional surrounding points? I never know which mode is better - Zone or AF Expansion. Can you tell why AF Expension mode would not be appropriate for birds or sports?

Otherwise, very good and informative article!

 

[climber]

Thus, if one is tracking a bird with AF Point Expansion in AI Servo mode, this would be quite similar to Zone AF. And try to have the main AF point near the eye, let's say. Or not?

 

[mwh1964]

Adjusted my camera accordingly on a custom function. Think it will come in handy in many situations. Will probably adjust settings to fit my shooting along the way. Thanks again

 

[cervantes]

@Cervantes: Did you ever try to shoot birds or any kind of sport with AF Expansion mode including 4 or 8 additional surrounding points? I never know which mode is better - Zone or AF Expansion. Can you tell why AF Expension mode would not be appropriate for birds or sports?

Otherwise, very good and informative article!

No, I never use AF Expansion mode for the following reasons:

• AF expansion is basically single point AF where the camera uses the surrounding points only if the center point can't achieve AF (this is basically what East Wind Photography said).
• AF expansion covers an area that is too small for my taste - In fact I would love it if I could select an AF mode that uses all 20 points on the left / right side of the frame. Or even better if I could define my own zones via a custom function!
• When you move the expanded AF point the movement happens point by point (ten clicks from the leftmost AF point to the rightmost AF point) - thus very slowly. Zone immediately switches to the next zone (two clicks from the leftmost Zone to the rightmost Zone).
• There is an option in the AF menu where you can turn all the modes off that you don't need. For my action setting C1 I turned off everything except Zone AF, 61pt AF and single point AF (which can't be turned off unfortunately - otherwise I would). It is much faster to select what you need when you don't have to scroll through everything.

Thus, if one is tracking a bird with AF Point Expansion in AI Servo mode, this would be quite similar to Zone AF. And try to have the main AF point near the eye, let's say. Or not?

Probably true. But keeping in mind all the disadvantages above - why don't you simply use Zone AF which will get the job done for sure?

Thanks for the input by the way!

 

[climber]

@Cervantes: Did you ever try to shoot birds or any kind of sport with AF Expansion mode including 4 or 8 additional surrounding points? I never know which mode is better - Zone or AF Expansion. Can you tell why AF Expension mode would not be appropriate for birds or sports?

Otherwise, very good and informative article!

No, I never use AF Expansion mode for the following reasons:

• AF expansion is basically single point AF where the camera uses the surrounding points only if the center point can't achieve AF (this is basically what East Wind Photography said).
• AF expansion covers an area that is too small for my taste - In fact I would love it if I could select an AF mode that uses all 20 points on the left / right side of the frame. Or even better if I could define my own zones via a custom function!
• When you move the expanded AF point the movement happens point by point (ten clicks from the leftmost AF point to the rightmost AF point) - thus very slowly. Zone immediately switches to the next zone (two clicks from the leftmost Zone to the rightmost Zone).
• There is an option in the AF menu where you can turn all the modes off that you don't need. For my action setting C1 I turned off everything except Zone AF, 61pt AF and single point AF (which can't be turned off unfortunately - otherwise I would). It is much faster to select what you need when you don't have to scroll through everything.

Thus, if one is tracking a bird with AF Point Expansion in AI Servo mode, this would be quite similar to Zone AF. And try to have the main AF point near the eye, let's say. Or not?

Probably true. But keeping in mind all the disadvantages above - why don't you simply use Zone AF which will get the job done for sure?

Thanks for the input by the way!

Thanks for your explanation. Now I understand.

 

[justaCanonuser]

Cervantes, your really great article on dpreview and the discussion here convinced me that canonrumors is not only a forum for stealthy Canon bashers but still can be a good source for Canon users.

I'd just like to add a little warning for those few readers who still use a vintage EF 500mm F/4.5 like me: do NOT try to set "Lens drive when AF impossible: OFF". First, your 5D3 won't let you do that with this lens attached. But if you switched your camera off and then on again, strangely the camera accepts this setting but the lens' AF/MF drive is completely dead. Fortunately if this happens the 5D3 accepts resetting "Lens drive when AF impossible: ON". I think the reason for this strange behavior is the vintage full drive-by-wire focusing system of this lens.

Any other settings described in your article work perfectly, Cervantes, I found about the same settings to be most useful e.g. for birding.