On Wed, 11 Aug 2004 11:11:23 +0200 (CEST), Qkano <snapper@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote/replied to: >I would have thought that for active subjects (birds) there would be little enough time to frame and fire let alone worry about which focus point is active. Personally I still tweak pretty much everything on manual focus as it really does work and is absolutely no effort. Heck, I want the eye sharp not the nearest wing tip ;o) > >For macro (or even close-up) work, focus then re-frame is not an option. Ignoring the difficulties of re-jigging the tripod to the nearest 0.1mm - the point of focus does alter slightly when a camera is turned. > >What I really want is a single focus sensor controlled by a little trackball thingy that I can place ANYWHERE in the frame ;o) Ya, I hear ya Bob. Maybe one day. Until then, I continue to use the centre focus point for most of my shooting. I aim at the eye. The dilemma really is which focus mode to be in. If the birds are still or at least staying the same distance from me, I go with single shot and can tweak on the fly with MF. This mode better allows off centre eyes. If they are flying or moving quickly near to me, I have to go to servo focus. I use servo focus most of the time. It'd be nice to have focus points at the rule of thirds :-) And then there are those times when you are actually close enough to fill the frame with what you want and can use MF to really focus in on the eyes no matter where you compose in the frame. I have found I do more cropping in servo mode due to the need to off centre things, but generally I'm never close enough to actually fill the frame anyway. I'm very good at clicking to MF without blinking or thinking about it. When in servo focus, you have to switch the lens to MF rather than messing about with focus mode. I think most Pros are wondering when we can expect focus mode changing more easily. Right on the lens would be wonderful. I tried the trick of moving AF to the EL button but I just never liked it that way. We all have to compromise and find the best way for what we want of course. -- Jim Davis, Nature Photography http://jimdavis.oberro.com/ Standard Poodles for fun BMW motorcycle for pleasure
