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Neddie Seagoon wrote:
Morris, I agree that the joystick sounds like a terrific tool, but I'm curious, is it necessary to manually track the subject as you describe? Does not the 3D tracking mode perform this function automatically?
I'm not Morris, but I can share my 3D AF experience if you like.
The 3D AF is improved in the D500 and generally useable, however, it has two flaws:
1. If the subject and the background are similar in color (and especially if the background is in close proximity), it tends to jump from the subject to the background. Not as bad as in the past, but too often for me to use it for what I shoot. I think it would work good with sports or racing or something - however, with wildlife that's roughly the same color as the background, it's too erratic.
2. The second problem is that there's no way to tell what part of the animal it's going to focus on. When I'm doing birds in flight, I try to keep my AF on the bird in such a way that I'll get a nice sharp eye. With 3D, the camera is just as likely to pick a wing tip as it is the head, so again, too erratic.
On the other hand...
The joystick makes moving the AF point around MUCH easier than with the Multi-Selector. However, it's still tricky to move it during flight shots (I use back button AF), so I usually put my AF area where I think I'll need it and go from there. Sometimes I'll adjust before the bird flies into range, and again, they joystick makes it great. Plus, you can assign AF-On to the Joystick (push in), and you'll have focus and position all in one place (they don't work simultaneously though - EX: if you're focusing you have to lift off for a split second to move the AF point).
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