D3 Focus Hesitation

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wjlapier
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p.2 #1 · D3 Focus Hesitation

HerbChong wrote:
why bother releasing the AF-ON button then? i am tracking birds in flight and so on. no point is ever turning off AF while tracking, so shutter button AF is all that is needed. at 90% hit rate with birds in flight, i don't see any advantage to using the AF-ON button.

Herb...

The only time I release the AF-ON button AFTER acquiring focus is if I want to take a shot of something coming through that plane where the focus is. An example whould be hurdlers. I press the AF-ON button to focus on the hurdle where I want the hurdler to cross, release the AF-ON button to lock the AF, then wait for the hurlder to come near the hurdle and fire away. In my experience, and MHO, I think separating focus and shutter fire gives the camera less to think about and do it's thing. I think most sports shooters use this method, only keeping their finger on the AF-ON, or * button, and fire away with the shutter button.

Bill

Oct 09, 2008 at 02:22 PM

gman1339
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p.2 #2 · D3 Focus Hesitation

Oct 09, 2008 at 02:41 PM

HerbChong
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p.2 #3 · D3 Focus Hesitation

both of you are dealing with subjects with predictable motions. i am not. only the largest birds in flight do that. try it tracking a swallow in flight with a 600/4 + 1.7X.

Herb...

gman1339 wrote:
I pan motorsports and use the AF-ON button for focus and turn off focus for the shutter button. This give me the ability to start VR (shutter button) for my pans way before I start to focus, thus giving the VR a chance to stabilize.

Oct 09, 2008 at 05:31 PM

trenchmonkey
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p.2 #4 · D3 Focus Hesitation

...and still claiming a 90% keeper rate. You ARE Superman, Chong!

Oct 09, 2008 at 05:38 PM

HerbChong
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p.2 #5 · D3 Focus Hesitation

i didn't say 90% keeper rate. i said 90% hit rate. that means focused on something that i want it focused on. my keeper rate is about 10% pretty much all the time because i get more fussy if i get more hits.

Herb...

Oct 09, 2008 at 05:42 PM

wjlapier
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p.2 #6 · D3 Focus Hesitation

HerbChong wrote:
both of you are dealing with subjects with predictable motions. i am not. only the largest birds in flight do that. try it tracking a swallow in flight with a 600/4 + 1.7X.

Herb...

gman1339 wrote:
I pan motorsports and use the AF-ON button for focus and turn off focus for the shutter button. This give me the ability to start VR (shutter button) for my pans way before I start to focus, thus giving the VR a chance to stabilize.

I agree with the monkey. Wow!

Oct 09, 2008 at 07:42 PM


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