5DII Do you use one or all focus points

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Archive 2009 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

rslewis
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p.1 #1 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

Before moving to digital I had a EOS3 with eye focus which for me worked great (I know some hated it).

On my 5DII I use the center focus point and recompose. I guess because I know what thing is in focus.

I've noticed wild variations in flash exposure (580EX). I know the details of Canon flash are a bit of a mystery but does it use the focus point(s) selected (either manually or automatically) to gauge flash exposure? (I seem to recall it does).

Could this be the cause of my flash variability?

Do most use the automatic focus point selection or do you manually select?

Thanks,

Nov 20, 2009 at 02:10 AM

jfulton
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p.1 #2 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

I always manually select. I mostly use center point AF.

As far as flash is concerned, what do you have your camera set to? I've found that it's best to shoot M and let the flash do the work. It will up your consistency as well.

Nov 20, 2009 at 04:06 AM

DLai
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p.1 #3 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

I use mostly the center point as well.

Nov 20, 2009 at 04:11 AM

ChrisDM
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p.1 #4 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

On my 5D2 I pretty much stick to the center AF point because the outer ones suck... And its why I use my 1 series cameras for serious/moving subjects. But just today I was out with my son, to the park etc, and didnt want the size and weight of my 1D3. So I took my 5D2, but was so, so frustrated by the missed focus shots. I have simply gotten spoiled by pro AF performance. It made me realize today that I need a 7D for my "small" camera, as AFperformance (especially with a 2 year old) is more important to me than 21 megapixels, except when doing landscape work.

Chris Miller
www.imaginimagery.com

Nov 20, 2009 at 04:46 AM

cdgerston
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p.1 #5 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

ChrisDM wrote:
On my 5D2 I pretty much stick to the center AF point because the outer ones suck... And its why I use my 1 series cameras for serious/moving subjects. But just today I was out with my son, to the park etc, and didnt want the size and weight of my 1D3. So I took my 5D2, but was so, so frustrated by the missed focus shots. I have simply gotten spoiled by pro AF performance. It made me realize today that I need a 7D for my "small" camera, as AFperformance (especially with a 2 year old) is more important to me than 21 megapixels, except when doing landscape work.

Chris Miller
www.imaginimagery.com

I've had the same experience with the 5DII. The center point is fine, but the outer points aren't much good, and I picked up a 7D precisely for the reasons you stated: chasing my kids around. It's great for that so far. I traded in a 1DIII for the 7D and have been happy with the smaller camera's AF: it's almost as good as the 1DIII, and miles better than the 5DII.

As to the OP's question about the flash: for me the 580EX is usually pretty consistent, but there are times when I get a lot of misfires, too high or too low, and I sometimes resort to manually setting the flash, which isn't too hard to figure out. I'm not entirely certain how much the flash relies on the focus point vs. the metering setting, or a combination of both. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable in all things flash will chime in and help us out.
Curt

Nov 20, 2009 at 05:14 AM

jerrykur
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p.1 #6 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

I use all of the focus points. But, I have no idea how that effect flash exposure. There is some information in the user's guide on this subject.

Nov 20, 2009 at 06:43 AM

Donald Gray
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p.1 #7 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

Centre point on my 20D and 5D2 & recompose. I can't comment on flash, not enough experience to give a qualified opinion.

Nov 20, 2009 at 06:47 AM

ray_stinger
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p.1 #8 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

I have no problems using any of the 9 points on my 5D2 though I personally prefer the center one as it is cross-type and seem to nail the focus much faster than the other points. Having said that, I don't think the outer points are any less accurate.

Nov 20, 2009 at 08:09 AM

WilliamG
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p.1 #9 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

Center-point only here. I forgot there was any other way to shoot a 5D or 5DII.

Nov 20, 2009 at 08:22 AM

Daan B
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p.1 #10 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

Center AF point + cropping in PP almost exclusively.

Sometimes, when I like to gamble a bit, I use the outer AF points... purely for fun. We (me and my mates) even place bets on how much shots will be in-focus this way... Good fun

Nov 20, 2009 at 09:18 AM

jahoo
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p.1 #11 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

I usually use center point, unless
- it is bright outdoors on stationary subject
- I'm using flash with e-ttl, and don't want to bother with compensation

the flash metering is tied to your selected focusing point. So if you focus on your white dog using the center point and then recompose in such a way that your center point will land on black couch, your flash exposure will be messed up.

Nov 20, 2009 at 02:18 PM

garyvot
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p.1 #12 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

Unlike the EOS-3, as an ETTL-II camera the 5D Mark II does not use the selected focusing point in any way when calculating flash exposure.

One thing to check: make sure you have not changed the ETTL-II flash metering algorithm to center-weighted averaging instead of evaluative. Unlike with ETTL-I, this provides no beneift to flash exposure consistency and can cause overexposure.

Second thing to check: make sure you are not inside the minimum flash-to-subject distance of your strobe at a given aperture. You will get blow-outs if too close to the subject. The best way to mitigate this is to use bounce or a diffuser of some kind on the flash, such as an Omni-Bounce. This can help cut output enough to bring the flash back into conformance with the meter reading.

Nov 20, 2009 at 02:38 PM

Sam N
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p.1 #13 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

jahoo wrote:
I usually use center point, unless
- it is bright outdoors on stationary subject
- I'm using flash with e-ttl, and don't want to bother with compensation

Nov 20, 2009 at 06:24 PM

michael49
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p.1 #14 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

Seriously Canon, please improve the 5D's AF. Its a shame it hasn't already been done.

Nov 20, 2009 at 06:28 PM

garyvot
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p.1 #15 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

michael49 wrote:
Seriously Canon, please improve the 5D's AF. Its a shame it hasn't already been done.

The 5D Mark II AF rocks and I rely on it implicitly.

Nov 21, 2009 at 01:38 AM

ChrisDM
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p.1 #16 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

garyvot wrote:
michael49 wrote:
Seriously Canon, please improve the 5D's AF. Its a shame it hasn't already been done.

The 5D Mark II AF rocks and I rely on it implicitly.

And as the song goes, "I've got some oceanfront property in Arizona..."

Nov 21, 2009 at 02:03 AM

michael49
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p.1 #17 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

garyvot wrote:

...The 5D Mark II AF rocks and I rely on it implicitly.

I don't doubt that the center point is decent. My 5D's center point is very accurate.

But that's where it ends.

Outer points are a crap shoot. VF blackout time is silly long. Etc, etc.

There is no reason why my 40D should be more responsvie than the 5DII; I mean come on.

Canon crippled this camera. Whether it was because of the Mark III AF fiasco or for marketing reasons I don't know, but they crippled it. Compared to the D700 the 5DII AF is neanderthal.

Nov 21, 2009 at 02:12 AM

mfurman
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p.1 #18 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

I only use centre point and if outer points are used at all, I select them manually. I could possibly live with a camera with only center focusing point.

Nov 21, 2009 at 02:15 AM

Tom_W
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p.1 #19 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

The center AF point is very good. I use it the most, as one would expect. The peripheral points are decent in good light, but are a little weak in low light, depending on whether the subject has contrasty boundaries in a horizontal orientation or not. When I do use them, I select them manually.

In servo, I use the center point with the expansion points activated - this effectively turns the spot metering circle into an AF "zone" and it does track quite well.

I, like others, wish it had the 7D's AF system.

Nov 21, 2009 at 02:36 AM

Tom_W
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p.1 #20 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

michael49 wrote:

Canon crippled this camera.

"Crippled" implies that the camera had a feature that was disabled or removed. That is not the case with the 5D2. Yes, it could have used a more robust AF system. But it wasn't built that way.

Nov 21, 2009 at 02:39 AM

AdrianRogers
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p.1 #21 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

Centre point only. I did an interesting test with the outer AF points the other week as I was skeptical that even when they confirm they weren't hitting focus, just using the missus sat next to a window, camera hooked upto my 24 via C1 5 with the focus tool active. Even when the outer focus points said it was in focus (and it had no problem confirming, lots of daylight) it would almost always be mis-focused. Center point never had a problem.

Honestly, I don't want the 1 series AF, heck I don't even want the 7D AF. But why every AF point isn't at least cross type is just a mystery.

But then I go and shoot some more 5x4 transparencies and thank the gods that I have fast AF at all, even if it is just in the centre.

Nov 21, 2009 at 02:53 AM

Gochugogi
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p.1 #22 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

Most of the time, shooting in reasonable light, I use all AF points and rarely have problems with accuracy or AF speed. It works great for landscapes, products, travel, snapshots, etc. When focus on a particular point is critical, I manually select an AF point. The only time I resort to center point only is in low light.

As for flash, when you lock AF the Speedlite emits a pre-flash for metering. If you recompose and your subject is at a different distance or tonality than your pre-flash, the flash exposure will be incorrect. You can get around this problem by using FEL on your subject. Of course you can use an off-center AF point and thus not need to use FEL or recompose. Works great for me.

With all the complaints I read on this forum, I'm amazed 5DII AF is so good. I keep thinking it must be total shit, but it is extremely rare for it to miss focus. Of course I grew up with "ghetto" EOS bodies like the EOS 10S, 5, Elan, Elan 7, 10D and 20D, so maybe I'm easily impressed. 5DII AF is very fast and extremely accurate compared to those bodies. Again, I find it difficult to miss focus with the 5DII...

Nov 21, 2009 at 03:13 AM

Daan B
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p.1 #23 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

Gochugogi wrote:
Most of the time, shooting in reasonable light, I use all AF points and rarely have problems with accuracy or AF speed. It works great for landscapes, products, travel, snapshots, etc.

I don't get it... how can you say that all AF points are accurate when you use auto AF mode

The cam chooses the focal point(s) and when you use smaller apertures there is no way you can verify if a certain point was accurate, because you didn't aim it consiously (the cam did it for you - and who knows which point it gave the most priority) and the DOF will mask up any mis-focus.

Nov 21, 2009 at 09:27 AM

Mike V
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p.1 #24 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

ChrisDM wrote:
On my 5D2 I pretty much stick to the center AF point because the outer ones suck.

+1

I want a full frame 7D or a small 1Ds without the inbuilt grip.

Nov 21, 2009 at 10:29 AM

jrscls
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p.1 #25 · 5DII Do you use one or all focus points

I manually pick the closest focus point, then recompose slightly. Never been an issue on my 40D or 5D II.

Nov 21, 2009 at 11:16 AM


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