my question: When shooting high speed continuous with a 1D MKII - do you designate a focus point - or do you let the camera choose from one of the 45 possible focus points all on its own?
If i've read the manual correctly, its says that when letting the camera choose the focus point that it will start with the center point and then work its way out...which sounds good actually....
If I manually choose the center focus point...I seem to get a lot of heads out of focus....
I've never used the 1D MKII, just the 1D, but I think there are enough similarities that I can respond to your questions:
Allowing the camera to choose the focus point has the advantage (in my experience) of better tracking in that if you, as the person holding the camera, be sure the center point is on your target, then begin tracking by partially depressing the shutter or holding down the * button (depending on your CF settings), the camera will continue to track even if you allow the center focus point to move off of the target. (If you've selected the center focus point and you do all of the above [especially the part about allowing the center focus pont to move off of the target ], you definitely will lose your focus on your target.) The downside of the automatic setting is that the camera may "decide" to focus on something other than your target if there is an alternative target in the vicinity that offers greater contrast.
I've had good luck with allowing the camera to track, but I'm also working on getting better with my own selection of a single focus point. I think it's a matter of preference and skill, and neither one of these approaches is inherently better than the other. Give both an equal shake and see what works best for you.
Another, related issue has to do with depth of field and its relation to focus point. If you have a very shallow depth of field and the focus point is targeting the chest of the player, it's possible their face will be out of focus (especially if you're relatively close to this target). In this situation, a focus point targeting the face would give you a sharper face, and this is possible only if you are manually selecting the appropriate focus point. Again, the risk you run is that it is harder to keep the damn focus point on the moving face than to ask the camera to work from the center point and do the tracking for you. The benefit is a sharper face if you are successful.
Finally, I believe it is possible to minimize the number of points the camera uses (I have my 1D set to use 11 points rather than the full 45), and you also can set the speed with which you want the camera to give up on the original target if something else comes along. Such settings allow for fine adjustments that should make a difference.
In other words.....no simple answers. Good luck. And nice shots, though on my monitor they look a bit underexposed.
thanks for commenting Russ....they may indeed be a bit underexposed....My new monitor arrived prior to my calibration tool/software....and I probably have a tendancy to underexpose to avoid blowing the highlights somewhere....but I am (slowly) realizing that underexposing adds noise....
also appreciate the advice on technique...i've never tried the custom function that allows using the * button for focus - but think i'm about to...
also will try letting the camera choose focus points
Randy, are you doing post processing sharpening? and if so, are you sharpening after resizing for the web? I say this because the images look fine, nothing a little USM could not fix in my opinion.
Carl...thanks for the tip...I do typically sharpen a bit during post processing, however, I normally don't when resizing for the web, but I'll try that in the future....they don't look near as good here as they do before resizing on my monitor.
Randy... I agree with EVERYTHING Russ said. With Russ and Carl's comments, you can't go wrong. They are the tops. BTW... nice action shot at the bag. Could use a little more face, but you have the right idea. Don't be afraid to overexpose a bit on days like this. The highlights will clip a bit, but the faces will come in.
], you definitely will lose your focus on your target.) The downside of the automatic setting is that the camera may "decide" to focus on something other than your target if there is an alternative target in the vicinity that offers greater contrast.