Focusing, and all those little red dots :)

[cynicaster]

So this is why I asked about changing the settings so that I only HAVE one red dot available. If I do this then I can make sure the area I want is always "lit up."

This is what I do, if for no other reason than it's what I'm most comfortable with.

Using the center focus point in conjunction with the focus/recompose method will work just fine in the vast majority of scenarios. For your 20 feet away full body shot, you'll be fine.

Just be careful when using a very shallow DoF--such as the common 50mm f/1.8 prime lens wide open at close range. Focus/recompose is likely to screw you over in this situation.

EDIT: one other thing--be careful about focusing on the nose as you've mentioned. At 20 feet away it likely won't matter, but up close, depending on what settings you're using, focusing on the nose might actually render the tip of the person's beak in sharp focus and their eyes in soft focus, which I'm guessing is not what you typically want.

LOL thanks. Ok, so now this whole "focus/recompose" thing. Help me out here. You say "using the center focus point..." Do you mean line up the center dot on their beak before focusing (before the dot turns red)? If so, then when I lock focus, if the nose point (center dot) does NOT light up, are you saying to move the camera so that one of the spots that DID light up are on the nose?

Sorry I just want to be clear.

You're probably up to speed now thanks to the multiple responses in this thread, but I'll answer your question anyway.

I think the part that is making it confusing for you is that you're leaving your camera on automatic AF point selection, which does not apply to what I was talking about. You can select a specific AF point and force the camera to use it... or to at least try to use it (it might not be able to achieve focus if there is inadequate light/contrast).

I believe your camera's control layout is similar to mine (T3i), so there should be a button on the upper-right-back of the camera for selecting the AF point. When you look through your viewfinder and press this button, all of the dots will light up, indicating you're in auto-select mode. Now, press side to side and up and down on the selector control and you'll see that you're given the ability to select a single red dot (I use the center most often, as mentioned). Once you have the one you want, either press the AF selection button again, or simply press your shutter button half way, and the camera will lock in your selection, and continue to use it until you change it.

Now that you've got your specific point selected (let's say center for the sake of brevity, but it could be any point), this is how it works:

Look through your viewfinder at your subject
Place the chosen center focus point over their eyes/beak
Press the shutter button half way
Wait for the camera to signal that focus has been achieved (the focus dot blinks, you hear a beep, and there is a green circle in the bottom right of viewfinder)
While continuing to hold the shutter down half way, recompose your shot to what you want it to look like
Press the shutter the rest of the way down to take the photo

Now, remember, you lock focus on your subject as mentioned above, but after you recompose your shot, the center AF point might (and probably will) be on an area that ends up being out of focus. That is not a concern because you've already locked in focus on the area that needs to be sharp (eyes), and the camera will hold that focus until you take the photo (or start the process over again).

 

[jjd228]

This is what I do, if for no other reason than it's what I'm most comfortable with.

Using the center focus point in conjunction with the focus/recompose method will work just fine in the vast majority of scenarios. For your 20 feet away full body shot, you'll be fine.

Just be careful when using a very shallow DoF--such as the common 50mm f/1.8 prime lens wide open at close range. Focus/recompose is likely to screw you over in this situation.

EDIT: one other thing--be careful about focusing on the nose as you've mentioned. At 20 feet away it likely won't matter, but up close, depending on what settings you're using, focusing on the nose might actually render the tip of the person's beak in sharp focus and their eyes in soft focus, which I'm guessing is not what you typically want.

LOL thanks. Ok, so now this whole "focus/recompose" thing. Help me out here. You say "using the center focus point..." Do you mean line up the center dot on their beak before focusing (before the dot turns red)? If so, then when I lock focus, if the nose point (center dot) does NOT light up, are you saying to move the camera so that one of the spots that DID light up are on the nose?

Sorry I just want to be clear.

You're probably up to speed now thanks to the multiple responses in this thread, but I'll answer your question anyway.

I think the part that is making it confusing for you is that you're leaving your camera on automatic AF point selection, which does not apply to what I was talking about. You can select a specific AF point and force the camera to use it... or to at least try to use it (it might not be able to achieve focus if there is inadequate light/contrast).

I believe your camera's control layout is similar to mine (T3i), so there should be a button on the upper-right-back of the camera for selecting the AF point. When you look through your viewfinder and press this button, all of the dots will light up, indicating you're in auto-select mode. Now, press side to side and up and down on the selector control and you'll see that you're given the ability to select a single red dot (I use the center most often, as mentioned). Once you have the one you want, either press the AF selection button again, or simply press your shutter button half way, and the camera will lock in your selection, and continue to use it until you change it.

Now that you've got your specific point selected (let's say center for the sake of brevity, but it could be any point), this is how it works:

Look through your viewfinder at your subject
Place the chosen center focus point over their eyes/beak
Press the shutter button half way
Wait for the camera to signal that focus has been achieved (the focus dot blinks, you hear a beep, and there is a green circle in the bottom right of viewfinder)
While continuing to hold the shutter down half way, recompose your shot to what you want it to look like
Press the shutter the rest of the way down to take the photo

Now, remember, you lock focus on your subject as mentioned above, but after you recompose your shot, the center AF point might (and probably will) be on an area that ends up being out of focus. That is not a concern because you've already locked in focus on the area that needs to be sharp (eyes), and the camera will hold that focus until you take the photo (or start the process over again).

Perfect and thank you. For my purposes the focus and recompose method mostly won't work. I'm doing closer-up shots with big aperture settings (1.4 for example), so that almost always gives me an out of focus shot. But now I understand how it all works so thank you again