Posted by Mark Seaver on March 25, 2017 at 6:27 PM
I just got back from a week in FL shooting birds from Mike Ramy's boat. As I look at my shots, I see quite a few (maybe 1/4 - 1/3) that I think are almost in focus. This has me wondering if this is my technique or possibly a microfocus adjustment problem. Since these are at 1/2000 s and f/7.1 with a 400m f5.6 lens ans single point focus with a Canon 7D2, I'm thinking that 1/2000 should be fast enough even for a rocking boat and my unsteady hands. Here are two roughly 50% crops. The first one being "just a touch soft" to my eye and the second one nicely sharp. I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts on what's behind the softness in the first one (or if you see it as soft...). Thanks, Mark
Posted by Mark Seaver on March 25, 2017 at 6:27 PM
I had the same problem and asked about it on the NPN Discussion forum rather than this All Topics forum. I received great suggestions and tried them. They seem to have worked.
Mark, the thread Jim is referring to is here..... FOCUS PROBLEMS
Posted by Dennis Plank on March 26, 2017 at 6:53 AM
I am seeing a slight difference, particularly in the eye, Mark. Hopefully the thread mentioned will help as it sounds like you're doing everything right.
Posted by Mark Seaver on March 26, 2017 at 6:53 PM
Thanks for the link, Paul. Lots of good info there. What I'm seeing may relate to using the shutter trigger and letting AF shift as the shutter is released. I'm going to try the back focus approach.
You're quite welcome, Mark......let us know how things go.....take care!
Posted by Mark Seaver on March 28, 2017 at 10:56 AM
The deeper I dig, the more confused I get... I tried Microfucus adjustment and with my 400mm wide open, I couldn't see any sharpness differences between -10 or 0, so I don't think it's microfocus. Keith posted a link to a pic that I put in Avian to a Lightroom plugin that shows what focus point(s) got used and their lock status. Trying that only confused me more as a soft focus shot showed single point focus locked on the body of a moving Bald Eagle, yet the Eagle was noticeably soft, while some other pics (that look sharp to me) showed single point focus locked on a well blurred background... My hypothesis at this point is that it relates to when the focus is locked relative to when the shutter fires and with a fast moving bird, that lag might make the difference between sharp and slightly soft.
Hi Mark, I would be the last to know the in's and out's of the digital camera world. I have none to even test things with. However, I did find those videos very informative and could understand issues like single focus and continuous focus usage. I would speculate that under most wildlife shooting conditions the choice would be continuous as they all are fidgety and never seem static like landscape scenes.
I'm sure you're beyond those points but I might do a step by step review of the first video as it sounds like your Micro testing is sound and does not seem out of whack maybe. I think there were 8 points in the first video to test with or review to verify the issues. I do also think that first video of the 8 points tries hard to isolate the difference between gear problems and proper usage issues. I know Jim found a couple items that seems to have cleared up his intermittent focus items. Good luck.
Discussion
8 repliesFOCUS PROBLEMS
You're quite welcome, Mark......let us know how things go.....take care!
I'm sure you're beyond those points but I might do a step by step review of the first video as it sounds like your Micro testing is sound and does not seem out of whack maybe. I think there were 8 points in the first video to test with or review to verify the issues. I do also think that first video of the 8 points tries hard to isolate the difference between gear problems and proper usage issues. I know Jim found a couple items that seems to have cleared up his intermittent focus items. Good luck.