Focusing Point Telephoto Lens

[padi]

Hi all you telephoto guru's

Having just purchased my first true telephoto Canon L USM 400mm 5.6 I was wandering if you can advise on focusing tips. Composition of frame could be some what difficult as apposed to the zoom lens. I assume you focus on your subject (birds/wildlife for me) press shutter release halfway down to lock focus, then recompose if possible or crop in LR/PS to get required composition. Am I on the right track?

Regards

Padi

[RichardTaylor]

I use a Canon 100-400, a lot of the time at the long end, and that's what I mostly do (subject dependant).

[OsmosisStudios]

Copping in post is not an option: its for fixing minor mixups, not changing the framing completely.

[padi]

Back button focusing has been suggested as a better option to shutter button

[RichardTaylor]

It's an alternative, especially if you don't have a clear shot. I have not mastered it, yet.

[sk66]

Originally Posted by padi

Hi all you telephoto guru's

Having just purchased my first true telephoto Canon L USM 400mm 5.6 I was wandering if you can advise on focusing tips. Composition of frame could be some what difficult as apposed to the zoom lens. I assume you focus on your subject (birds/wildlife for me) press shutter release halfway down to lock focus, then recompose if possible or crop in LR/PS to get required composition. Am I on the right track?

Regards

Padi

IMO, it depends on the subject you are trying to capture. I have a lot of experience with long lenses...tell me what you are trying to capture and I'll tell you how I'd go about it...(however, I'm a Nikon user)

[ElCapitan]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

Copping in post is not an option: its for fixing minor mixups, not changing the framing completely.

I agree and disagree. Unless you absolutely cannot help it, you should shoot the best composition you can and not have to crop. This means focusing on your subject, then recomposing to get the composition you want. Now cropping just a little bit afterwards to tighten the composition is alright in my book, but I wouldn't dramatically crop. You are losing many many pixels and it is a sign of poor photography. The only time I personally would condone cropping to compose is when shooting sports and action with a variety of movement. Using AI Servo and single point focus to get the sharpest shot of the action means the subject is going to be really close to the center of the frame means you may have to do a bit of cropping to get a good looking composition.

[padi]

SK66

My main focus (pardon the pun) is wildlife and birds. I am out at the week end and want to try the back button focus technique. I agree that its better to compose in the veiwfinder and with the back button focus technique I will attempt the focus and recompose as this seems the best option, focus lock on subject (centre spot and move to compose.

So if I say focus and lock on the eyes of a wild animal centre of frame, move subject to the side of frame for nice composition the eyes will still be sharp correct using the back button focus technique. one shot or A1 servo mode

I assume anything with action it would be better to track in the normal half button shutter focus mode.

Regards

Padi

[inkista]

Originally Posted by padi

Having just purchased my first true telephoto Canon L USM 400mm 5.6 I was wandering if you can advise on focusing tips.

Welcome to the supertele club. I have that lens for birding. I love it for BiF (birds in flight). I'm very annoyed with it at the zoo.

Composition of frame could be some what difficult as apposed to the zoom lens. I assume you focus on your subject (birds/wildlife for me) press shutter release halfway down to lock focus, then recompose if possible or crop in LR/PS to get required composition. Am I on the right track?

Yup. That's mostly what I'm doing. I've had a lot more luck with single-point AF than with the full grid, but usually when I'm shooting BiF, they're moving so fast that recomposing won't help a whole hell of a lot. You get lock, you go is more my experience.

However, I have found that using AI Servo mode can be of great help, as long as the bird is moving in a steady fashion, vs. darting about (i.e., RTHs circling overhead, vs. tiny little passerines shooting by).

Originally Posted by padi

Back button focusing has been suggested as a better option to shutter button

I can confirm. Back Button Autofocus rocks. I wish I'd learned it years ago. My finger gets tired holding a half-press. It's nice to have the AF-Start and AF-Stop behavior reversed, and to take the AF function off the shutter button and onto the back button to separate it from shutter pressing.

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

Copping in post is not an option: its for fixing minor mixups, not changing the framing completely.

Unless you're shooting birds. Go and try it, sometime. You'll see what we mean. With bird photography, you damn near ALWAYS crop, because even 400mm on a crop body isn't going to be enough to get you the framing you want. I think of all the bird photos I've posted on Flickr, only a handful weren't cropped. And certainly none of the ones I've put up on this board, except for zoo shots.

[sk66]

I shoot with a 300-800mm f/5.6 zoom mostly. I don't know what the equivient Canon settings are but here's how I generally have my Nikon set for "fast moving subjects (i.e. birds, planes, falling leaves).Slow/stationary subjects it matters much less.

I use 51 point autofocus usually, I'm using all of the available focus points but NOT in 3D mode....I have the body set to continuous focus with "focus delay" set to "low" or "off" (how long before the camera refocuses after lock) If the background is more cluttered and close to in focus I will use fewer focus points (11, 9). I have shutter release set to release+focus (does not require focus lock before it will fire)

With these settings the camera will track the subject as it moves and refocus continually..it will focus on a "new subject" over the primary sensor (center) after the set delay time (short/off).

With these settings I have been able to capture, focus, and track a falling leaf and take 5 images before it hit the ground...3 of them were in focus (but made a boring image)...Honestly a lot harder to do than tracking a bird in flight or a superbike doing 200+.