C
A MORE useful alternative, perhaps,
to having to keep the shutter release
half-pressed when using FTM, is to
override the factory setup for the
controls and assign the autofocus
and metering/shutter release
functions to different buttons.
You can do this in the Custom
Functions menu. On the 1300D, you
can have the shutter release button
lock the exposure when pressedhalfway, while the autofocus is
activated by pressing the ‘*’ button
on the back of the camera. The ‘back
button focusing’ technique can be
tough, but is well worth practicing.
Magnifying the Live View display
at a selected AF point makes manual
focusing easy, but it’s not always
convenient. It can be harder to
discern what is and isn’t in focus
using the standard focusing screenof a DSLR viewfinder,
but there are a couple
of things that make it
easier. First, select a
single AF point and
position that over the
detail you want to be sharp. When
the focus indicator appears – look for
the green circle at the bottom of the
display when you half-press the
shutter release – you can take theshot. If you can’t tear your eye
away from the image, activate the
camera’s ‘beep’ in the red Shooting
menu, and this will sound once the
are a you’re focusing on is sharp.The camera tends to AF on the nearest object, such as an animal’s nose
rather than its eye. Although in some cases you can’t always tell...86 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
CANONSCHOOL
Changing the autofocus setup
Try removing autofocus activation from the shutter release
anon’s autofocus
system is certainly
fast when there’s
plenty of light available, but
there will be times when you
may need to override the
autofocus system and touch
up the focus manually by
hand (and eye). For example,
if your photo has a detailed
background or foreground,
or the subject is small in
the frame, then the camera
may focus on the wrong
part of the scene.
When the camera is close
to a subject, or you’re using
a large aperture, the depth
of field (the front-to-back
sharpness) will be so
narrow that even a subtle
autofocusing error will be
obvious when the
photograph is enlarged.
You won’t find a manual
focus button on the body of an
EOS DSLR, nor a setting in its
menu. Instead, you
need to slide the
switch on the lens
to from AF to MF.
Check the Quick
Control Screen- or the top LCD in
the case of some
cameras – after
you’ve done this
and you’ll see that
Manual Focus is now displayed.
It’s a slightly different process
with EF-M lenses designed for
Canon’s EOS M mirrorless
system, which don’t have an
AF/MF switch. Here, you’ll
need to set manual focus
on the camera’s body.
Numerous Canon and
third-party lenses offer
full-time manual focusing
(FTM), which lets you override
the autofocus without having
to switch the lens to MF first.
It’s only really worth using this
feature when you’re in
One-Shot AF mode, as
otherwise the camera may
simply readjust the focus after
you’ve manually overridden it.
The same will happen if you lift
your finger from the shutter
release and partially or fully
depress it again when in
One-Shot AF.Overriding your camera’s autofocus
Some lenses allow you to fine-tune the focus manually even when they’re set to AF
AUTOFOCUS POWER
WB
SET AFISO