Digital SLR Photography

AUTOFOCUS MODESASWELLASOFFERINGASELECTIONOFPOINTS,YOURAFSYSTEMALSOGIVESYOUACHOICEOFMODESTHATCANBESELECTEDTO SUITDIFFERENTSUBJECTS70 Digital SLR PhotographyNove mber2016Th e B e ginner’sGuideYoucanalsouseAF-Sinconjunctionwithyourcamera’sfocuslocktofocusonoff-centresubjects.To dothis,selectsingleAFpoint–mostphotographerschoosethecentralone–adjustthecompositionoftheshotsothefocuspointfallsovertheareayouwanttofocusonandpartiallydepresstheshutterbuttontolo ckfocus.Providingyoukeeptheshutterbuttonhelddown,thefocuswon’tshiftsoyoucanquicklyre-composethenpresstheshutterbuttonfullydowntotaketheshot.FOCUSLOCKAF-SAF-SONE SHOTAF:In AF-Smode,focus locks onto your subject when you partiallydepress the shutterrelease and staysfocused on the same distancefor as longas the shutter is held down. A green orred focus confi rmation indicator in theviewfinderfl ashes when the lens has lockedfocus, and an audible ‘beep’ can beheard.You then press the shutter button all the way down to take a shot. AF-Sis idealfor staticsubjects. However, if either you or the subject moves oncefocus has locked, your subject maywell end up out-of-focus as thefocus willremain on the original point.Toavoid that you haveto press the shutterrelease again torefocus on the subject in its new position. If the camerastruggles to lockfocus - because the area you’re trying tofocus on is closer than the lens’sminimumfocusing distance,for example, the shutter won’tfi re.AF-CAF-CCONTINUOUSAF:Also knownas Servo-AF, in this mode, theautofocus continually adjustswith the aimofkeepingamoving subject in sharpfocus.Touse AF-C,make sure an active AF-point is positionedover your subject then partially depress theshutter button tofocus. Providing youkeepthe shutterrelease partially depressed, andan active AF point over your subject, itshouldremain infocus until you’re fullydepress the shutter button and take the shot.If you set continuous drive mode, you canshoot sequencesofimages bykeeping theshutter button fully depressed and eachframe should stayfocused. That said, unlikeAF-S, in AF-Cmode, the shutter willfi reandtake a shot even if the lens hasn’t lockedfocus, orfocus has strayed onto somethingelse other than your main subject, so ifyou’re not careful you can end up with lotsofout-of-focus images. Using Focus Assistpoints or Dynamic/Extended area AF helpsas it means that if the subject falls outside themain AF point you’re using to track it, otherAF points will try tokeep it in sharpfocus.``````VICTOR``````TYAKHT/SHUT TERSTOCK``````ESB PROFESSIONAL``````/SHUT TERSTOCK