What are the skills of Canon's focus shooting?

The so-called focus pursuit, to put it bluntly, is to keep the focus continuous and accurate when shooting moving subjects.

Today's cameras, whether SLR or non-reflex, actually have a certain "focus tracking" performance, but this performance is high or low, and the camera grade positioning is different, so there is an obvious gap in focus tracking performance. For example, Canon 1dx series models are definitely more powerful than 5d series models, and Sony α9 series models are definitely better than α7 series models. However, even if the performance is different, low-end models can shoot sports themes, which is no problem to meet the daily basic shooting needs.

If the SLR camera is compared with mirrorless cameras, the focusing and tracking performance of the SLR camera at this stage is still slightly better than that without reflection. Because the SLR has an independent phase focusing system, the focus tracking speed is still relatively fast. Taking the focus tracking of SLR camera as an example, how to realize the focus tracking when shooting a moving subject? We need to pay attention to these aspects of operation:

Use manual exposure mode

Why do I need to use manual mode to shoot moving subjects? What does this have to do with exposure? Generally, the shutter speed and depth of field need to be relatively stable when shooting sports themes, which may affect the shooting success rate. Therefore, for the subject that needs to be focused, it is necessary to use M-block manual exposure mode. In M mode, you can set the aperture and shutter speed to this value to achieve sustainable and stable shooting exposure.

Turn on the continuous focus function

Generally speaking, the focusing methods of Canon cameras can be divided into three types, namely one beat, ai focusing and ai servo focusing. Then the first single-focus mode, as the name implies, is not continuous focus pursuit, only single-focus shooting is used, and the camera stops focusing after focusing. The second intelligent focusing mode is between single focus and continuous focus, and the camera judges whether it is single focus or continuous focus according to whether the subject is moving. The third servo focusing mode is to turn on the continuous focusing mode completely, and the focus of the camera will remain in focus with the movement of the subject. If you want to focus on a moving subject, you must turn on the ai servo mode. Of course, don't forget to turn on the autofocus function on the lens and set the autofocus switch to the af position.

Set fixed focus area

SLR cameras use optical phase focusing, and there is a fixed focus in the optical viewfinder. Of course, you can choose a point, an area or all areas as the focus, and let the camera judge where the analysis focus is. In order to improve the success rate of continuous focus shooting, if the camera grade is not very high, I personally suggest choosing single focus or regional focus instead of global focus. Because after the focus or the focus area is fixed, as long as the subject is framed within the coverage of the focus, the camera's operation will be reduced, the focusing speed can be relatively improved, and the focus can be "bitten" to death. The central focusing performance of general SLR cameras is the most powerful. If your camera has less focus, it is also a good choice to choose the center focus, then cut out the picture and re-compose it later. Of course, for high-performance SLR, this can be ignored, such as 1dx series or 7d series, and the camera's ability and speed to automatically distinguish the focus position are also very good.

Continuous shooting mode is adopted.

In the process of autofocus, of course, you can use a single shot or multiple continuous shooting, but in order to improve the success rate of shooting, it will be more reliable to choose multiple continuous shooting. Of course, some cameras have more continuous shots per second, which is more advantageous. Some cameras have fewer continuous shots, but they are also safer than single shots.

Use the autofocus return key to focus.

Canon camera has an independent focus button, which is located at the top of the back of the camera and can be controlled by the right thumb. This key is called af-on. When using the focus tracking function, you can use this independent button for focus tracking. If you press af-on with your finger, the camera will always focus on the subject, and the camera will stop focusing when you release the button. In terms of operation logic and ease of use, it will have more advantages than half-pressing shutter, and it can also avoid conflict with exposure function.

According to some of the above settings and operation methods, you can achieve focused shooting of the subject. When shooting, it is necessary to keep the camera stable, keep the composition with the subject stable, and take multiple photos at a time. After shooting, you can zoom in to check the focus of the photo and choose the appropriate film. In addition, it should be noted that it is best not to open the aperture too large to prevent the shooting success rate from being reduced due to the depth of the scene. It is also necessary to judge how much shutter speed to use according to the creative needs. You can use a high-speed shutter or a relatively low shutter speed. High shutter speed can solidify the subject and background images, while low shutter speed can create the effect of Jiao Wai motion blur.

I hope the above answers about focusing are helpful to you.