chjaddbs Loc: Montana

Thanks -- I am working through Perry's videos and relevant book chapters now. I surely admit to my (large) share of mistakes due to faulty placement of the focus 'square', but there are times where that is truly not the problem, like when I am set up on nest with a sitting owl ... no movement, LOTS of time to compose and set up the shot, etc. But this is a classic 'case' (for me) of a low-contrast subject with a close and (often) more contrasty background, which the autofocus system seems to prefer unless the square is entirely within the subject and well away from any edge that includes the background. I am getting the idea that this is unavoidable and just one more thing I have to keep in mind when setting up a shot....

chjaddbs Loc: Montana

I am doing so now, thanks!

chjaddbs Loc: Montana

I expected that answer -- but I know that this is not universally true. My shooting buddy uses Canon bodies and primes (has Canon's 500mm f4) and has the same problem as I do with the Nikon, at roughly the same shutter speeds, to the extent that he NEVER shoots wildlife action with VR. I am more pragmatic, but have yet to be tempted to switch (back) to Canon (yes, I shot Canon for many years and switched).

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I shoot all kinds of subjects, including birds and planes in flight, frequently with the 500L, alone and with 1.4x or 2x. Try the field-proven ideas suggested earlier with EOS equipment. Although he's moved into Sony, following 20+ years as a Canon Ambassador and a short time with Nikon, consider subscribing to the Arthur Morris newsletter of almost daily photography tips, with a focus on wildlife. See https://www.birdsasart-blog.com

Don, the 2nd son Loc: Crowded Florida

Same issue with Canon 7Dii and 400mm f/5.6L with single and 5 point pattern.

tetherington

Focus on something larger about the same distance away in any direction. While focused on that object, flip the focus mode selector switch to manual, then reframe your intended subject. Remember the farther you are from your subject the greater the depth of field.

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

Iv’e never heard of a camera setting that keeps the lens pointed on the subject - that usually requires a photographer - but I don’t know everything.

bleirer

Using back button focus is like having that manual switch under your thumb! But I think OP wants more critical focus.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Welcome to UHH!

A few things that might help....

Get closer to your subjects. Aside from "environmental portraits" where a critter is small part of a larger scene, which is pretty easy to autofocus, most of the time you'll be better off "filling the viewfinder" with the subject as best you can. It makes for better images than taking a wider shot and later cropping in on the subject in post-processing. A heavy crop magnifies any image shortcomings... including any minor focus misses. Getting closer so that the subject is larger will make for better focus accuracy thanks to the AF point being wholly on the subject and because you're shooting through less atmosphere.

Get a longer lens or add a 1.4X teleconverter to the lens you've got, if you can't approach closer to the subject. This will also do a better job "filling your viewfinder" so that the AF point is wholly on your subject. It doesn't help with atmospheric interference, though.

Does your Nikon camera have Spot Focus? My Canon do. Maybe your friend's does, too (depends upon the model). Not to be confused with Spot Metering (a totally different thing), Spot Focus uses a smaller than usual and more precise AF point, for exactly this type of situation. It also works well when trying to focus on a subject that's partly obscured behind branches or grass or whatever. It's supposedly a little slower than using a "regular size" AF point... though as far as I can tell the difference is minimal. I know folks who use it for butterflies, which can demand very quick focusing.

I don't understand why your camera would not update focus between shots in a continuous burst. Are you locking AF or something? If so, why? My Canon DSLRs in continuous shooting mode always update, so long as I use AI Servo focus mode (same as AF-C in Nikon).

I know some mirrorless Canon allow a faster frame rate when AF is locked (as in Canon One Shot or Nikon AF-S mode). I just wouldn't normally use that because when I'm using bursts it's usually because subjects are moving and focus has to be updated between shots (unless the subject is traveling along a path that maintains exactly the same distance between it and me, which probably rarely happens and isn't something that can be anticipated anyway, in most cases).

Stop your lens down a little, whenever you can. That will increase depth of field and can make minor focus errors much less of a problem. Of course, you have to balance this against how much you need to blur backgrounds and other DoF factors.

How are you determining that your images "aren't correctly focused"? I ask because I see people reviewing and evaluating their images at ridiculously high magnification during post-production. For example, on a typical computer monitor at it's native resolution, looking at a 24MP camera's image "at 100%" is like making a 3.5 FOOT x 5 FOOT print and then viewing it from 18 or 20" away. Of course it looks like crap! With modern monitors it's more practical to evaluate sharpness, detail, noise and FOCUS at around 33% or 25%. Those are much more realistic representations of how the image would look printed, even if you are making large prints (because with those you will usually be standing farther away to view them). If you are only going to be displaying images online, they don't even need that high standard. Typically no one but you will ever see the image at such high magnification. Everyone else will be looking at it resized and refined during the post-processing, won't they?

There's nothing wrong with using high magnifications like 100%, 200% or even higher while retouching images in post-processing. In fact, that can be useful. Just don't freak out if you see noise or other "issues" at those high mags. In fact, I bet if you went to the Louvre, walked up to the Mona Lisa and viewed it with a magnifying glass, it too would look like crap and all you'd see is brush strokes and the texture of the canvas it's painted upon.

Personally I do a lot of telephoto shooting both with wildlife and, especially, at sporting events. I use single AF point, continuous focus (Canon AI Servo), back button focusing and often fire short bursts of shots to be sure to get what I'm looking for. The cameras I use most have some focus tuning features I use when appropriate. I typically get 95% or more of my shots acceptably focused when shooting familiar subjects and in practice.... a little less than that with less familiar and more unpredictable subjects, or when I just haven't been shooting much lately. I usually shoot a little stopped down too. When I want a stronger background blur I don't hesitate to shoot wide open, but may slow down and try to be a little more careful about focusing.

It's more work for me keeping the AF point right where it needs to be to focus correctly, but like you I mostly use Single Point AF. I only use multi-point AF patterns occasionally, in certain circumstances such as a fast moving bird against a plain blue sky or distant background or with subjects that are moving erratically, changing directions a lot. My personal rule of thumb is to use as few AF points as possible. I know that there will be more focus misses when I let the camera choose AF points, because sometimes it's going to choose differently than I wanted. For example, with a bird flying past me, if I'm using multiple AF points the camera will often want to focus on the nearest wingtip, quite possibly throwing the bird's head and body out of focus. But if I instead use a single point and keep it on the bird's head or body, that increases the likelihood focus will be correct.

I must say, I'm intrigued by some of the newer cameras with subject tracking, face detection and eye detection AF. Some videos I've watched suggest the new Canon R5 and R6 mirrorless and some of the Sony mirrorless cameras are amazing at focusing in this manner. Apparently Nikon mirrorless have gotten some recent firmware updates that add or enhance these features, too. Maybe some day I'll have saved up enough to give one of them a try!

chjaddbs Loc: Montana

Thanks! I have his page bookmarked!

chjaddbs Loc: Montana

Interesting! I will try that!

chjaddbs Loc: Montana

Perhaps I misspoke... I was looking for a setting that either prioritizes the CLOSEST part of any subject that is within the focusing dot, or that does NOT favor higher-contrast parts of the scene inside the focusing dot. When I encounter the problem, the focusing dot is smack on the subject (if it is not, I do not consider it a 'problem', just a mistake ).

chjaddbs Loc: Montana

And I do use BBF most of the time...

petrochemist Loc: UK

Many AF systems default to the nearest object within the AF point. Something that has messed up loads of images when a twig or bit of grass gets in the way - leaving the intended subject so blurred you can't even make it out!

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

If you navigate his main page, along the top, you can find an option to have him email you (see subscription). You might find an active notification of new content to be more useful. I've cut done on all my 'auto' emails, but his is worth the notification.