Is it really possible to learn focussing moving objects?

[zeitraffer]

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Hi everyone,

 

I´m testing a M9 right now and for me it is (to) difficult to manually focusing moving objects. Maybe my eyes - I´m wearing glasses - are not good enough for the M(9). So is it really possible to learn focussing moving objects and how many practice will I need for that (weeks, month or even years)?

 

Marc

[alun]

Well, it depends what and how fast it's moving, really. I suspect the most truthful answer is "yes, to some degree, as long as what you want to focus on isn't moving too quickly".

 

You can learn all sorts of techniques that will help. Anticipate and forward- or back-focus a little by feel rather than visual focusing; use hyper focal focusing or depth of field to accommodate your errors; focus ahead by focusing on an object your subject is moving towards.... Any and all of these will help and you can learn then *relatively* quickly, but none of them add up to auto-focus. Some you'll win and some you'll lose.

[jaapv]

Yes - it is not hard to focus on fast moving objects. The main thing is: practise, practise, practise.

 

There are a few tricks:

Prefocus on a spot where the subject will be and release a fraction of a second before the RF comes into coincidence.

 

It is easier to focus something that is moving past you than one that is moving away or towards you.

 

With experience you can follow-focus by keeping the RF coincident and release at some point inside that timespan.

 

Consider moving your head (and camera;)) instead of the focus ring.

 

In time (how much time depends on your dexterity) it will become a second nature. Once you have mastered the technique you will find it more reliable than autofocus systems.

[earleygallery]

People managed in the pre (historic) AF days. Cinematographers have manual focus lenses too. So the answer is yes!

[TomB_tx]

Back in college in the 1960s we shot football, basketball, and hockey all manual focus (and often without light meters). While I usually used an SLR, I also covered some games with an M2. As was said, the key was to anticipate the action (easier with football), and wait for the shot you had visualized to develop. You choose the instant, not "spray and pray." Follow-focus takes more practice, but works when the action is predictable (car racing, football, etc.)

Now kids moving every which way is something else...

[spydrxx]

The simple answer is "of course it is", but it may take time, training your eyes, and practice. I learned the tricks as a high school newspaper photographer in the 1950s, and moved onto race car photography a few years later, then in the military, photographing jets during manoeuvers - all with rangefinder cameras, as the SLRs which were initially available to me, were a bit clunky (think Exa/Exaktas). And I've worn eyeglasses since before I ever took up a camera.

 

As others suggested...depending on speed, you should typically prefocus in the general area in which you expect to be shooting your subject; use hyperfocal techniques, sometimes, to give you a margin of error. Most of all, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. My friends and I used to periodically indulge in little games to improve our skills, things like: who could draw their camera to their eye and focus fastest on an object which a third party would randomly and unexpectedly call out; how fast could you move your focusing ring from the closest distance to infinity; who could best estimate a distance from our group to a particular object before even putting the view/rangefinder up to our eyes. Silly games, yes, but they taught us the value of constantly challenging ourselves to focus quickly and accurately.

 

Once, as an adult, I was at a camera store where a Leica technician was testing users' cameras for free (the queue was about 100 ft long with about an hour wait time). When I got up to him, he quickly checked my shutter speeds and RF accuracy and told me, "When you sit in front of the TV, grab your camera and practice focusing during commercials, and then run thru your shutter speeds at least twice...you'll improve your reflexes , muscle tone, and keep your camera parts well lubricated". It comes back to the PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE theme. That's why typically the best surgeons for a particular surgery are the ones who do the same procedure hundreds of times each year.

[Jeff S]

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Yes - it is not hard to focus on fast moving objects. The main thing is: practise, practise, practise.

 

Most of all, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.

 

So I guess the key is to practise if you're on the Euro side of the pond...and practice if you're on the other side....for three times. Don't mean to belabo(u)r the point.

 

Jeff

[jaapv]

Two nations divided by a common language:

The difference between practice and practise (grammar lesson)

[Steve Ash]

Do not think too much. Do not check that you focused correctly as the subject moves on. Do nor be too precise.

 

Too make it short: Just do it!

 

This does not guarantee that you nail the focus all the time but be surprised how you will improve in doing so.

 

Steve

[farnz]

Remember to also practise taking the lens cap off - or leave it off. I've missed a few instantaneous shots by quickly pulling the camera from my bag and trying to take pictures through the lens cap.

 

Pete.