Focussing

[appleman]

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Hi, I'd be interested to know what focus settings they use on the 90/280mm lens for fast moving objects, ie birds in full flight?

[sillbeers15]

The typical motion shot camera setting rules apply. You want to keen your ISO high if the lighting situation isn't as well lite. Higher than 1/1600 s shutter speed would help freeze the bigger birds flying by when you pan your shot but to shoot smaller birds, you'll need 1/2000 s to freeze the motion to get sharp pics. The lens stabilization helps for handheld shots.

 

_{There are important tips I've learnt through shooting flying birds and airplanes in particular to mirrorless SL's contrast detect AF as to overcome the weakness:}

_{1   Never shoot against strong back light for dynamic tracking set up as the AF does not work well and the 90-280 focusing can cause frustration and disappointment when the AF starts to hunt and lost the subject completely due to its longer focal length zoom set up. Good light not only improves exposure and allow higher shutter speeds but also greatly} improve the contrast AF capability;

_{2   Pre focus the spot which you think it is most likely that you will start your focus tracking on the aircraft coming into frame as the SL lenses do not have a 'focus limit' switch on longer lenses like the Canon/Nikon does. It helps you to compose your subject in frame fast when you start to jam your shutter button to track focus and shoot;}

_{3   Do not start your shoots too early on continuous High setting as the buffer runs out fast and the camera stops accepting new shots. Therefore I prefer to use continuous Medium setting drive speed instead as it keeps my buffer going longer;}

_{4   The contrast detect AF will continue to focus when dynamic tracking AF setting is used but it will likely result in one pics sharp and another soft and the trend repeats, so you might need more frames shot to select your desired shots after;}

_{5   When it comes to crunch where the electronic view finder does not shot a clearly focused image and you want the shot, just jam the shutter release button and trust the camera to do its shot, you can get pleasant surprises which the shot was captured sharp but probably the electronic viewfinder refresh rate could not reflect the changes fast enough.}

 

_{Good luck to your shootings and always practice more to know your camera's limitations well to improve your efficiency of shooting. The 90-280 produces sharp and contrasty images whem you get the shot well.}

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[appleman]

So what focus settings do you use?

[sillbeers15]

AFC / Dynamic Tracking / Medium Drive / Single point / Spot metering exposure.

[jaapv]

If the SL is anything like the CL and several other-brand cameras, switching to electronic shutter will make focus tracking more responsive.

[fsprow]

I agree with what has been said here but have found I cannot rely on the SL for an assignment involving strong follow focus and uncertain lighting and contrast. In “must get” situations I just put a Nikon SLR in the bag and get great results.

[helged]

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I agree with what has been said here but have found I cannot rely on the SL for an assignment involving strong follow focus and uncertain lighting and contrast. In “must get” situations I just put a Nikon SLR in the bag and get great results.

Same here, and one reason I use Nikon in addition to Leica. The other reason is that Nikon offers long lenses (same for Canon and others, obviously).

 

Regarding AF, I am optimistic that SL2 will improve, hopefully greatly improve, compared to SL1. Regarding long lens(es), I am less optimistic, at least for a time frame of a few years.

[frame-it]

some amazing shots here...and all mostly shot with Nikon:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/compacflt/albums

 

 

I agree with what has been said here but have found I cannot rely on the SL for an assignment involving strong follow focus and uncertain lighting and contrast. In “must get” situations I just put a Nikon SLR in the bag and get great results.

[lx1713]

If the SL is anything like the CL and several other-brand cameras, switching to electronic shutter will make focus tracking more responsive.

 

Yes, it is. 

[lx1713]

Same here, and one reason I use Nikon in addition to Leica. The other reason is that Nikon offers long lenses (same for Canon and others, obviously).

 

Regarding AF, I am optimistic that SL2 will improve, hopefully greatly improve, compared to SL1. Regarding long lens(es), I am less optimistic, at least for a time frame of a few years.

 

Looking forward to faster and better AF too.

 

I suspect a much faster CPU or multiple ones will help too.

And then much faster readout from the sensor probably would solve part of the problem.

 

I think predicting where the subject would be is less important when the data moves so fast that contrast detection gives you spot on focus in the moment the image is captured. Of course, a measure of predictive AF is probably very useful still.