SL2 Autofocus Problems

[aspherical]

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I've been getting great landscape shots and portraits with the SL2 but struggling with action shots. I tried zone focusing on manual which didn't help. I photographed a fair on Sunday and compared the shots with those I took the previous year with my D850. The D850 shots were superior, were able to get in-focus shots of moving rides, etc. The lens I was using with the SL2 was the 24-70 vario. Anybody else having this problem?

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[Luke_Miller]

Before I got the SL2 the D850 was my main body. With my SL2 I have good luck with AF-C and Tracking Mode on moving subjects.

[aspherical]

12 hours ago, Luke_Miller said:

Before I got the SL2 the D850 was my main body. With my SL2 I have good luck with AF-C and Tracking Mode on moving subjects.

Thanks, Luke. I've been using IAF. I'll do more with AFC.

[Luke_Miller]

My technique for quickly moving subjects is to first let Tracking Mode acquire focus and develop a track. Then I take single exposures while panning to maintain composition. I use the joystick to initiate autofocus, but the shutter button works fine as well (have to use it with my Q2).

[Guest]

If you're trying to capture rides by just focusing on particular area of ride and waiting for a coaster to zoom by or spinning rides like the "Wave Swinger" for example, you can get away with using AF-S. If the light is good I'll shoot base ISO and wide-open at f/2.8 which gives me a fast shutter speed. 

[Geoff C. Bassett]

On 9/3/2024 at 6:39 PM, aspherical said:

I've been getting great landscape shots and portraits with the SL2 but struggling with action shots. I tried zone focusing on manual which didn't help. I photographed a fair on Sunday and compared the shots with those I took the previous year with my D850. The D850 shots were superior, were able to get in-focus shots of moving rides, etc. The lens I was using with the SL2 was the 24-70 vario. Anybody else having this problem?

To be frank, the SL2 is not good at action photography. You can get away with it if your crank up the sensitivity and responsiveness in AF settings but the last generation of DSLRs are much faster than the SL2 for tracking autofocus.

If you can, pick up a used S5 II if you need it for action shots. Or wait for the SL3 price to drop. 

[aspherical]

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On 9/4/2024 at 11:25 AM, Luke_Miller said:

My technique for quickly moving subjects is to first let Tracking Mode acquire focus and develop a track. Then I take single exposures while panning to maintain composition. I use the joystick to initiate autofocus, but the shutter button works fine as well (have to use it with my Q2).

Yes, what I've been doing.