The Canon Vs NikonSony and the future sensor tecnology.

[melchiorpavone]

you can't beat that with AF of any camera I'm familiar with. Maybe the new Canon 7D II will come close, but then you have to worry about primary focus point chosen by chip-brain

Do you "lead" your focus by varying amounts depending on experience or do you go for smack on and high shutter speed?

One tactic is to focus a little ahead of a moving subject and wait for it to enter the plane of focus. You can anticipate the action, and it's really not that difficult.

[telyt]

you can't beat that with AF of any camera I'm familiar with. Maybe the new Canon 7D II will come close, but then you have to worry about primary focus point chosen by chip-brain

Do you "lead" your focus by varying amounts depending on experience or do you go for smack on and high shutter speed?

For birds flying parallel to the plane of focus or hovering hummingbirds I push the button when the bird's eye is in focus.  For activity heading toward the camera I follow-focus and follow-through when I make the exposure.

[Chris_Brown]

For activity heading toward the camera I follow-focus and follow-through when I make the exposure.

This is known as AI focus (Actual Intelligence). 

[melchiorpavone]

For birds flying parallel to the plane of focus or hovering hummingbirds I push the button when the bird's eye is in focus.  For activity heading toward the camera I follow-focus and follow-through when I make the exposure.

Yes, this is exactly how it's done. This fellow knows what he's talking about. You 'keep focusing' through the shot.

[allegretto]

what ever happened to "focus-gateing"...?

[melchiorpavone]

what ever happened to "focus-gateing"...?

Not familiar with that term here...

[allegretto]

Not familiar with that term here...

Could set "where" you wanted the AF and shutter to trigger when something appears in the space you designate

[deejjjaaaa]

Could set "where" you wanted the AF and shutter to trigger when something appears in the space you designate

it is known more as catch in focus/trap in focus in dSLR world, PDAF can do this...

[melchiorpavone]

Could set "where" you wanted the AF and shutter to trigger when something appears in the space you designate

What has that to do with manual focusing?

[allegretto]

What has that to do with manual focusing?

oh, it doesn't.

but was just asking about various strategies

I took the OT as being about more than manual focusing

yes, focus trapping, thank you for the correction

[NancyP]

Well this is all very interesting. In my opinion, one of the biggest advantages of the pro-grade cameras is that they seem to have a decent screen selection. Canon 1DX has about 10 screens including the old-style microprism ring / split screen center/ very fine ground glass periphery screen that was used in every film SLR, and which I miss. The Canon extra-fine matte screen available for low-end cameras (6D) is better than the appalling-for-manual-focus factory installed version, but not as appealing as the old film SLR screens.

I don't doubt that you can get great shots with manual focus, given lots of regular practice. I could get significantly better at supertelephoto MF if I worked out on some tree and barn swallows for 20 minutes a day (small, fast, irregular flight path)    .

[melchiorpavone]

Well this is all very interesting. In my opinion, one of the biggest advantages of the pro-grade cameras is that they seem to have a decent screen selection. Canon 1DX has about 10 screens including the old-style microprism ring / split screen center/ very fine ground glass periphery screen that was used in every film SLR, and which I miss. The Canon extra-fine matte screen available for low-end cameras (6D) is better than the appalling-for-manual-focus factory installed version, but not as appealing as the old film SLR screens.

I don't doubt that you can get great shots with manual focus, given lots of regular practice. I could get significantly better at supertelephoto MF if I worked out on some tree and barn swallows for 20 minutes a day (small, fast, irregular flight path)    .

Hyperactive children or pets will also work.

[chez]

Leica R8 with DMR, Leica-R lenses (a 40-year-old 560mm f/6.8 and a 20-year-old 280mm f/4 APO with or without extenders), shoulder stock, 62-year-old eyes & hands.

No front- or back-focus issues, no left-side errors, no micro adjustment needed, no grabbing the near wingtip instead of the eye, not confused by busy backgrounds, no distinction between cross-type and non-cross-type focus points, no need to 'upgrade' to the latest equipment that is supposed to reduce these problems, and an infinite number of focus points covering the entire picture area all with the same sensitivity and usable at all apertures.

And no compromising your composition so that you can put the little red rectangle onto what you want in focus. And no more focus and recompose issues. Manual focus allows you to totally focus on your composition and what's in front of you rather than playing the line up the red rectangle with what you want in focus game. Actually very liberating.

[melchiorpavone]

And no compromising your composition so that you can put the little red rectangle onto what you want in focus. And no more focus and recompose issues. Manual focus allows you to totally focus on your composition and what's in front of you rather than playing the line up the red rectangle with what you want in focus game. Actually very liberating.

Yep! In making it "easy" the Japanese make it hard. Same in cameras and cars. A million bells and whistles vs control and lean designs.

I drive a 2001 VW Passat V6 stick. Same design philosophy as the Leicaflex.

[allegretto]

yep

this is why my M240 is such a sublimely pleasurable camera to use.

you are more than a bystander and it gets ya going

[melchiorpavone]

yep

this is why my M240 is such a sublimely pleasurable camera to use.

you are more than a bystander and it gets ya going

Yep. I will never own a Japanese car or camera, ever.

[telyt]

May I offer another 'yep'?

[allegretto]

May I offer another 'yep'?

yep...

[melchiorpavone]

May I offer another 'yep'?

Japocrap turns my stomach...

[BernardLanguillier]

Yep! In making it "easy" the Japanese make it hard. Same in cameras and cars. A million bells and whistles vs control and lean designs.

How could anything be simpler to use than a D810 in Auto ISO (inverse of shutter speed + 1 stop faster), A mode set at F2.0 in highlight priority mode, AF Auto mode?

The only button you need to touch is the shutter release to get perfectly exposed for the face of your subject, focused on the eye images that you can print at A1.

And if ever you need to change something on the fly, you have a button available just under your finder tip to do that. Basically everybody, from Pentax to Leica, has copied the 2 wheels thumb/index control paradigm invented by Nikon with the F5/F100.

I am sorry, I just don't get your comment.

Clean design was invented by Japanese, just visit a Zen temple and you'll understand why. Steve Jobs was influenced by Sony more than by anything else in his life.

So Japanese can do clean design better than anybody else when that is the right thing to do. It simply isn't for cameras from a physical standpoint, but they have managed to supplement this by very smart automation that turn the most advanced DSLR ever in the simplest of the point and shoot.

Best of both world if there ever was one.

Have you been in Tesla S? I love the car and the company but their flat screen based center column is IMHO a disaster from an argonomic standpoint. Not everything is a smartphone.

Cheers,
Bernard