Why I love the spot focus of 7d

I was shooting birds today with my 7D and 100-400. Nothing interesting there but there where dragon flies. so I switched to spot focus and got shots which would have been impossible to get without it.

damned impressive! Those are great shots

Beautiful.

Wow, very nice!

kevindar wrote in post #13100149
I was shooting birds today with my 7D and 100-400. Nothing interesting there but there where dragon flies. so I switched to spot focus and got shots which would have been impossible to get without it.

VERY nice. I have not been able to catch one in flight like that (after hours and hours).

Cheers,

Leon

Very nice, particularly number 2.

Insane! Good job!

Awesome!

Just great!

GREAT shots!
But I don't understand why it would be impossible to get them without the Spot Focus. I think the regular size AF points would get you pretty much the same results, wouldn't it?

One of the benefits of using spot focus is capturing the Dragon Fly in motion. Those pesky creatures are always moving while in the air.

Very nice set, I really like the color and light you have captured.
Would you mind showing the exif?

I need some help as a new photog (2 yrs). I use the center spot focus for all my shots. I focus and recompose. So when should I use my other focus options?

Thank you guys. I was watching a special on Barry Sanders, the most electrifying running back that I have ever seen. they were talking to a hall of fame line backer. and he said you dont chase Sanders. if you stand still he will likely come back to your area.
That worked with these little guys last night. Having the long lens really helped. I prefocused to the general area, and they would hover long enough (about 4 seconds or so) for me to lock and take a few shots.
I tried regular focus point and with the busy background, the focus would shift to the background.
Exif on first one is iso 250, 1//250 second, 400, f9. 580 exII, manual power at 1/8th.
second one is 1/2000, f 6.3, iso 1250. ran it through topaz denoise.
Rdmello, which body are you using? spot focus is a characteristic of 7D, and 1d4 I think, and is different from single focus point. what you are doing is perfectly reasonable depending on the body (5d, or 5d2) and the lens you are using, and the amount of light, and also how easy it ease to change focus point on your particular body.

Nice

Great shot, I'm looking at that 100-400mm lens for my 7D. Great work.