Focus points for birds in flight.

I should probably know this. For photographing birds in flight with a longer lens (Sigma 150-500) should I use the center point focus, all the focus points, or let the camera decide? For ground and still shots I usually use the center point and recompose the shot. I'll be using a Canon 50D.

Thanks in adavance.

Normally I use center point with AI Servo.

Jay B wrote in post #17332488
I should probably know this. For photographing birds in flight with a longer lens (Sigma 150-500) should I use the center point focus, all the focus points, or let the camera decide? For ground and still shots I usually use the center point and recompose the shot.

Thanks in adavance.

Thanks for asking, I have always used the centre point, but I will be interested to see what other people post.

My opinion is it would depend a lot more on the body you are using & it's AF capabilities rather than the lens. But lets wait & see? What body do you use?

Canon 50D. I edited the original post to add that.

Here is a set up from Arthur Morris. This should work pretty well I suspect.

http://www.birdsasart-blog.com …/29/canon-eos-50d-set-up/

I generally use AF Servo and the central point. That's with my 7D. I don't recompose! No time with BIF. With the new 7D2, I am going to try its AF features ... might be OT for this thread.

It depends!!

Normally, continuous and centre focus point, but it depends on a number of factors. Namely, the shot I'm after (i.e. the ultimate framing), the flight direction of the subject, and how large the bird is in the frame (and importantly how large it will be in the frame for the "final shot"). This last point is especially important. You're typically going to track a bird as it moves closer to you - so it's getting larger in the frame. At what point is the best shot and where will the bird's eye need to be for the best shot. For distant subjects that don't fill the frame this is of less importance (and you'll likely be cropping), but for close subjects, especially those with long tails, then centre focus point could have me on the body rather than the head.

For example, consider a bird flying left to right with a long tail (think something like a macaw) - centre focus point would have me wasting a significant amount of the frame in front of the bird leaving a lot of unwanted negative space (noting that you'll need some space in front of the bird to allow the subject "space" in the frame) and in the same instance I'd also run the risk of cropping off the tail. In such an instance I'd be right of centre.

A good tell-tale sign that a sub-optimal focus point is used is look at the framing before cropping. If there's lots of wasted space in-front of the bird, and you're cropping it away, then in such instances the centre-point is not the most optimal focus point to be using.

Of course, there are many occasions when you won't have time to adjust the set-up, and you'll have the option to achieve the best framing by adjustments in post production. But in some instances birds will fly in a predictable direction (for example, larger birds typically turn into wind as they land).

Martin

I use center point, plus the expansion/assist points around it and rely on myself to put the focus points where they need to be. Using tracking settings tends to, for me, grab any portion of the subject it can; leading to many "almost" shots. I prefer to have either 'good' shots or noticably 'bad' shots from misding focus than getting a decent looking shot into processing only to find the camera grabbed the bird's ass instead of its head.

Snydremark wrote in post #17336268
Using tracking settings tends to, for me, grab any portion of the subject it can; leading to many "almost" shots. .

Yup, this is the problem I have if I stray from the centre point. I agree, I would sooner be waaay out rather than, "oh! just missed it!"