Nikon shooting itself in the foot?

I actually use each and every focus point on my 5D fairly often. I also don't use the center one, or any one, more than the others. Lately, I think I MF more than I AF, but if I had to say which point I use the most, it would be the 4 "in between" points. The "corners".

Center for general lowlight since it's strongest, and the MOST APPROPRIATE one for anything else. Accurate focus where you want it sure beats focus-recompose with fast glass wide open or nearly so.


I would like to have more focus points but alas I cannot afford a 1 series right now.

Here's something I really didn't like about having 45 focus points when I had my 1DMkII- It was relatively difficult to choose the focus point you wanted, simply because there were so many of them. Easy enough to hit the assist button to get back to the center point, but I'll be damned if it didn't take a good few seconds to get to the upper left one that would be a simple, single touch of the joystick on my 5D. I switch focus points a lot, and it's gotta be easy. A few seconds can mean missing the shot. I could have MF'd, sure, but who knows how close I'd get.

Agreed for center on low light, if subject allows. I also only use manual exposure in very low light. It's just not worth risking otherwise.

Yeah no doubt about that Ron. Too many could take awhile but on the other hand for something like portraits I'd rather get the best one. Usually enough time is allowed. I'll take any opportunity to flash and stop down a bit though to minimize focus errors, so then it really doesn't matter which point is used - the beam can assist the weaker ones but the center one can be used too since DOF will cover it.

Always compromising...

Also, and I don't know why I expected different, when I first peeked through the 1DMkII's viewfinder, I was sorely disappointed. Yep, it was big and bright and I loved the extra info it showed around the edge. However, for some odd reason, I expected the focus points to be more spread out. Just a little cluster of them right in the middle where you wouldn't think 45 would fit. That, I didn't like.

Ronald S. Jr. wrote in post #2287716
Here's something I really didn't like about having 45 focus points when I had my 1DMkII- It was relatively difficult to choose the focus point you wanted, simply because there were so many of them. Easy enough to hit the assist button to get back to the center point, but I'll be damned if it didn't take a good few seconds to get to the upper left one that would be a simple, single touch of the joystick on my 5D. I switch focus points a lot, and it's gotta be easy. A few seconds can mean missing the shot. I could have MF'd, sure, but who knows how close I'd get.

Agreed for center on low light, if subject allows. I also only use manual exposure in very low light. It's just not worth risking otherwise.

Is a combo of flashlight and manual focus for low light not a bad idea? I've found with the lights off, you can't auto focus, but manual works fine if you can see what you are shooting.

If there's the least bit of light, and the lens is 2.8 or faster, the 1DMkII can lock focus. Yeah, a flashlight and manual focus is a fine combo when it's too dark to MF, and too far for a speedlite to assist.