-= 1D MkIII Owners discuss =- and Post Your Pics

"A Little To The Right"
Yellow Shirt parking a NASA Hornet for the Centennial of Naval Aviation at NAS North Island in San Diego, CA

"Using back button AF and not actively focusing at the moment of shutter release will shot no AF points highlighted."

This is key. With rare exception I always use back-button AF. I was confounded when I first got the MkIII as to why my AF point wasn't showing up in Image Browser. I was using IB as a learning tool to see how the AF was functioning etc. The above quote was the reason.

Also, using the joystick is a, well, joy to use for AF point selection once your thumb learns the mechanics needed to do it quickly. At first I didn't have the subtle movement required but, with practice and time, I can now breeze from point to point with ease. When you first start you'll bump to points you didn't intend, but don't give up.

Tdodd:
Thank you for the link. I had spent time with it and as you pointed out I need to distinguish between the process of AF point selection and usage of the back button AF on button. My biggest issue was validating what I had done or more correctly stated what I had thought I had done. The tool below has helped me sort that out and I need to try some BIF for example to see how the rear button performs. Using AI servo mode is it correct to have the rear AF On button activated via the custom settings and depress it at least a second before shooting while tracking your subject then hit the shutter while keeping the AF on rear button depressed?
FL Photo:
I shared your frustation trying to determine what I had done or thought I had done with any aspect of AF with any software I could find. A screen copy of an eval copy of BreezeBrowser Pro shows not only the AF point I selected but shows via exif data all the options active in the custom settings. This saved me lots of time bouncing through everything.

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RFD, AF-On is activated by default, because the button is already there. This is unlike lesser cameras which need to use the * button as a substitute for the missing AF-On button. What you need to do is change the custom settings so that the shutter button will no longer activate AF. Then you have the independent control.

Because AI Servo is a predictive focus system it needs time to figure out and predict the path/position of the subject at the moment of shutter release. This takes a short moment to accomplish. Allowing a full second may be a little pessimistic, but certainly you should allow maybe 1/2 second to 1 second (longer wolud be fine) for the camera to figure out what's going on. For an oncoming subject you would press the AF-On button and begin tracking. You would wait the 1/2-1 second or as long as you wanted before firing the shutter, all the while continuing to track the subject and keep AF active. You would release the AF button if you lost your aim on the bird or an obstruction came between you and the subject - another bird, boat, trees, whatever. Once you were sighted on the bird again you would resume AF and would need to wait another 1/2 second or so for the Servo to get predicting again.

If the bird was flying across your path then you might consider only focusing occasionally, at times when you were certain the AF point was exactly where you wanted it to be. This might be easier than trying to track the bird ('s eye) for an extended period, and as the subject distance would change very little, DOF should see you good for a short while. If your AF point slipped off the subject you could continue to shoot without having the AF wander off to the background. Here's an example of the kind of shot I'm thinking of....

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FlyingPhotog wrote in post #11855366
For those unfamiliar with Victor's amazingly moody HDR work, I urge you to search out his posting history and prepare to be amazed.

He's an incredible talent!

Yeah...what he said....

Harleypugs wrote in post #11862225
Yeah...what he said....

Too kind.........

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …j_photography/5​453859315/

So I'm about to join the ranks of the 1D3 owners through a trade from a reputable guy at FM.

I'm getting the 1D3, 580EX II, 85 f/1.8, 28-70L
I'm losing the D700, SB800, 85 f/1.8, Tamron 28-75

My plans are to add the 100-400L and the 70-200 f/4 non-IS.

What I"m less certain of are the lower focal ranges. 28-70 on 1.3 actually seems like a neat event focal range (even though I don't shoot events), but I'm wondering if I should sell this lens for something with a bit more usefulness, maybe a 24-105? I'm not sure what to use as a "normal" on a 1.3x, such a strange multiplier.


I'm also really curious as to the AF-C (or servo or whatever Canon calls it) performance with the 100-400 and the 1d3. From what I read the 100-400 isn't too bad, but can't touch the 400 f/5.6L.

I'm wondering just how fast exactly can it track BIF? Are we talking seagull speed, hawk/eagle speeds, duck flybys or sparrow darts? (I ranked them from slow to fast, according to behavior to me)

I've never been actually able to track small BIF, EVER, because I'm just not that fast, so a 100-400L with a 1d3 would be great if I could even track a flyby duck, which I also find hard but occasionally do-able.

Tdodd:
Thanks for hanging in there with me. All I've been looking for is exactly what you just described- a button by button sequence with description. Its amazing the tons of doc I've been through that doesn't do that.
Again thanks for your help.

cputeq007 wrote in post #11863617
So I'm about to join the ranks of the 1D3 owners through a trade from a reputable guy at FM.

I'm getting the 1D3, 580EX II, 85 f/1.8, 28-70L
I'm losing the D700, SB800, 85 f/1.8, Tamron 28-75

My plans are to add the 100-400L and the 70-200 f/4 non-IS.

What I"m less certain of are the lower focal ranges. 28-70 on 1.3 actually seems like a neat event focal range (even though I don't shoot events), but I'm wondering if I should sell this lens for something with a bit more usefulness, maybe a 24-105? I'm not sure what to use as a "normal" on a 1.3x, such a strange multiplier.

I would personally want something wider than 28mm, but that's me -- some people never shoot wide. I like having wide. I occasionally use my 16-35 and am glad I have it.

You might consider picking up the 17-40 or the 16-35. I've never used the 28-70, know nothing about it, so I'm just suggesting having a wider range is a good thing. I do often use the 24-70 on my 1D3, though, and it "fits" quite well.

I use the 100-400 all the time with my 1D3 -- in fact I use it with the 1.4x TC attached a whole lot of the time and yes, even with that combo it can track in AI Servo, but like you, I struggle to catch those little fast-moving critters! I don't think it's a lens issue as much as it's just a struggle locking onto something that is so small that it barely "registers" on the focus screen. I'm not sure how different lenses (or different camers) do with such small things.

Ducks are different -- my main problem is having a good response over a short period of time. It's one thing shooting over a wide expanse of sky, but I'm often around trees and such and so seeing and reacting quickly enough is very hit-or-miss, and too often just miss!

vmlopes wrote in post #11863441
Too kind.........

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …j_photography/5​453859315/
The Range by vmlopes, on Flickr

Wow...I love that in the world of over-saturated, over-contrasty pictures, yours pop the way they are...well done.

orbitechgr wrote in post #11857638
Sweet. It makes sense that you feel so comfortable with such a body.. Every time I touch a 1D series body I feel the ergonomics and the quality behind it..

Absolutely. To me, it's like smoking a fine cigar or drinking a fine wine or looking at a Leonardo original is to some people. I could live without it, but each time I indulge I feel happy and justified in my investment (especially because I don't drink or smoke, so saving up for a 1D3 was realistic haha)

LowriderS10 wrote in post #11863877
it's like smoking a fine cigar or drinking a fine wine

...

LowriderS10 wrote in post #11863877
Absolutely. To me, it's like smoking a fine cigar or drinking a fine wine or looking at a Leonardo original is to some people. I could live without it, but each time I indulge I feel happy and justified in my investment (especially because I don't drink or smoke, so saving up for a 1D3 was realistic haha)

mikekelley wrote in post #11864114
...

Heh! And the rest of us just give up on the lesser things in life -- we live in our cars and eat rice!

Really enjoying these images as I await my 1D3 (Nikon to Canon trade)

Question - I notice FlexNR has amazing results, but I don't own PS or Neatimage. For anyone who's used Topaz Denoise, could I get comparable results using this as a plugin from LR3?

16-35mm

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