-=1D Mk II and Mk IIn Owners Unite!

I will give it a try, but I have tried that setting where you use that button to AF and found it very confusing and not at all intuitive as using the shutter button half press.

I love my Mark II, especially when it's paired with a 70-200L:

canonloader wrote in post #8805205
I will give it a try, but I have tried that setting where you use that button to AF and found it very confusing and not at all intuitive as using the shutter button half press.

I honestly didn't like it at first when I started using it with my last camera, but I now find it much more comfortable and convenient. I tried using the shutter button when I got my 1d2, but it didn't feel "right". I personally think the * button is much better for sports especially. But it's not for everyone.

I think I could remember to use it just for holding a focus lock for a second or two. But for focus all the time, I always found the shutter button half press much more sensible that trying to use two fingers where one would do the same job better.

HankScorpio wrote in post #8799821
In photoshop, duplicate your background layer and set the new layer's blend mode to Hard Light. Now zoom in to 100% on an in focus area. Next, Click Filter > Other > High Pass and slowly increase the amount until the image looks nice and oversharp (typically around 10). Lastly, use layer opacity and a layer mask to selectively sharpen the areas you want.

I gave this a quick try on my laptop, so I don't know how it will look on the bigger monitors. Let me know what you think.

Before - no PP

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Mitch,
I did not explain that very well above. With C.Fn 4 set to 2, I use the shutter button to half press to acquire focus, and then use the AF lock button to "hold" that focus. If you need to re-acqiure focus, you simply let off the AF lock button, and you are back to having control of the focus at the shutter button. Once you try it, it will make sense.

I understand. I have tried the setting for switching the AF from the shutter button to the * button, tried it a couple times and found it totally worthless. I have given it several tries, cause I hear people talk about how great it is all the time. I think those people have a problem with their main shutter button. Every Canon body I ever owned worked just fine using the half press setting and I just do not see any worldly advantage to messing with a perfectly intuitive flow.

george m w wrote in post #8805819
Mitch,
I did not explain that very well above. With C.Fn 4 set to 2, I use the shutter button to half press to acquire focus, and then use the AF lock button to "hold" that focus. If you need to re-acqiure focus, you simply let off the AF lock button, and you are back to having control of the focus at the shutter button. Once you try it, it will make sense.

I have been using CF 4-3. It allows me to press the * to focus or hold it for continued focus. CF 4-3, vs CF 4-1, allows allows the pressed shutter button to keep adjusting the exposure if I am tracking a player running through different lighting situations.

I am trying to increase my in focus "keepers". My problem has been not keeping the center focus point exactly on the player I am tracking and the focus goes out. I was wondering if tapping the wb button on the back to change to AFPS which uses the center focus point and if your subject leaves the center focus point it hands it off the which ever one it goes.

Anyone ever use this method?

The advantage is that you can pretty much always leave it in servo mode and work with a wide variety of shooting needs without fiddling.

Want to focus and recompose? Focus on the spot you want, when you're focused, let go of the focus button, recompose, and trip the shutter.
One second later you want to track something that's moving, hold the button down while tripping the shutter.
Two seconds later you find you have to manually focus something, you manually focus and just trip the shutter, all while leaving the camera in servo and the lens on AF.

mmcaleer wrote in post #8805997
I am trying to increase my in focus "keepers". My problem has been not keeping the center focus point exactly on the player I am tracking and the focus goes out. I was wondering if tapping the wb button on the back to change to AFPS which uses the center focus point and if your subject leaves the center focus point it hands it off the which ever one it goes.

Anyone ever use this method?

I do that with my D3. I think the only significant difference between the way Canon does it and the way Nikon does is that Nikon actively shows me which focus point it's handed off to. You can certainly expect that in all new Canon cameras too considering it's shown up in the 7D. Other than that, yes, it does increase the keeper rate dramatically if used properly.

Thalagyrt wrote in post #8805999
The advantage is that you can pretty much always leave it in servo mode and work with a wide variety of shooting needs without fiddling.

Want to focus and recompose? Focus on the spot you want, when you're focused, let go of the focus button, recompose, and trip the shutter.
One second later you want to track something that's moving, hold the button down while tripping the shutter.
Two seconds later you find you have to manually focus something, you manually focus and just trip the shutter, all while leaving the camera in servo and the lens on AF.

OK, this now makes a lot more sense than saying I like it and giving no examples of why. Still, while handy for those examples, it is not something I want to use all the time, since I am perfectly comfortable using the shutter button and that's all I need most of the time when shooting birds.

Thalagyrt wrote in post #8806006
I do that with my D3. I think the only significant difference between the way Canon does it and the way Nikon does is that Nikon actively shows me which focus point it's handed off to. You can certainly expect that in all new Canon cameras too considering it's shown up in the 7D. Other than that, yes, it does increase the keeper rate dramatically if used properly.

Thanks, I am going to have to give it a try at the next game.

Here is another problem I keep running into at later games. I shoot Av when the sun is going down but forget to watch my shutter speed until it is too late. Something to work on.

Mike

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pantherphotos wrote in post #8805389
I gave this a quick try on my laptop, so I don't know how it will look on the bigger monitors. Let me know what you think.

It looks OK to me. Definitely sharper and cleaner. There's some motion blur in the original so it's not going to look razor sharp but it's certainly usable.

What focusing screen do you all use? I've been tempted to try a different one than the stock but am not sure that it would help me all that much.

I use the EF-D.