Autofocus points and landscape...

Neither (this is why I still like the "film" lenses with the aperature markings on the lens barrel.) I shoot film for my scenics..I take a reading using f/16 (AV mode) and then on the lens barrel set the infinity mark of the lens across from f/16 on the lens barrel...at ISO 100 that means that everything from 5ft to infinity will be in focus AND sharp. I could be wrong but I never seen any digital lenses you can do this with because the manual focus is just a ring you turn....that is why I still shoot film on my scenics...I can still be creative..I use a T-90 using the spot meter and I can take 5 spot readings and the camera will average them altogether for an exposure for the entire scene..hasn't failed me yet..I don't know of a digital camera you can do that with a spot meter incamera...I'll never part with my T-90's.

Pretty much any decent lens will come with a window that shows you a focus and rudimentary depth of field scale, just like the one printed on your FD lens barrels. That's called hyperfocal focusing, btw, and it's usually not ideal, because you want critical focus to be on the object of greatest importance, when possible.

As for metering, you're referring to evaluative metering, which is available on every Canon DSLR I've ever used. And you can get straight-up spot metering on the 5D, the 1D series, and the 30D/40D.

chauncey wrote in post #5581667
I use nothing but center focus point.

Pick your focus point, then lock it by holding your shutter half way down and recompose and depress shutter the rest of the way as described in Anke's link.

You may also want to try moving your focus action to the 'star' button on your camera...this can be done by using the Custom Functions menu (may be CFn #4). Makes focus/recompose much easier.

That's one of those things I just recently discovered and haven't gotten around to yet, but thanks for heads up argyle.

Sorry if I offended the OP, all the advice by everyone was well intentioned.

Whichever AF point is 1/3 of the way up in the viewfinder kinda sounds reasonable as Anka suggested.

If you are shooting a land scape and you want everything in focus. It's not out of the question. First of all it depends on the lens. If you use a long zoom lens then you are not going to get everything in focus.

Now if you use an UWA the rules change. The one third in front and 2/3 behind does NOT apply any longer.

Use a tripod and shoot two exposures. Shoot at about F11. The first exposure focus on infinity.The second exposure focus three feet in on your foreground. Bring them into photoshop and blend at the mid point.


With an UWA
Small aperature ( F11 )
Two exposures on different focal points
A little Photoshop magic

You CAN get everything in focus and you can forget about DOF Master Hyperfocal Charts

bieber wrote in post #5586334
Pretty much any decent lens will come with a window that shows you a focus and rudimentary depth of field scale, just like the one printed on your FD lens barrels. That's called hyperfocal focusing, btw, and it's usually not ideal, because you want critical focus to be on the object of greatest importance, when possible.

As for metering, you're referring to evaluative metering, which is available on every Canon DSLR I've ever used. And you can get straight-up spot metering on the 5D, the 1D series, and the 30D/40D.

Yes, but decent or not, the distance scales on digital lenses are pretty pitiful. Because of the need for fast focusing when in AF, the distance that the lens must travel is very small. That's why you see some distance scales that go from 3 feet to infinity in the span of one-quarter of an inch. Unless you're very good at estimating distances, or carry a tape measure around with you, setting a HF distance that falls between the 3 feet mark and infinity is guesswork at best. One reason that I never bother with HF. In film days, as mentioned by Shooting, setting HF was much easier and simpler.

There isn't one AF point that will always give you the best results. For that matter, you can use the same AF point on the exact same scene at different times of the day and get different depths of field from using different apertures. So, whether you like it or not, stocky had the answer to your real concern of making sure as much as possible was in focus here. I'm sorry you don't like that answer, but the reason your camera has multiple AF points is because every individual composition is different; you may want to focus on a different point depending on whether you're in a forest, or on a high ridge looking over a canyon, or in a meadow with a tree off to one side of the frame. If you want the maximum DoF at all times when shooting landscapes, forget which AF point you select and stop your lens down as far as it'll go. But expect to get some diffraction blur. Or, look up a DoF table and see what aperture you can use to get the DoF you need for any particular setting, and set your focus distance and aperture accordingly. Just use a tripod or prepare to boost your ISO since small apertures commonly lead to slow shutter speeds.

BTW - you'll find people much friendlier if you don't flat-out reject their attempts to help you understand your problem and the solution.

Hey Jon, it would be totally insane of me to argue/debate someone with 32,000 plus posts.
Especially when I agree with you.