puzzled by focus points

Regarding your OP, my immediate thought was "Welcome to the world of Canon AF systems."

I get crazy, unexplained results from all my Canon bodies (5D, 1D MkIIn, 1DMkIII and 5D MkII) at times and finally gave up trying to figure it out and left it to a combination of my unsteady hands and camera software. The only time I pay attention to it now is if they are consistently OOF on many consecutive frames.

Sibil wrote in post #8996337
How do you get the focus point to show in DPP?

I right-click and choose "AF Point (Alt+L)"

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Big K wrote in post #8996759
I think this could be caused to the fact that when you load a camera JPEG into DPP and sharpen it you are in effect applying a second round of sharpening. First from the camera when writing the JPEG and second from DPP when processing the image.

I don't load a JPEG into the DPP, or process it further than what came out of the camera.

Sibil wrote in post #8996846
I don't load a JPEG into the DPP, or process it further than what came out of the camera.

I must have misunderstood your post.

It looks to me as if your camera is firing before it has achieved focus lock. I'm not all that familiar with the MkII but take a look through your Custom Functions and see if there is one that lets you select focus priority over shooting priority.

I think you need to be using the Quick Check tool to see the active focus point in DPP.

clarence wrote in post #8996836
I right-click and choose "AF Point (Alt+L)"

I guess my version of the DPP (v3.4) doesn't have that feature.

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After thinking about that first shot with no focus points showing up I started thinking (don't get too close, my head might explode). I've sometimes found my thumb not fully depressing the * button at times. My thumb will get a little lazy on occasion and I have to make a conscious effort to make sure I'm pressing the button down.

You might be slipping off the button and then getting it pressed, but the camera isn't getting back to your subject in time.

Or not, but just something to think about.

DDCSD wrote in post #9001737
After thinking about that first shot with no focus points showing up I started thinking (don't get too close, my head might explode). I've sometimes found my thumb not fully depressing the * button at times. My thumb will get a little lazy on occasion and I have to make a conscious effort to make sure I'm pressing the button down.

You might be slipping off the button and then getting it pressed, but the camera isn't getting back to your subject in time.

Or not, but just something to think about.

One of the biggest reasons I switched back to setting focus with the shutter release button.

Big K wrote in post #9001770
One of the biggest reasons I switched back to setting focus with the shutter release button.

It only happens to me on day 2 of weekend tournaments, at about my 15th hour of shooting. I should be packing it in by then, but it seems like there's always a couple of teams that I haven't gotten that are still in the tourney. I just go grab a Dr Pepper and splash a little water on my face and I'm usually good!

DDCSD wrote in post #9001790
I just go grab a Dr Pepper and splash a little water on my face and I'm usually good!

Ah, the old Dr Pepper and water on the face trick. Does the job every time.

For me, the day 2 15th hour situations, I am lucky if I can even hold my camera up.

Big K wrote in post #9001831
Ah, the old Dr Pepper and water on the face trick. Does the job every time.

For me, the day 2 15th hour situations, I am lucky if I can even hold my camera up.

I meant 15th hour of the weekend, not of just day 2. Had to clarify, I'm certainly no robot. I'm usually pretty sore for a couple of days.

patwill wrote in post #9000575
It looks to me as if your camera is firing before it has achieved focus lock. I'm not all that familiar with the MkII but take a look through your Custom Functions and see if there is one that lets you select focus priority over shooting priority.

I think you need to be using the Quick Check tool to see the active focus point in DPP.

Thanks for the tip on the Quick Check tool. I'll look into it once I get home.

As far as your first tip, the 1DII does have focus priority and I have it enabled in custom functions.

First of all, many thanks to you all who have taken time to give me pointers. I really appreciate it.

FarmerDave8N wrote in post #8994215
The first one doesn't show an active AF point because you weren't actively "mashing" the back button when the shutter fired.

OK, it makes sense that this answer, along with others, explains the ‘no AF point showing’ in the first shot. In decoupling the AE and AF, I had no focus for the first shot, and the fact it is in focus is purely by accident.

snyderman wrote in post #8995650
The focus point is red in DPP only if I was pressing focus (*) when the shot was taken.

But I am still puzzled by the lack of focus, when I kept the * button mashed down in a sequence of bursts, when the center focus point is in red in all of the shots. Please see below.

3.

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Big K wrote in post #8996780
Regarding your OP, my immediate thought was "Welcome to the world of Canon AF systems."

Big K wrote in post #8996780
I get crazy, unexplained results from all my Canon bodies (5D, 1D MkIIn, 1DMkIII and 5D MkII) at times and finally gave up trying to figure it out and left it to a combination of my unsteady hands and camera software. The only time I pay attention to it now is if they are consistently OOF on many consecutive frames.

It looks like your all over the place and the AF is catching the background and sticking to it.

Definitely set it up for AF expansion and make sure you're catching your subject to begin with. Try shooting single shots instead of bursts. It can be tough to track people when the mirror's up most of the time. Concentrate on tracking your subject, then take a shot. Don't even worry about peak action for a while, just practice tracking your subject.

DDCSD wrote in post #9003115
It looks like your all over the place and the AF is catching the background and sticking to it.

Definitely set it up for AF expansion and make sure you're catching your subject to begin with. Try shooting single shots instead of bursts. It can be tough to track people when the mirror's up most of the time. Concentrate on tracking your subject, then take a shot. Don't even worry about peak action for a while, just practice tracking your subject.

Thanks for the feedback, Derek;
There are a few games this coming weekend. I'll try the AF expansion and move the AF to the shutter-press. After the experience which I posted in this thread, I shot one game in One-Shot, instead of AI Servo, mode and I had much better succes with in-focus shots (using the 40D). The focus confirmation beep was very helpful to me in timing the shutter press. I think part of my problem is not allowing enough time for the Servo to establish focus (just a guess).