Confused about JPEG, RAW, AF Points....

So I have been shooting for about a year now consistently (sports, wildlife, pets, etc) and am still having problems getting consistent results. I have read that shooting in RAW will allow you to adjust your pictures more in PP, but have not found that to be true. Shooting my pets running, I seem to get too many OOF shots. Maybe I need to move my AF points? I shoot center focus when shooting my pets and wildlife. Basically I need direction about how to get more consistent results. I have read many threads, but nothing seems to be explained clear enough for me. Thanks for the help.

EricTober wrote in post #9857682
So I have been shooting for about a year now consistently (sports, wildlife, pets, etc) and am still having problems getting consistent results. I have read that shooting in RAW will allow you to adjust your pictures more in PP, but have not found that to be true.

That's surprising, since it most certainly is the case. What RAW processing software are you using? What image aspects do you modify?

Maybe. Focus problems can have many causes. Post some examples with problems and we'll take a look.

xarqi wrote in post #9857711
That's surprising, since it most certainly is the case. What RAW processing software are you using? What image aspects do you modify?

Maybe. Focus problems can have many causes. Post some examples with problems and we'll take a look.

If you are shooting your pets running you should be using the AI Servo mode of AF - that's one thing to check for a start. Post up some examples...

Are you using one-shot focus or servo?

B&H has a really good tutorial that covers sports and action shooting using the AF points. Search their video series for the three videos titled "A Look at The Canon Autofocus System". It's a Canon rep who does the series. These three videos helped me understand better how the AF point system works.

If this URL doesn't work then use the title I listed in a search.

http://www.video.bhpho​tovideo.com …7691a416d392694​2ad6b34b00

RAW can't help if the photo is blurry or out of focus. I didn't think RAW had that much going for it either other than complete control over white balance, but have found over the months that you can really push RAW images a lot harder than JPEGs. One time my assistant was shooting with his D80 and processed a JPEG. I turned the image into b-w and tried lightening it up, but I wasn't satisfied. I reloaded the RAW file and was pleased with how much more I could lighten that image.

I still shoot sports in JPEG and find I have to really nail the exposure or it won't look very good.

Which camera?

Post some examples, with EXIF intact, or list the shot settings.

You appear to be mixing up 2 unrelated issues:

Whether to shoot in RAW or JPEG has been discussed many, many times - head over to the 'RAW, Post Processing and Printing' forum and have a look around (try a search, for lots of info).

Out of focus images is a totally separate issue, and some good advice has already been given. It has nothing, however, to do with the question of RAW vs JPEG. If your images are out of focus, then they will be equally out of focus whether you shoot RAW or JPEG.

Yeah, I think there is more than one thing going on here to contribute to your bad photos.

We need more info or examples posted with exif data still intact to really help. Otherwise, we're all just guessing.

I'd start out by switching to P mode, instead of any of the green box or lower modes, as they make it difficult to tweak settings sometimes. Change your AF mode to AI Servo, center focus point only, and change your drive speed to Hi Speed. Hold the shutter button down halfway, keep your AF point on your subject, and let the AF track it. The squeeze the shutter fully whenever you want to take a photo. Practice releasing to the half-press position to keep the AF tracking. Try that out for action shots and see if things improve. I suspect they will as long as you're shooting in sufficient light. This all assumes your shooting technique is good as well. Many people simply hold SLR cameras wrong, or stab at the shutter button, etc, and the contributes to blurry images due to camera shake sometimes.

RAW vs JPEG is a totally different issue and generally relates to correcting exposure in post processing. It won't make up for bad technique or let you fix out of focus images.