[jerryleejr]

Just noticed my AF seems to be all over the place, haven't determined if it's me, the camera or lens. Shot a basketball game the other day and a lot of my shots seemed to be focused on the wrong part of the frame...

JJ

[j2photos]

It could be your lenses, it could also be the camera if you let it auto choose your af point. Calibrating your lenses should be step one. That will tell you if your lenses are off or if its a global thing. there are fine af adjustments in your camera menu. I tend to not let my camera choose AF points, I will center spot then recompose.

edit: Another question is what is your aperture? If you are shooting a narrow DOF then you will have problems keeping things in focus.

[manishved]

Please post some sample pics with the camera settings

[jerryleejr]

I'll try

JJ

[Na Horuk]

I think we had many similar threads. What I would suggest is to get away from auto mode and use the "select AF point" or just "centre AF point"
Secondly, keep in mind that the actual AF point is much larger than the dot in the viewfinder (red viewfinder overlay). So often the AF point finds focus just fine - only not on the object you wanted it to!

Best to do is practice - AF is a complex machine. You can try using a focus chart to diagnose AF problems. There are threads about lens calibration and AF calibration. You can find a focus chart online, and then go through with it for each lens that you have.

[jerryleejr]

I think we had many similar threads. What I would suggest is to get away from auto mode and use the "select AF point" or just "centre AF point"
Secondly, keep in mind that the actual AF point is much larger than the dot in the viewfinder (red viewfinder overlay). So often the AF point finds focus just fine - only not on the object you wanted it to!

Best to do is practice - AF is a complex machine. You can try using a focus chart to diagnose AF problems. There are threads about lens calibration and AF calibration. You can find a focus chart online, and then go through with it for each lens that you have.

I'll check it out, and I was in AF-C

[TER-OR]

I have found AF-C with back button is the best way to attempt to get action shots, best when trying to follow someone than switching around.

What lens are you using?

[jerryleejr]

Tamron 28-300 I know not ideal but it's that or the F 70-210

[TER-OR]

Mine's a bit slow trying to track with the DA55-300, a bit better with the 18-135 (I think the motor's faster than the screw) but it does often not get the dogs' heads in focus when running at me. The back button seems to do better than a half-press, but that could simply be my own technique while using that method.

At some point it's the focus system which in the K5 is not as good as later models, or some of the more expensive competition. Still, I get enough keepers to keep that continuous shooting going.

[jerryleejr]

Mine's a bit slow trying to track with the DA55-300, a bit better with the 18-135 (I think the motor's faster than the screw) but it does often not get the dogs' heads in focus when running at me. The back button seems to do better than a half-press, but that could simply be my own technique while using that method.

At some point it's the focus system which in the K5 is not as good as later models, or some of the more expensive competition. Still, I get enough keepers to keep that continuous shooting going.

I agree, I'm debating upgrading because of it, just don't know which way to go...

JJ

[Na Horuk]

Btw, with action and sports photos you usually have to anticipate it. You cannot "follow" the action and focus/meter as you go - you need to have the focus in the right ballpark already. In fact, I think quite a few indoor sports photographers switch to MF (or at least use quickshift). With some practice, the MF (with zone focusing) can become very quick and accurate.
Keep in mind that indoor photos with a relatively slow lens is practically a "worst case" scenario for AF