Originally posted by JimS_256 "AF Hold Medium" - I'll admit I have a poor understanding of this setting and what it does. I've tried several settings (from high to off) but haven't found a clear winner. I'd love to know more about this and what it does.
"Single AF point to Expanded Area (9 point for sports, 25-point for BIF" - For BIF I always start with Single AF point, I only use 25-point if I know I'll only be shooting against a clear blue sky. With any other background my experience has been that the camera will always focus on the background instead of the subject.
The K-3 and K-3 II have advanced tracking algorithms and an "
86,000-pixel RGB light-metering sensor for extra-accurate detection of the subject’s shape and color'. If you don't use AF Hold in AF-C mode, the camera just keeps refocusing, not tracking the subject. I've tried AF Hold Low for BIF, but I found focus wandered too easily to the background. I have had to use AF Hold High to shoot hockey, where the uprights holding the Plexiglas surrounding the ice surface were highjacking the focus. My default is AF Hold Medium.
The way you describe 25-point AF makes me suspect you mean Auto AF, where the camera can choose any point of the 25. That is not a mode I would use for action, ever. I use Expanded Area AF, which starts with the point that you select (I use center point), and the camera helps you to track by activating other points when needed.
If you aren't using AF-C, Continuous Burst, AF Hold and Expanded Area AF, you are not using the camera's innate tracking hardware and software.