Perfect focus everytime

**BruceBanner** · 02-13-2018, 02:19 PM

Originally posted by Keebler

Hi folks,

I realize this thread is older, but I figure bring it up again may help others (plus I have a question

When I choose SEL-1, I only get the far left focus point hi lighted both in the menu selection and then when I look through the viewfinder pressing AF. Should it not start out in the middle and then move outwards (like the single point except not locked to that 1 point)?

I believe I have the latest firmware update for my K3.

Cheers,
Brian

Dunno if I'm on the right track here but with the SEL modes they differ if you're in AF.C or AF.S mode. One expands the point around the focus point, the other only gives a single focus (red square) point. Try it and you'll see what I mean.

Keebler · 02-14-2018, 02:28 PM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by BruceBanner

Dunno if I'm on the right track here but with the SEL modes they differ if you're in AF.C or AF.S mode. One expands the point around the focus point, the other only gives a single focus (red square) point. Try it and you'll see what I mean.

Thanks.

I'm a bonehead - I somehow used the pad buttons to inadvertently move the focus point.

Fixed now.

#palmtoforehead lol

Cheers,
Brian

**BruceBanner** · 02-14-2018, 03:42 PM

Originally posted by Keebler

Thanks.

I'm a bonehead - I somehow used the pad buttons to inadvertently move the focus point.

Fixed now.

#palmtoforehead lol

Cheers,
Brian

Great! another Bruce! Two boneheads!

Keebler · 02-15-2018, 05:45 AM

Originally posted by BruceBanner

Great! another Bruce! Two boneheads!

lol

Jim Dandy · 08-28-2018, 08:50 PM - **1 Like**

Great information and very helpful in trying to get the most efficient "work flow". I have to make the new thumb positioning on the AF/AE lock a habit but think my results will be better once I get the muscle memory. Combine with focus type changes and getting in/out of burst mode and it will up my game. Keep up the good info!

**BruceBanner** · 08-29-2018, 02:01 PM

Originally posted by Jim Dandy

Great information and very helpful in trying to get the most efficient "work flow". I have to make the new thumb positioning on the AF/AE lock a habit but think my results will be better once I get the muscle memory. Combine with focus type changes and getting in/out of burst mode and it will up my game. Keep up the good info!

Something I have recently discovered that is sorta relevant to this topic and workarounds (back button focusing etc) but related more to manual focusing I thought I would share.

I use Capture In Focus quite a fair bit, however the problem with this is the 'focus confirmation' is not a singular point but a range from which the camera says everything between shot between A---E should be in focus, when really (and especially true when shooting wide open) it's at point 'C' that genuine focus is achieved and not at any other range. Lemme try and give a better visual representation.

What I tried yesterday and had a decent amount of success with is setting the Shooting mode to Burst and set it to High, then when the CiF activates slowly rotate the focusing ring as it's bursting. What happens is I get several images over range of A-E but at least some shots are taken at Point C which gives the sharpest image out of the lot. This seemed to work out pretty well, in fact better than doing a AF.C or AF.S burst shot, because with those scenarios the AF might lock on point A, B, D or E and take the entire burst over one of those values, but not across them all at once.

I haven't tried it yet, but this might also be feasible with some lenses that support Quick Shift, you could use the back button focus to initially lock onto the target, then as you burst fire the shot slowly rotate the focusing ring to try and land a spread of shots across the focus range rather than a heap stuck on what might not be the optimum focus point (that the camera initially captured).

For me anyway I just think this illustrates another reason why back button focus is handy, because I typically have my MF glass attached and my camera in 'AF' mode, this allows me to take both CiF shots as well as non CiF shots just by deciding whether to hold down the back button (CiF) or not.

08amczb · 08-30-2018, 01:39 PM - **1 Like**

First I've used the AF button to Cancel AF, but when I tried back button focus, I've never looked back.

The KP also do catch in focus with back button focus!

neal_grillot · 09-03-2018, 06:25 AM

Add 'Continuous Shooting - H' to the equation to really attack a moving subject.

**Oktyabr** · 12-21-2018, 10:33 PM

Great thread, what I've read of it.

I have the K70 and have tried to learn this "back focus" technique using it. For some reason my green button no longer suggests/resets to/re-samples the frame? I've been through the settings menus so many times I think I will see them behind closed eyelids when I go to sleep tonight! What am I doing wrong? Thanks in advance.

pschlute · 12-26-2018, 03:57 AM

Originally posted by Oktyabr

I have the K70 and have tried to learn this "back focus" technique using it. For some reason my green button no longer suggests/resets to/re-samples the frame?

The green button and the "back-button" AF are two separate controls.

**Larrymc** · 01-02-2019, 09:26 AM

Originally posted by Oktyabr

Great thread, what I've read of it.

I have the K70 and have tried to learn this "back focus" technique using it. For some reason my green button no longer suggests/resets to/re-samples the frame? I've been through the settings menus so many times I think I will see them behind closed eyelids when I go to sleep tonight! What am I doing wrong? Thanks in advance.

Sounds like you have altered your E-dial programming. Also check that you have not changed your Program Line settings also.

**monochrome** · 01-02-2019, 12:52 PM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by Larrymc

Sounds like you have altered your E-dial programming. Also check that you have not changed your Program Line settings also.

^^^ This.

PITA Fix

Write down your desired settings in every line of Menu.
Reset to factory defaults
Restore the settings you want

The e-dial settings are very advanced and GB options in that section can be opaque.

dieselpunk · 01-17-2019, 07:57 PM

Chose to read this completely at random during breakfast and decided to try it on my K-r. This is definitely going in my toolbox. Amazingly, I had never considered selecting my own auto-focus points as I'm thinking, "Whose got time for that?"

But it immediately allowed me to make a sharp f/4.5 shot of my son playing with a large toy in front and near his face. Using SEL I was able to really tease apart the focus point and holding down AF kept the focus until I had the composition. Using normal auto-5 or 11 there would've been a good chance that the focus would have transferred to the toy leaving his face slightly out of focus. That's happened to me so many times - a great looking composition on a 3" screen turns out to be a blurry throw away at 1:1 because the camera picked a point just a bit off from what I intended

I tend to take candid shots and many have the desired focal point to be off center. I don't know why it never occurred to me to manually select the AF point. It's amazing how many capabilities I don't know/remember even after 8 years of owning this camera.

The only problem with manual AF point select is that on the K-r you have no way of switching ISO without backing out to another focus mode when the camera is set on Manual. I'm assuming few people mention this upthread because on the other models there's another way to change ISO? I shoot mainly between Tv and Av though so I can just leave ISO on auto.

**UncleVanya** · 01-18-2019, 09:48 AM

Originally posted by dieselpunk

Chose to read this completely at random during breakfast and decided to try it on my K-r. This is definitely going in my toolbox. Amazingly, I had never considered selecting my own auto-focus points as I'm thinking, "Whose got time for that?"

But it immediately allowed me to make a sharp f/4.5 shot of my son playing with a large toy in front and near his face. Using SEL I was able to really tease apart the focus point and holding down AF kept the focus until I had the composition. Using normal auto-5 or 11 there would've been a good chance that the focus would have transferred to the toy leaving his face slightly out of focus. That's happened to me so many times - a great looking composition on a 3" screen turns out to be a blurry throw away at 1:1 because the camera picked a point just a bit off from what I intended

I tend to take candid shots and many have the desired focal point to be off center. I don't know why it never occurred to me to manually select the AF point. It's amazing how many capabilities I don't know/remember even after 8 years of owning this camera.

The only problem with manual AF point select is that on the K-r you have no way of switching ISO without backing out to another focus mode when the camera is set on Manual. I'm assuming few people mention this upthread because on the other models there's another way to change ISO? I shoot mainly between Tv and Av though so I can just leave ISO on auto.

I've always been partial to Center point recompose - has that failed you in the past?

dieselpunk · 01-19-2019, 07:07 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by UncleVanya

I've always been partial to Center point recompose - has that failed you in the past?

Maybe in a handful of cases. I'd certainly have to practice a lot for AF point selecting to be faster. I think the main thing I learned is to consider picking the focal points more than using SEL as a replacement for the recompose.

01-02-2019, 12:52 PM - 1 Like	#282
monochrome Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Working From Home Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 26,276	Originally posted by Larrymc Sounds like you have altered your E-dial programming. Also check that you have not changed your Program Line settings also. ^^^ This. PITA Fix Write down your desired settings in every line of Menu. Reset to factory defaults Restore the settings you want The e-dial settings are very advanced and GB options in that section can be opaque.

01-17-2019, 07:57 PM	#283
dieselpunk Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 30	Huh...how about that... Chose to read this completely at random during breakfast and decided to try it on my K-r. This is definitely going in my toolbox. Amazingly, I had never considered selecting my own auto-focus points as I'm thinking, "Whose got time for that?" But it immediately allowed me to make a sharp f/4.5 shot of my son playing with a large toy in front and near his face. Using SEL I was able to really tease apart the focus point and holding down AF kept the focus until I had the composition. Using normal auto-5 or 11 there would've been a good chance that the focus would have transferred to the toy leaving his face slightly out of focus. That's happened to me so many times - a great looking composition on a 3" screen turns out to be a blurry throw away at 1:1 because the camera picked a point just a bit off from what I intended I tend to take candid shots and many have the desired focal point to be off center. I don't know why it never occurred to me to manually select the AF point. It's amazing how many capabilities I don't know/remember even after 8 years of owning this camera. The only problem with manual AF point select is that on the K-r you have no way of switching ISO without backing out to another focus mode when the camera is set on Manual. I'm assuming few people mention this upthread because on the other models there's another way to change ISO? I shoot mainly between Tv and Av though so I can just leave ISO on auto.

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02-13-2018, 02:19 PM	#271
BruceBanner Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2015 Posts: 5,404	Originally posted by Keebler Hi folks, I realize this thread is older, but I figure bring it up again may help others (plus I have a question When I choose SEL-1, I only get the far left focus point hi lighted both in the menu selection and then when I look through the viewfinder pressing AF. Should it not start out in the middle and then move outwards (like the single point except not locked to that 1 point)? I believe I have the latest firmware update for my K3. Cheers, Brian Dunno if I'm on the right track here but with the SEL modes they differ if you're in AF.C or AF.S mode. One expands the point around the focus point, the other only gives a single focus (red square) point. Try it and you'll see what I mean.

02-14-2018, 02:28 PM - 1 Like	#272
Keebler Guest	Originally posted by BruceBanner Dunno if I'm on the right track here but with the SEL modes they differ if you're in AF.C or AF.S mode. One expands the point around the focus point, the other only gives a single focus (red square) point. Try it and you'll see what I mean. Thanks. I'm a bonehead - I somehow used the pad buttons to inadvertently move the focus point. Fixed now. #palmtoforehead lol Cheers, Brian

02-14-2018, 03:42 PM	#273
BruceBanner Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2015 Posts: 5,404	Originally posted by Keebler Thanks. I'm a bonehead - I somehow used the pad buttons to inadvertently move the focus point. Fixed now. #palmtoforehead lol Cheers, Brian Great! another Bruce! Two boneheads!

02-15-2018, 05:45 AM	#274
Keebler Guest	Originally posted by BruceBanner Great! another Bruce! Two boneheads! lol

08-28-2018, 08:50 PM - 1 Like	#275
Jim Dandy Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2018 Location: Central Oregon Photos: Gallery Posts: 137	Great information and very helpful in trying to get the most efficient "work flow". I have to make the new thumb positioning on the AF/AE lock a habit but think my results will be better once I get the muscle memory. Combine with focus type changes and getting in/out of burst mode and it will up my game. Keep up the good info!

08-29-2018, 02:01 PM	#276
BruceBanner Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2015 Posts: 5,404	Originally posted by Jim Dandy Great information and very helpful in trying to get the most efficient "work flow". I have to make the new thumb positioning on the AF/AE lock a habit but think my results will be better once I get the muscle memory. Combine with focus type changes and getting in/out of burst mode and it will up my game. Keep up the good info! Something I have recently discovered that is sorta relevant to this topic and workarounds (back button focusing etc) but related more to manual focusing I thought I would share. I use Capture In Focus quite a fair bit, however the problem with this is the 'focus confirmation' is not a singular point but a range from which the camera says everything between shot between A---E should be in focus, when really (and especially true when shooting wide open) it's at point 'C' that genuine focus is achieved and not at any other range. Lemme try and give a better visual representation. What I tried yesterday and had a decent amount of success with is setting the Shooting mode to Burst and set it to High, then when the CiF activates slowly rotate the focusing ring as it's bursting. What happens is I get several images over range of A-E but at least some shots are taken at Point C which gives the sharpest image out of the lot. This seemed to work out pretty well, in fact better than doing a AF.C or AF.S burst shot, because with those scenarios the AF might lock on point A, B, D or E and take the entire burst over one of those values, but not across them all at once. I haven't tried it yet, but this might also be feasible with some lenses that support Quick Shift, you could use the back button focus to initially lock onto the target, then as you burst fire the shot slowly rotate the focusing ring to try and land a spread of shots across the focus range rather than a heap stuck on what might not be the optimum focus point (that the camera initially captured). For me anyway I just think this illustrates another reason why back button focus is handy, because I typically have my MF glass attached and my camera in 'AF' mode, this allows me to take both CiF shots as well as non CiF shots just by deciding whether to hold down the back button (CiF) or not.

08-30-2018, 01:39 PM - 1 Like	#277
08amczb Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Posts: 796	First I've used the AF button to Cancel AF, but when I tried back button focus, I've never looked back. The KP also do catch in focus with back button focus!

09-03-2018, 06:25 AM	#278
neal_grillot Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 64	Add 'Continuous Shooting - H' to the equation to really attack a moving subject.

12-21-2018, 10:33 PM	#279
Oktyabr Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Oct 2018 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 389	Great thread, what I've read of it. I have the K70 and have tried to learn this "back focus" technique using it. For some reason my green button no longer suggests/resets to/re-samples the frame? I've been through the settings menus so many times I think I will see them behind closed eyelids when I go to sleep tonight! What am I doing wrong? Thanks in advance.

12-26-2018, 03:57 AM	#280
pschlute Moderator Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Surrey, UK Photos: Gallery Posts: 8,198	Originally posted by Oktyabr I have the K70 and have tried to learn this "back focus" technique using it. For some reason my green button no longer suggests/resets to/re-samples the frame? The green button and the "back-button" AF are two separate controls.

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01-02-2019, 09:26 AM	#281
Larrymc Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Mississippi, USA Posts: 5,251	Originally posted by Oktyabr Great thread, what I've read of it. I have the K70 and have tried to learn this "back focus" technique using it. For some reason my green button no longer suggests/resets to/re-samples the frame? I've been through the settings menus so many times I think I will see them behind closed eyelids when I go to sleep tonight! What am I doing wrong? Thanks in advance. Sounds like you have altered your E-dial programming. Also check that you have not changed your Program Line settings also.

01-18-2019, 09:48 AM	#284
UncleVanya Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28,398	Originally posted by dieselpunk Chose to read this completely at random during breakfast and decided to try it on my K-r. This is definitely going in my toolbox. Amazingly, I had never considered selecting my own auto-focus points as I'm thinking, "Whose got time for that?" But it immediately allowed me to make a sharp f/4.5 shot of my son playing with a large toy in front and near his face. Using SEL I was able to really tease apart the focus point and holding down AF kept the focus until I had the composition. Using normal auto-5 or 11 there would've been a good chance that the focus would have transferred to the toy leaving his face slightly out of focus. That's happened to me so many times - a great looking composition on a 3" screen turns out to be a blurry throw away at 1:1 because the camera picked a point just a bit off from what I intended I tend to take candid shots and many have the desired focal point to be off center. I don't know why it never occurred to me to manually select the AF point. It's amazing how many capabilities I don't know/remember even after 8 years of owning this camera. The only problem with manual AF point select is that on the K-r you have no way of switching ISO without backing out to another focus mode when the camera is set on Manual. I'm assuming few people mention this upthread because on the other models there's another way to change ISO? I shoot mainly between Tv and Av though so I can just leave ISO on auto. I've always been partial to Center point recompose - has that failed you in the past?

01-19-2019, 07:07 AM - 1 Like	#285
dieselpunk Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 30	Originally posted by UncleVanya I've always been partial to Center point recompose - has that failed you in the past? Maybe in a handful of cases. I'd certainly have to practice a lot for AF point selecting to be faster. I think the main thing I learned is to consider picking the focal points more than using SEL as a replacement for the recompose.