[Hattifnatt]

Hello,

I have a question for those who are more experienced than me regarding portraits...

Assuming that you can put your camera on a tripod and it's a controlled session, meaning your model won't move around that much, is contrast autofocus in live view a good option?

I am thinking this I way I can choose my focus exactly where I want it... and also will not have to worry about some FF/BF problems with some lens, right?

Also no worries about focal plane movement while using focus-reframe-shoot technique.

[clackers]

Correct. Use magnified view to zoom in. Live View indoors is less useful because of the lack of contrast.

Put it on MF when you're happy so it doesn't change.

[Hattifnatt]

Correct. Use magnified view to zoom in. Live View indoors is less useful because of the lack of contrast.

Put it on MF when you're happy so it doesn't change.

Do I need to use magnify view when performing contrast AF? I was under the impression it automatically zooms in for the selected area, but I'm not actually sure.

Also, do I need to put in on MF when happy if I have the shutter half press disabled? I use the back AF button.

And finally, I'm thinking that indoors I can use some cheap light source to assist Af only when focusing, and then turn it off.

[macman24054]

Do I need to use magnify view when performing contrast AF? I was under the impression it automatically zooms in for the selected area, but I'm not actually sure.

Also, do I need to put in on MF when happy if I have the shutter half press disabled? I use the back AF button.

And finally, I'm thinking that indoors I can use some cheap light source to assist Af only when focusing, and then turn it off.

The zoom function in live view only happens when using manual focus (I am pretty sure). If you use a studio strobe with a modeling light, that will assist with focusing

[johnyates]

is contrast autofocus in live view a good option?

It's the best option for getting accurate autofocus in any situation where live view use is feasible.

I would strongly suggest that you use a tripod for your portrait session. Trigger the camera with a remote.

[mcgregni]

Its a great technique (LV magnified), and I use it for landscapes mainly to be able to nail manual focus onto some object that is around a hyperfocal distance into the scene. The point from macman above just got me thinking ..... I'm not sure if I've ever tried it with autofocus and I'm not sure if it works (K7) ... ? I suppose there is less need for magnified view with AF, after all the AF is supposed to do the work, whereas in manual its us!

In any case, in a portrait set-up with a tripod then in fact manual focus with magnified Live View would be really good I'd think .... you can zoom in on the eye and really nicely fine tune it, so long as the camera is sitting high enough that you don't have to crouch down too awkwardly. I think (so long as there was good visibility) that manual live view would be better than contrast AF .... I think I'd feel more secure myself.

[Hattifnatt]

Its a great technique (LV magnified), and I use it for landscapes mainly to be able to nail manual focus onto some object that is around a hyperfocal distance into the scene. The point from macman above just got me thinking ..... I'm not sure if I've ever tried it with autofocus and I'm not sure if it works (K7) ... ? I suppose there is less need for magnified view with AF, after all the AF is supposed to do the work, whereas in manual its us! In any case, in a portrait set-up with a tripod then in fact manual focus with magnified Live View would be really good I'd think .... you can zoom in on the eye and really nicely fine tune it, so long as the camera is sitting high enough that you don't have to crouch down too awkwardly. I think (so long as there was good visibility) that manual live view would be better than contrast AF .... I think I'd feel more secure myself.

Thank you. Assuming I would have a patient model, I can just try out both.