Rick Newton wrote:
>>
>Now, here is one additional method of tracking you pictures, one that
>Charlie Dischinger swears by. Set the custom function (#11 I believe),
>so that your rear Quick Control Dial has control over the autofocus spots.
>Now you have real time control over what sensor is actually working.
>Initially, you can set it so that all five are operational as normal, but
>as soon as you move the dial, only one is available at a time, but with you
>selecting the spot in real time, you can avoid the camera trying to use an
>undesirable spot.
>
>Dave Busse also touched on the ability to set the camera for spot metering.
By doing this in addition to being able to comtrol which of the five focus
locations to use with the thumb wheel on the back of the camera, you will be
able to avoid 75% of the problems associated with autofocus. It still give
control of what is important and turns me loose from the drudgery of
technical complications, i.e. what the correct exposure is excetera.
However, I do not choose to use spot meteoring because that can throw the
exposure off too much if the sun is not shining the side of the locomotive
you are focusing on. So I set the camera to use a center waited exposure
matrix. This has the camera put emphasis on the main subject, but if there
is a big discrepency between the focused on subject and the surrounding area
(backlighting), the camera will adjust for the situation and be right more
than 95% of the time.
The only problem I have found where the new hightech cameras seem to fail,
along with any manual camera is when you shoot wide ang;e and there is a lot
of sky in the picture. This is one case where it is necessary to override
the camera exposure setting by locking in on the ground before swinging the
camera up to capture the sky. Spot metering will solve this problem also.
>
For those times when you have time to set-up, check your exposure, prefocus,
etc., by all means lock the camera in for the picture you want. When you
have that much time, there is no benefit to relie on autofocus and
autoexposure. That is not using the right tool for the job. Autofocus is
for those situations where all you have time to do is swing the camera up
from the hips and squeese. For this it is wonderful. Even if the camera
has a little lag time in focusing continously on a train racing at you at 60
mph at least one out of three frames will be razor sharp and more likely two
out of three. I don't care how good or how quick you are, you can not focus
as quickly as the camera can at least 9 out of ten times.
While there will probably be complaints about autofocus cameras trying to
refocus at the most inappropriate time, my experience has been that;
autofocus has allowed me to get 10 pictures I would have missed, for
everyone that it screwed up. I wish I could get those odds the next time I
go to the racetrack in Hot Springs to feed the horses.
>
Charlie
--> SPORRS: Serious Photographers of Railroad Related Subjects
