PHOTOS OUT OF FOCUS? HERE’S WHY

Great tips . Thank you

IThank you for the info, I have a Canon 5Dm4 but in my AF tab I am having trouble finding these settings. In the first tab of AF it shows Case 1, Case 2 etc. Case 2 says continue to track subjects, ignoring possible obstacles. So I dont know if that is it or not? Can you help me with that?

Simon, I think I'm just beginning to appreciate just how much effort you must be putting into your videos. They are always so clear, concise and very well thought out. I feel I've always gained a much clearer understanding of the subjects you cover. I am forever greatful. 🙏

Fantastic video. Best I've seen.

Greetings Simon,
I've watched hundreds of YT videos on focus issues and nothing has helped. I've tried all sorts of tips from people who are "Pro's" and I bet I can take literally 1,000 photos and maybe a dozen can be "reasonably" sharp. I have an R6 & R6 mkii and I use back button focus with single point for all my landscape photography and today added the tip of manual focus after pressing back button focus to get the "Live view" for trying to nail the focus and when it looks good I snap the photo. Today I bet I took 60 photos with a 50 1.2 at f8 for the most of the shots (so expensive glass) and not one photo turned out… Why?

I'm to the point of literally walking away from photography and selling everything as I feel I'm wasting my time getting zero satisfaction for the effort I'm putting in. Any suggestions?

Sean

Thank you for your very interesting and easy understanding video. Do you have experiences with focus shift problem closing aperture ? I have with my tamron . If so what do you suggest?

Great content as usual! One note: mirrorless cameras (as well as cell phone cameras) often have numerous phase detection pixels built right into the image sensor. I think slow contrast based focusing might be reserved for low light AF…

Here's a question for any experts: How can I maximize the effectiveness of autofocus in a contrast system (I shoot on Fuji X-T3 and 4) when I have to shoot wildlife (in my case, whales) on a low-contrast day (clouded over, mid-day, more 'glary' than dark, if you know what I mean, some haziness, a colorless day). I'm going to stop there and not bog my question down with mechanical facts, in case there is just some obvious idea I have not learned yet. Oh, just one: the camera took the photographs even though it was set not to fire unless focus was achieved. [Edit a couple hours later:] I stumbled upon something that seems peculiar to the Fuji cameras (before the newer models, anyway). I made an incorrect choice by choosing AF-C instead of AF-S in these conditions. That is, it was a darkish day and I wanted a narrow aperture to get some forgiveness in depth of field. I had been wondering if my narrow aperture (pretty severe: f/16 on the 100-400 – just a sign of my lack of experience and confidence) could cause problems for AF because of absence of light. From what I have read, AF-C will keep my chosen aperture and thus deliver less light to the AF function, whereas if I had shot on those days with AF-S the camera would open the aperture to get focus, then stop down to f/16 as directed by myself in that case. Well, this is what I read today. But I am so new to this, so if anyone knows differently please share. Also, I realize this phenomenon might be peculiar to what are now out-of-date Fuji cameras.

I’m currently starting off my adventure by attempting to learning Macro photography. I started playing around with my iPhone 14 pro max in my back yard and was surprised when I randomly took a picture of a mantis up close. Something about seeing things clear and extremely close is just cool to me. So a couple weeks later here I am learning to use my canon t7 I got for a simple trade.

Hello Mr d'Entremont , Thanks for the Tips .you had suggested 100-400 is2 over my 300 f4 prime i was able to bought this lens.fabulous lens ..recently i had used to photograph birds at flight ( shutter speed : 1250 <-> 2000 , AF : servo , method 2(stick y) , 12 focus points ) & 100-400is2 ( is3 config) . Wings and body are sharp but eyes is little bit blurry . when i use five focus points even the blur increased . i am not using back button focus ..can you kindly guide me here why i am failing.. thanks in advance .

What about lens calibration? I’m shooting studio on a tripod with shutter cable and I have to manually push the focus back to get the right focus. Some lenses need calibration if they are front focussing or back focussing

Hey Simon! Love your vids! Do you have this focusing video with the Canon 2X extender? I shot his morning and the manual focus was challenging. I did capture some good shots but some of the best ones were too blurry – THX

forensic

Your video quality is great. The focus is on you, while your background is blurred. Is this the same technique applied while recording? Asking cuz I’m interested in recording YT videos

The teacher. Clear and concise.