Godfrey
Well-known member
It should come as no surprise to anyone, given the photos I've been showing and my ebullient praise of the E-M1, that I'm pretty happy and satisfied with this camera. ;-)
What I read a lot of, however, is dissatisfaction with tracking, CAF and CAF+tr, when shooting "birds in flight" subjects. Hmm. Well, I can't say I ever shot BIF very much in the past ... the occasional snap here and there does not make me a BIF specialist. Nor have I used CAF or CAF tracking very much in the past either, with any camera including the E-5.
But I've been curious about the disgruntled commentary. It seems so at odd with my own experience using the E-M1. I wonder ... was the E-5 really that good at subject tracking in CAF that the E-M1 is far worse? Was it really that much faster to focus a 50-200 or 300mm lens on a moving splotch of bird? I don't remember it being all that fantastic in the first place, certainly a step up from the E-1 but one of the reasons I never used CAF very much was that I never really saw much point to it. I could focus faster and more accurately, more consistently in manual focus mode than the results I usually saw with CAF.
Well, the E-M1 is a new camera and I'm enjoying exploring what it can do. I'm about ready to explore its AF capabilities with CAF and CAF+tr. By explore, I mean "understand what the settings do" and "see how useful they are in given situations." (Note that I can't compare them against my expectations of what they might do since I have none. ;-) I've played with the CAF and CAF+tr settings using my longest AF-capable lens (Panasonic-Leica Macro-Elmarit 45) and my shortest (ZD 11-22), so I now think I understand how the settings work, how they interact with different AF pattern choices, etc.
I guess along the way of this exploration I might want to acquire another, longer AF capable lens. That presents a decision point ... I'd love a 150/2: it's kinda pricey and I use such long lenses so infrequently, but it would work with my E-1 as well. Then there's the standby of the 50-200/2.8-3.5 ... a great lens, had one once upon a time, sold it when I realized I only rarely used it. Good news is that good, clean ones are available at a reasonable price, and it would also work with the E-1. Then there are the mFT choices ... haven't looked yet, but I know the Olympus M.Zuiko Pro offering is a while into the future yet.
No need to rush. I'll start playing with these modes a bit using the gear I already have and comparing them against my time-honored S-AF+MF and MF methodology.
I'll post when I have something more to say about CAF and CAF+tracking. This might take a while. ;-)
What I read a lot of, however, is dissatisfaction with tracking, CAF and CAF+tr, when shooting "birds in flight" subjects. Hmm. Well, I can't say I ever shot BIF very much in the past ... the occasional snap here and there does not make me a BIF specialist. Nor have I used CAF or CAF tracking very much in the past either, with any camera including the E-5.
But I've been curious about the disgruntled commentary. It seems so at odd with my own experience using the E-M1. I wonder ... was the E-5 really that good at subject tracking in CAF that the E-M1 is far worse? Was it really that much faster to focus a 50-200 or 300mm lens on a moving splotch of bird? I don't remember it being all that fantastic in the first place, certainly a step up from the E-1 but one of the reasons I never used CAF very much was that I never really saw much point to it. I could focus faster and more accurately, more consistently in manual focus mode than the results I usually saw with CAF.
Well, the E-M1 is a new camera and I'm enjoying exploring what it can do. I'm about ready to explore its AF capabilities with CAF and CAF+tr. By explore, I mean "understand what the settings do" and "see how useful they are in given situations." (Note that I can't compare them against my expectations of what they might do since I have none. ;-) I've played with the CAF and CAF+tr settings using my longest AF-capable lens (Panasonic-Leica Macro-Elmarit 45) and my shortest (ZD 11-22), so I now think I understand how the settings work, how they interact with different AF pattern choices, etc.
I guess along the way of this exploration I might want to acquire another, longer AF capable lens. That presents a decision point ... I'd love a 150/2: it's kinda pricey and I use such long lenses so infrequently, but it would work with my E-1 as well. Then there's the standby of the 50-200/2.8-3.5 ... a great lens, had one once upon a time, sold it when I realized I only rarely used it. Good news is that good, clean ones are available at a reasonable price, and it would also work with the E-1. Then there are the mFT choices ... haven't looked yet, but I know the Olympus M.Zuiko Pro offering is a while into the future yet.
No need to rush. I'll start playing with these modes a bit using the gear I already have and comparing them against my time-honored S-AF+MF and MF methodology.
I'll post when I have something more to say about CAF and CAF+tracking. This might take a while. ;-)