7D Mark II Question on dual Focus points (airplane while moving and person)

[coj79]

Team,

I am going to try to attach the shot I am wanting to master. Yes, I have read the book. Yes, I am only 8 months into this. I am shooting with a 100-400 Series II lens.

my settings are:

AF setting person + tracking

continous tracking

high speed continous shots

how do I get the subject and plane in focus at the same time? Is it even possible?

[RobertTheFat]

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@coj79 wrote:

how do I get the subject and plane in focus at the same time? Is it even possible?

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Quite possibly not, with a lens that long and a subject that close. There's no obvious motion blur, and the aeroplane and the background are equally OOF. What you have appears to be a classical DOF issue.

Incidentally, one thing you have going for you is that there's no way to tell that the girl wasn't Photoshopped into the picture. So you could photograph her and the rest of the scene separately and combine them in post-processing to achieve the intended result. That's not a general solution, of course, but it would have worked in this case.

[TTMartin]

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@coj79 wrote:

Team,

I am going to try to attach the shot I am wanting to master. Yes, I have read the book. Yes, I am only 8 months into this. I am shooting with a 100-400 Series II lens.

my settings are:

AF setting person + tracking

continous tracking

high speed continous shots

how do I get the subject and plane in focus at the same time? Is it even possible?

---

What you have is a depth of field issue. NOT a focus issue. You have too shallow a depth of field.

Adorama TV - Digital Photography 1 on 1: Episode 12 Depth of Field

To increase your depth of field, you'll want a smaller aperture (larger f/number), a wider lens, and more distance between you and your subject.

You might also want to Google Depth of Field Master

[cicopo]

I agree with the others that it's a DoF issue but it may be possible with a bit more experimentation. You'll need a fast shutter speed for the plane IF it's a jet & not a prop plane because the prop would be frozen & not look realistic. What are the estimated distances camera to person & to the plane? What were the shutter speed & F stop in your sample?

[cicopo]

After thinking about this for a while & knowing how the AF works you need to realize a lens can ONLY focus on 1 spot such as either the lady or the plane but it can't do both. DoF comes into play when needing near & far items in focus. Also note that for this type of shot AI Servo or AI Focus may not be of any use because you're not tracking the moving subject either by panning or thru your instructions to the AF as to what it needs to lock onto. If you have instructed the AF to lock onto the lady & ignore anything suddenly entering the frame it isn't tracking thet new object.

I'd try the following to see whether it works, but again the DoF may not cover what you need. Set up camera on a tripod, use a release cable, fast (1/1000 to 1/2000) shutter speed, Set AF to ONE SHOT, Af on the lady, when satisfied she's sharply in focus switch to MF, This eleminates the AF from the task putting the burden on the F stop (DoF) which you'll need to play with. You may need to bump up the ISO to do this but I'd start at f 11, and increase as needed 1 click at a time.

Remember this is for a Jet, not a prop plane. Props need 1/320 or slower, especially when landing when engine power is reduced. 

[Waddizzle]

Here/s a link to an online DoF calculator.  It defaults to a Canon 7D.  Use that body because it, too, is APS-C.

http://www.dofmaster.com/doftable.html 

Try entering some focal lengths, and the distance between the camera and the young lady. 

[kvbarkley]

You canna change the laws of physics.

You need a DOF calculator.

Some Canon cameras have an A-DEP mode, but it probably won't work in your case.

Actually, your best bet is photoshop. Just take two images with each subject in focus.