Which Mark 5 lll AF mode would be best to photograph a group of 5 people?

[Hammon]

From this basic question it will be apparent we know very little. We just bought the Mark5 lll and have been asked to photograph a friend's children and a casual supper around a table.  Please tell me which AF mode we should use to make everyone in focus.- very confused- 

[diverhank]

For taking pictures of a group, it's best if you'd set the focus mode to one-shot and the focus area to 61 point automatic selection (page 73 of the manual).  Even though it doesn't say anything about face detection, the 61 point does that very well.  Also to make sure there's adequate depth of field so everyone can be in focus, you want to set an Av value of f/5.6 or higher.

If you haven't had time to learn about settings, set the round dial on left top to the green A+ mode.  That will take care of your photo situation very well.  Have fun.  The 5D3 is an incredible camera.

[7D5D]

Keep it simple for starters.   I would use One Shot, single point, in the center of the frame/subject in AV mode using this general rule:

F stop = number of people in the shot (for minimum depth of field).

For 5 people use f/5.6.  I would stop down to f/8 to give yourself a little more DoF.  Of course distance to subject plays into DoF too.

Take several shots at different AV values

Go to DoF Master to see what your DoF will be for your body, lens and subject, distance

Good luck

[Hammon]

Thank you so much.