Understanding The Canon R10 Autofocus?

[MrJackT]

Hello! 

I recently purchased the Canon R10 with the RF 100-400mm IS USM lens. I bought this camera for plane spotting. 

The viewfinder autofocus is completely different to the DSLR and it’s a little confusing. There is lots of different tracking etc when tapping the shutter button. 

I was practicing photos with the camera and noticed that when moving the camera when the aircraft was landing the photo was going a little blurry but not always. This is weird because the AF and Image stabilisation were both actually turned on. 

I used the manual and sports mode.

I don’t know why some photos were blurry when taking continuous photos with the aircraft moving (landing) when both the AF and image stabilisation were turned on. 

The AF was on the whole area and there were so many different options I was not sure which to choose….

Photo:

Any advice would be great. 

[amfoto1]

I am pretty certain your example image is not soft due to focus or image stabilization problems.

I think you are seeing subject motion blur. The airplane is moving to fast for the 1/250 shutter speed you used.

Increase your ISO (200) and/or use a larger lens aperture (f/10), so that you have a faster shutter speed to better freeze subject movement. I would think 1/500 minimum.... maybe 1/1000 would be even better. Distance and direction of travel are factors that might allow slower or require faster shutter speeds.

***********

Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7DII (x2), 7D(x2) some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & ZENFOLIO 

[MrJackT]

Hey and thank you for your message. 

So, if the aircraft is moving fast etc then a higher shutter speed would be more beneficial like 1/500 or more as you have mentioned? Then just adjust the aperture and iso as necessary? 

Would you recommend the sports mode as that seems like a decent option? 

I only asked because I photographed the exam same aircraft with the same camera settings and that other photo was not blurry….

Thanks Jack

[Tronhard]

Hopefully not to inappropriately interrupt, what the sports mode does is let the camera decide what settings to use, assuming that you want to catch something moving fast.  You can get the same effect with Tv mode, but with much greater control and, perhaps more significantly, you will be gain experience and be able to match the shutter speed to different situations while still having control over the other aspects.

For an initial setup, I would recommend setting the camera up for auto ISO and use the camera in Tv (Time Value - which is shutter priority mode).  You will just have to decide the shutter speed you want, and the camera will control the other two elements for you.

[MrJackT]

Hey Trevor and thanks for your message! 

I shall do that and thank you for explaining the TV mode in more details, I understand that a lot more now.

Would the AF mode like (AF whole area etc….) or the subject tracking make a difference? These were not available on my previous camera so I am not sure which AF to choose to view through the viewfinder. And should the subject tracking be enabled or not? As the AF was completely different through the view finder on my previous camera. 

Thanks Jack

[Tronhard]

Glad to be of assistance.  As to the AF mode... This is a pretty personal thing, but I prefer to use single point autofocus, using the back button.  Basically, I point at the location I want to keep in focus, tap the AF button to lock that point (this works for static objects), or press and hold the AF button to keep a moving subject in focus, if you use servo AF - as per the Oz video.

Exposure is a different issue. You could use the default evaluative metering mode and see how that works.  If you need more precision exposure, then using a different exposure method may yield improved results.  I personally use single point autofocus.  I first locate a point in my image that is going to be in the middle tones of brightness between white and black and press the * button to lock that.  I can then set the autofocus (as above), recompose and take the shot.   It takes a bit of getting used to and practise but is very precise.  For me, that works well as I tend to focus on the eyes of my subjects: animals and occasionally people, however I have also used this method with other subjects such as aircraft.  The images below were taken at a model aircraft air show - something that is somewhat challenging, even compared do a normal one, as the models are low and fast and change heading very quickly.

Canon EOS 7DMkII, EF 100-400L @ 400mm, f/10, 1/500sec, ISO-200

Canon EOS 7DMkII, EF 100-400L@400mm, f/5.6, 1/1600sec, ISO-200

[MrJackT]

Hey Trevor!

Thanks for explaining that and I have always used the button (shutter button) to focus onto subjects and my previous camera had no problem with it. But this new Mirrorless camera is quite different and I am not really sure what settings to play around with except for the TV mode that you already mentioned. 

On my previous canon camera I always used Manual and Sports modes and my photos were great. I tried to use the manual mode on my new camera and noticed that the focusing was not as good or not focusing how I would of liked the camera to focus onto a subject. 

Those are great photos by the way! Did you use manual mode for that? 

I do need to ask another question:

On the RF 100-400mm IS USM lens what are the rings for on the lens? I have not used the rings as I have only just zoomed the lens in and out. 

Thanks!

[Tronhard]

As the aircraft is moving and you want to track it, you might want to consider the thread on Back Button focusing HERE. Using BBF can be something of a game changer and actually has been around for some time, as one can see from this article in the Canon knowledgebase.  Here is a video from Canon Australia on using BBF.

[amfoto1]

I agree... Back Button Focusing can be helpful.

But with moving subjects you also MUST use AI Servo focus mode... particularly with subjects coming toward you or going away from you. DO NOT use One Shot focus mode.

AI Servo is continuous focusing... as long as you hold the shutter button half pressed (without BBF) or maintain pressure on the rear button (with BBF), the AF system will track the moving subject.

One Shot focus mode is for stationary subjects. It finds focus, then stops and "locks". If a subject moves out of the plane of focus, you'll have soft shots.

One of the reasons BBF is popular is because it allows you to leave the camera in AI Servo mode all the time, controlling starting and stopping the AF system with your thumb. By leaving the camera set to AI Servo all the time, you are ready whether the subject moves or not... No need to pause to change the camera's focusing mdoe if a moving subject suddenly stops or when a stationary subject starts moving.

But I cannot tell from this image if you were using AI Servo or One Shot focus mode and don't know if you are already using BBF. .

I still think the problem was that the subject was just moving too fast to freeze with a 1/250 shutter speed. So you are seeing subject motion blur, not a focusing problem.

***********

Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7DII (x2), 7D(x2) some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & ZENFOLIO 

[Tronhard]

Totally agree with Alan.  While I did not emphasize this myself directly, the videos I linked to make this point very strongly, particularly the Australian one on BBF.