I am fairly new to photography. Recently purchased the Canon 20d and 3 lenses. I was hoping that someone could help me with the settings they use for the metering mode and what focus mode is used. Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated
I use full matrix metering most of the time and I use one shot focus mode unless i'm shooting sports or other fast moving subjects, where I might use AI Servo mode...
What John said. "One Shot" focus allows you to lock in focus by depressing the shutter button halfway, btw. Servo mode can be very annoying, always seeking and you're never sure what it's choosing to focus on. Quite useful, of course, with moving subjects.
I am fairly new to photography. Recently purchased the Canon 20d and 3 lenses. I was hoping that someone could help me with the settings they use for the metering mode and what focus mode is used. Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated
Metering mode I use is the spot meter setting - I believe it's a 9 degree. Works nice. Focus modes I switch between all three, but usually have it on one shot.
1. Portraits - One shot with only one focus sensor activated - the closest to the eyes.
2. Arena sports (horses) I use the middle setting AI Focus and let the camera switch between one shot and ai servo
3. Outdoor kids playing, I am trying to use AI Servo mode, but many times it ends up out of focus - 90% +.
A couple tricks, 1 make sure you are focusing on what's important - if that means using only a single AF site, then do that. And 2, a trick I picked up out of a book that the title escapes me, for those shots where you want a decent DOF, focus on an item that is 1/3 of the way up the frame and the rest will come into focus. hard to explain, but it works.
What John said. "One Shot" focus allows you to lock in focus by depressing the shutter button halfway, btw. Servo mode can be very annoying, always seeking and you're never sure what it's choosing to focus on. Quite useful, of course, with moving subjects.
Robt.
When I use mine, I lock my center point as the only focus point.
center focus point with some expansion most of the time. Usually just one focus point. CF 4 is set so the * button focuses without exposure lock iirc. Partial metering is most common for me with +1/3EV at least, always on.
