How to Get the Most Out of Your Camera's Autofocus

Perhaps no technical innovation in modern photography has had more of an impact than autofocus. Long gone are the days of rudimentary systems with just a single autofocus point or two. Modern autofocus systems are tremendously powerful and customizable, and as such, it is well worth knowing how to get the most out of your camera. This helpful video tutorial discusses autofocus modes, tips, and problems and how to get the most out of your camera's capabilities. 

Coming to you from Walks On The Wild Side, this fantastic video tutorial will show you everything you need to know to get the most out of your camera's autofocus. While the default settings that come with most cameras will handily tackle most situations with ease, it is important to remember that manufacturers design these to be able to handle most situations competently, not necessarily to shoot any one genre or situation perfectly. As such, if you shoot something that is particularly demanding on your camera's autofocus system, such as sports or wildlife, taking the time to learn and configure your settings can have a notable impact on both your keeper rate and the difficulty of your shooting situations. Check out the video above for the full rundown. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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2 Comments

I have to say well done explaining both DSLR and Mirrorless! With all the options with AF you need a options from elbow to wrist paper on your wrist and memory as to where what button to press while you look through the eyepiece. What most reviews never mention is that each capture is like aiming at a fast moving critter first getting the camera up to the eye then selecting an option on the "fly" so to speak, all things are so fast and some far away that looking at the rear screen is most impossible and tracking is not completely with in the screen and you follow across a wide area trying to keep subject in the frame. Thinking fast and clearly is not an option, there are many captures not taken because the camera is not set for the many.
The blessing is the cameras continuous AF also triggers multiple shooting like 3 to 10 or even 15 frames a second so something comes out right out of the many for the many seconds you hold down the shutter.
This shot unexpected while walking, is how fast you can get the camera up to the eye and somehow get subject to center of frame, yes the large square focus point is always at center and at 10 FPS one is clear and sharp out of 30.

Hmm, this is an old one and I'm sure iit was already posted here!