Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/05/16

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Subject: [Leica] selling a Leica DMR.. ?
From: lists at mcclary.net (Harrison McClary)
Date: Wed May 16 05:35:09 2007
References: <82c9dd70705111714q71ac8e04h5d5979daa2854e5e@mail.gmail.com> <nqdc43ppro42ka42c4m5eusuqpcitqa3et@4ax.com> <464A339E.9080102@mcclary.net> <D160EAAF-365C-4CCE-93A2-55849DA509A4@btinternet.com>

Frank,

I have never tried to shoot birds so I am not a good one to talk on this 
with any authority.  I have always heard that the birders tend to shoot 
MF mostly.  On something small like that I really am not surprised the 
AF did not work that well. 

When I am using AF for sports or things that move rapidly I always use 
AI servo.  On stationary subjects it goes back to one shot.

Focus point selection, the best one is the center point.  I never use 
the one where the camera picks the point, invariably it will choose the 
wrong spot right at peak action. 

If I had not gotten old and my eyes bad I'd still MF, when I used to 
shoot professional sports I never used AF and I was pretty good, 
unfortunately my eyes are not what they were when I was 25 and I have a 
very hard time focusing anything other than an M these days.  Actually I 
was poked in the eye by a big stick one day working in the yard and it 
knocked a big floater loose and when it floats in front of my eye 
everything gets very blurry.  My eye doctor said over time it will go 
away, but for now it is very annoying!

As far as the D200 v Canon.  I wish I could get a D200 body with my 
Canon sensor/processing and Canon AF.  The Canon AF is faster than the 
Nikon I have used and the Canon files are far better, IMHO than the 
Nikon are.  The D200 interface and focusing screen is better.  In the 
end it is about images and I use Canon, also the 5D being 35mm in format 
is a big plus to me.  I "think" in 35mm focal lengths and once again I 
can look at something know how I want it to look and pick the right 
lens.  This is a big issue for me, may not be for some.


Frank Dernie wrote:
> How do you set the autofocus on your 1 series? I was out shooting Red 
> Kites with mine yesterday in the hills, I tried both one shot and AI 
> servo, all (auto select by camera) autofocus spots and center lock. 
> About 10% success focusing on the subject, the auto was particularly 
> shite when the hills were in the background, focused on countryside 
> not bird, whereas previously I have found the autofocus to always 
> focus on the nearest object in the autofocus area, as Canon specify it 
> should I believe, even when this is not the main subject. I was 
> particularly annoyed because this "feature" has autofocused on many an 
> undesired but close item in the field but failed to do so when the 
> closer item actually was the desired subject.
> My hit rate went up when I went to manual focus.
> Any help on this would be most appreciated, My EOS 1Ds -can- produce 
> superb results but IME it is in spite of the user interface, not 
> because of it. The Nikon D200 I have tried is about 10 million times 
> better as an ergonomic useable tool IMO.
> Frank


-- 
Harrison McClary
Harrison McClary Photography
harrison@mcclary.net
http://www.mcclary.net
ImageStockSouth - Stock Photography
http://www.imagestocksouth.com
Tobacco Road: Personal Blog:
http://www.mcclary.net/blog


Replies: Reply from Frank.Dernie at btinternet.com (Frank Dernie) ([Leica] selling a Leica DMR.. ?)
In reply to: Message from faneuil at gmail.com (Eric Korenman) ([Leica] selling a Leica DMR.. ?)
Message from ericm at pobox.com (Eric) ([Leica] selling a Leica DMR.. ?)
Message from lists at mcclary.net (Harrison McClary) ([Leica] selling a Leica DMR.. ?)
Message from Frank.Dernie at btinternet.com (Frank Dernie) ([Leica] selling a Leica DMR.. ?)