Camera Focus Modes Complete Guide

in this video we discuss all things focus related focus settings and focus modes welcome to this week's video just before we jump into this tutorial I'm really glad to announce that Squarespace is sponsoring this video if you're looking to showcase our indeed sell your work online then why not head across to www-where space comm this is a quick back story to this video before we get going I get asked quite a bit while shooting modes that are used in camera when I shoot my landscapes and when I shoot my street photography so I went out with the intentions of creating a how to focus correctly video while shooting Street so I'll be using a bit of b-roll from my street photography but since focusing is focusing irrespective of your camera mate model or brand or focus systems work in the same way I thought they should pigeonhole it all together and make a very short but hopefully insightful video on how you guys can get the most and the best out of your cameras in regards to which focus settings you should be using I've got a couple of models to help me also so cars from the 1960s I mean already what's not to like about this video [Music] Radio all cameras have to focus settings but basically you've got or to focus and you've got manual focus well we'll talk about manual focus settings towards the end of the video but for now let's just concentrate on the auto settings the auto focus system on your camera will be broken down into three focus modes you're likely to have AF s AF C and AF a on your camera unless you own a Canon camera with Canon cameras they call there's one shot AI servo and a I auto irrespective of the name your work in the same way and if you can get your head around how they work and guarantee you you'll get the most out of your camera irrespective of what style or type or genre of photography that you currently use your camera for [Music] the first focus mode I want to talk about is a FS and once you're AF S stands for autofocus single and one-shot that's the equivalent if you're a Canon user it's a very basic but very very powerful focus mode and it's used predominantly for focusing on static subjects okay but it can be used on a variety of different law in a variety of different situations so don't just assume that we're only going to use it for static items and static subject matters and well it works very very simply all you do is depress your fire button halfway down once you depress your fire button halfway down the focus points within your length will establish a focus point on the subject matter but where the power of this focus mode really comes into its own is you had the ability by depressing the fire button halfway down the focus will lock on the subject matter like I said but then we're able to recompose the shot that means we can focus left right up and down and the focus will not move as long as you depress the fire button halfway down so it's brilliant if you want to focus on the subject matter but then reframe or recompose is shot to demonstrate how this focus mode works I'm going to photograph these two cars but I'm going to place one slightly closer to the camera than the second one so the gold one closest to the camera the purple one furthest away make sure my settings are right in camera which they already are so now all I'm going to do is to choose what to focus on from going to place I have a single point focus is what I prefer to use the less point you have the more accurate your focusing will be so I'm simply going to move my focus point on to the front of the vehicle closest to the camera and then going to reframe and when I reframe it means I can move left right up or down but not backwards or forwards just left right up or down okay now it's most important when I reframe that I keep my finger too pressed halfway down so the focus on the first vehicle refrain by maintaining pressure on the fire button and then take the picture and now I'm going to focus on the vehicle the back reframe or recompose once again and then fully depress the camera trigger and that is eat as simple as that the next focus mode is a FC or AI servo force cannon users AFC stands for autofocus constant and it's used predominantly for moving subjects or serving subjects that are moving closer and further away from your camera and how it works is simply this just aim at the subject depress your fire button halfway down and as long as the focus points are focusing on the subject imagine if my hand is a horse for instance then as the horse gets closer and closer and closer to your lens the focus will continuously work in to insure that the subject remains crisp up and sharp in your image at all times and it does that just by simply - pressing your fire button halfway down and maintain in there and when you establish the shot you want you depress it all the way down really really simple to use again a very very powerful focus mode so there you go that's AI servo and AF C taken care of and that's a focus mode that's generally used for moving subjects subjects that are generally moving closer and further away from your camera great for nature great for sport but it's also great for street photography not so good for landscape photography I would prefer AFS but they go that's AF C and a servo taking care of a F a and a I focus is what they call it on Canon I believe that's what we're gonna discuss now well that's really easy because we don't really use them and that's your camera brands way of trying to decide whether it should be one of the two that we've just mentioned whether it's a FA or AFC one-shot or AI servo this gets a bit confusing so there's three different camera focus modes one of which completely ignore if you want my advice completely ignore it so just if your camera check your camera nope your camera set to AF a or a I focus then change it to either single or constant so that's the three modes taken care of of which we pretty much only use to the constant and the single one like I said earlier though there's another type of focus that a lot of people actually adopt and that's what we call back button focus in so instead of your focus in being taken care of by your shutter button being depressed halfway down it's now taken care of on a separate completely independent button on the back of your camera so that way you can touch it to focus and also take your picture completely independently now that's it's a desired taste whether you like back button focus or not for a lot of people a lot of people do use it a lot of sports photographers use it well in extra fact let me explain how it works once you've enabled your back button the normal focus when you depress your fire button halfway down is disabled this is how it works you would look through the viewfinder or on the live screen depends what it is you're actually trying to take pictures of once you see the subject you want to focus on you simply with your thumb press on the back button and your lens then will focus on the subject once you've pressed it and then taking your thumb off the lens will no longer try focus so therefore this now works in exactly the same way as your af-s which is single or your one shot with canon works in exactly the same way just simply depress your back button focus once take your thumb off to release it and then you could take pictures and your camera lens will no longer try and focus again however if the subject is moving you simply press and hold the back button and your camera lens will therefore work in the same way as air sea and a I server which is a constant focus focusing on something that's moving simply press and hold and as you track the subject you simply press and press and press or press and hold if you're Gatling gun is enabled back putting the focus if you haven't tried it try it you might well like it [Music] let's talk about the focus dots let's just call them dots to make it simple because when you look through the viewfinder you'll see that as you depress your fire button halfway down then different dots will appear now some cameras might have 11 or 12 dots that could appear randomly and some might have 64 or even higher and of course they can be centered in the middle of your frame or throughout your frame so my only advice that would be the less focused dots that you have illuminated on your sensor on your camera when you depress a button half way down the more accurate your focus in is going to be if you're just a point-and-shoot user then have as many of those focus dots lit up so when you depress a fire button halfway down your camera will instantly find something to focus on but that can also cause you a whole heap of problems if you're trying to focus through people for instance or trying to focus on a particular person or a particular subject then that can get very very difficult so my advice to you would be really minimize the amount of dots down now I literally just opt for one dot and it's a single dot in the middle I don't even move the dot around I do want to shoot landscapes but that's the only time I'll move that dot around so I don't even try and move the dot to the right or move the dot to the left I much prefer to simply focus and reframe focus and reframe but of course there are times when it's best to move the dot but that's my advice when it comes to the dots less in this instance is more [Music] let's talk about manual mode well manual mode speaks for itself just simply switch your lens on to manual mode and then use the focus ring to ensure that you get good crisp focus it's very accurate so we use it in the studio when we shoot commercial work use it an awful lot simply because on the live view I can hit my magnifier button I can zoom in times 10 I can simply adjust my focus in and get absolutely crisp and accurate but there are other times when I'll use manual focus as well landscape photography once again I'm looking through the viewfinder I can zoom in I can look at that oak tree on the right hand side and I can use the focus ring to get it as accurate as possible that's that's the reasons why I use manual focusing another thing sometimes I use it with street photography so using AF s or one shot I can focus on a point in the road where I know cyclists are going to pass so if I'm down an alley way for instance run down an alleyway and I'm looking down and I know subjects are going to walk past I can get myself into position and rather than hope that my lens will focus in an instant which they normally do anyway but I'm just giving you a time when I would opt to shoot in manual mode when I'm doing street photography I'll focus on a point where I know either bicycles are going to come past or where people are going to come past I will focus like on the on the road side or the pavement I will focus once I focus I'll then come back up and simply flick my lens to manual focus so then when I recompose every time I take a picture and get it to be guaranteed but my focus will be spot on every time but also my lens won't therefore delay the shot by trying to hunt for focus that's it simply that manual focus [Music] creating a Squarespace website it's by far the easiest way to showcase yourself as a photographer online creating stunning websites is as simple as choosing a template and dragging and drop in your media if you want to find out more information and start your 14-day free trial then head across to Squarespace comm /e Carey Goff that's the important part because that will get you 10% off whatever package you choose so to summarize them there isn't a right and a wrong way to focus there is just the right focus for the given situation and even then sometimes it could be a little bit ambiguous I might prefer one way someone else will prefer another way to be honest it really doesn't matter as long as you get your head around the system of how you can focus constantly or focus on a single more important how you can focus and recompose and of course to determine the best time to use manual focus then really it's up to you it's entirely up to you don't let anybody tell you that you should be doing it this way you should be doing it that way it's just about you have an understanding of how your focus system works and then that'll help you get the most out of your camera every time you go out shoot in whatever it is you should get out there practice practice practice I guarantee you the more you practice the more accurate your focus in will become good idea might be to bookmark this video and come back to it so at any point you get confused in the future come back to the video and go over it again and fingers crossed at law make sense right that's it and I'd love to know what focus modes you prefer in whatever given situation that you find yourself in whilst taking pictures leave a comment below thank you very much indeed for watching subscribe if you're not already a subscriber hit that notification bell and our catch you on the next one Cheers

Channel: Gary Gough

Views: 30,742

Keywords: Camera Focus Modes, Auto Focus, Manual Focus, Camera, tutorial, how to, photography, nikon, canon, dslr, focus modes, beginner, how to take pictures, better photos, beginner photographer, photography tips, Nikon AF, photography help, nikon single servo af, nikon 3d AF, nikon dynamic and group af, One Shot Focus, AI Servo, AI Focus, AFS, AFC, AFA, AF-S, AF-C, AF-A, nikon autofocus, Canon autofocus, nikon dynamic, gary gough

Id: gFTPEhIYxKQ

Length: 15min 44sec (944 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 30 2019