[obol] auto focus cameras

[Dennis P. Vroman]

Having a Kodak digital camera (not one of the professional ones), I can say that even it doesn't obtain the "Kodak moments" with all photos either.  It's an auto focus and trying to get it to focus on that little bird in back of and surrounded by dominate foreground vegetation is pretty tough to accomplish.

Any suggestions on this Owen?  ...other than a better camera that is.

Dennis






  The general rule is that autofocus is faster and more accurate than manual focus, and that explains why every camera model on the store shelves has it.  


  There are times, though, when autofocus defeats us.  When manual focus works better.  Such as when we are shooting through a fence, or through vegetation, etc. That explains why high-end equipment has manual focus as an option or an override.  


  There are scarce details as to why autofocus didn't work in this instance.  It's said that the SLR "focused instead of taking photos during the couple of seconds the bird was in front of him" -- which I suppose means that while the camera was autofocusing the shutter was locked out.  The "SLR" apparently is set to focus first, then shoot.  That's not a good setup for that particular application.  


  The most successful "photo" to date that I know of is from that video, where the camera was turned on and constantly running.  No start-up lag, no waiting for the camera to focus.  


  The take-away lesson, perhaps, is that this was not a Kodak moment.  More like a Canon or Nikon moment, set to high ISO and infinity focus, camera always on.  Carry extra batteries.  Twirl and shoot ...........


  oschmidt at att.net
  Friday, January 12, 2007








  On Jan 12, 2007, at 11:31 AM, Tom Crabtree wrote:


    Acerbic comments aside, having just read everything that is posted on the Auburn website, this is an awfully encouraging series of reports with pretty compelling sight records.  Having just returned from vacation with a memory stick of photos that are in perfect focus of some foliage in the foreground and a very blurry bird behind, I can empathize with the unfocused shots that “auto focus” lenses can provide.  I am guessing that some of the longer lenses have greater “sweet spots” for focusing on something in the middle where this is less of a problem.  Owen, my photo-technical guru, please feel free to weigh in on this topic.



    Tom Crabtree

    Balmy (14 degree) Bend




----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    From: obol-bounces at lists.oregonstate.edu [mailto:obol-bounces at lists.oregonstate.edu] On Behalf Of Jeff Gilligan
    Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 10:44 AM
    To: OBOL
    Subject: [obol] Ivory-billed Woodpecker "information"




    The following was sent to me by an friend who lives out of state.  I deleted his identity since his comments are a bit acerbic,

    Jeff Gilligan




    To: Jeff Gilligan <jeffgill at teleport.com>
    Conversation: More rampant stringing
    Subject: More rampant stringing

    http://www.auburn.edu/academic/science_math/cosam/departments/biology/faculty/webpages/hill/ivorybill/Updates.html
     
    The SEC may be good at football but not at birding. I love the fact that the camera was alledgedly focusing just before the bird took off. Still I hope these guys prove me wrong.
     


    ------ End of Forwarded Message

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