MikeAUS
Well-known
I have a few questions about this film camera. Specifically the RT mode and auto focus. My main question would relate to taking a picture of someone walking, maybe running. In this case in RT mode, I understand servo AF (tracking) is disabled in RT mode but with .008 s reaction time. Is it possible to get an in focus shot easily of someone walking towards you in RT mode? Even if say lens is at f2.8. Or is the tracking mode enabled a better option (but you give up the quick response of RT). Or is it not possible to track moving person accurately. Thanks.
peteography
AAAAARGH MOTHERLAND
Having owned an RT bear in mind that it is of a much older era. There are very few focus points - though it does focus relatively quickly. I've not used it much in low light though. I'd say its not the best for tracking subjects, better for portraits as you can really nail the moment of exposure - though an RF might be better for such things.
MikeAUS
Well-known
I thought it might be a stretch for it to focus on a walking person accurately. Thanks for feedback.
Focus tracking is disabled in RT mode but available in its normal mode like any other early EOS (Eg. the 630 the RT is based on). When you have locked focus, in "RT" mode, the EOS RT will commence the exposure faster than any other period SLR except a EOS-1NRS (which will beat it by a couple of milliseconds, according to Canon). But there are likely other cameras that will lock the autofocus faster, even if they don't respond as quick to the button.
The RT was discussed recently in the following thread.
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144796
Cheers
Brett
The RT was discussed recently in the following thread.
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144796
Cheers
Brett
MikeAUS
Well-known
Thanks Brett, I see you did a little bit on the RT in that thread. It looks to me like the RT is no good focus wise if the subject is moving?
santino
FSU gear head
AF is really bad but it has a split image screen and is really fast in operation. It's also rock solid and the price is nice!
Hi Mike,
I am probably not the best person to comment on that, because focus tracking is something I don't tend to use very often at all. I have tried it once or twice with a moving car with my 630/600 (the RT is essentially a modified 630; same shutter, same flash interface, motor drive, 630 custom functions plus a few more, etc.). With cars on a closed circuit (Baskerville, near Hobart) it didn't fare too well at all, as they were approaching directly towards me on the main straight doing about 130-180 km/h. But on the street I got some shots of a car travelling at 60 km/h which were in focus (towards, and past me, shot from the other side of a suburban side street).
Whilst my familiarity with the focus tracking function is quite limited, on the basis of it, I would have thought that, for example, tracking a person walking towards you wouldn't be a very big ask at all (assuming, of course, they are more than just a few feet away, from, say, six feet or so there's not a lot of time or depth of field available). And it will naturally depend on the light levels involved too, as well as the lens, as some EOS lenses are themselves faster than others in my experience.
I don't do an awful lot of photography involving moving subjects, but when I do, I will often pre-focus and shoot when the subject is at the focus point. But I use manual focus cameras 95% of the time, anyway, and if you're to have a hope of getting these kinds of shots with Eg. a Rolleiflex you have no other option. If you do this with an RT in "RT" mode, the biggest challenge, in my experience, is not hitting the button too early, as, if one anticipates the fraction of a second delay most SLRs experience due to mirror retracting etc. you'll shoot too soon, in practice an 8 millisecond lag doesn't exist for most peoples' reflex ability and you can effectively shoot at the instant you want the shot, not just prior. On the other hand this is wonderful for tasks such as portraiture involving flash imaging. Set the body to "RT" and the flash to second curtain sync, and even the worst serial blinkers can't beat it, by the time they've reacted, the exposure has ended. I love it for that and of course you get visual confirmation the flash has actually fired which is nice.
I am just across the pond in Tasmania Mike, so if you will find yourself near Hobart in the near future, there's an open invitation to run a roll through my own RT, to help you decide for yourself.
Cheers,
Brett
Incidentally, I think a part of the reason focus tracking is not available in RT mode is because one of the things that makes the response time to the button so scintallating is that the lens aperture is also stopped down as soon as focus is locked. When the button is depressed literally the only operation the mechanism has to do is actuate the shutter. But of course with a contrast detection focus system when the lens is stopped down it's not going to perform very well, if at all, hence focus tracking (or "AI Servo" in Canon speak) is inherently incompatible with "RT" mode, and not available.
Cheers
Brett
Cheers
Brett