Face detection for street photography?

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Face detection has for some time seemed to me a really dumb feature, at least for the kind of shots I usually take. But it occurs to me that it could be great for shooting street from the hip with autofocus. Has anyone tried this? Is it workable?

I put this in the m4/3 forum because I'm headed in that direction with my gear, but this would apply to P&S cameras as well.

 

[JoeV]

Can't speak from personal experience about any u4/3 camera except the G1, whose face detection seems to work reliably only when the subject's face is dead-on facing the camera.

I'm of the opinion that, even with highly automated features, these types of cameras provide the best results when the skill of the photographer is applied directly, such as manually selecting the optimal zone-focus distance; and also another good focus strategy is to center the subject, half-press the shutter to focus lock, then recompose and fire the shutter.

In the case of the G-series their autofocus with the 14-45mm lens is pretty quick, I've not had any real problems; occasionally, in the dark of night out on the street the camera will sometimes want to focus on a distant street light rather than a dimmer subject closer in, but this can be alleviated simply by center focusing and recomposing.

Again, I think the photographer has to use his brain rather than the camera's. But that's coming from having worked with legacy, manual focus cameras for years.

~Joe

 

[Merkin]

I've only used face detection on an 'evil' camera, but I trust it. On fast-moving subjects, it does a better job than I can manually, for sure.

 

[yanidel]

No no and no 😉

What if it doesn't pick up the correct face ? What if it counfound a watermelon with a face ? 😉 ... too random. Hip shooting is already random enough IMO.

 

[Al Kaplan]

Just hire somebody to focus the camera, maybe compose as well. Hell, let him set the shutter speed and the aperture while you're at it. Then you can brag about your fantastic photographs because, after all, you picked out the guy you hired, right?

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Jesus Christ, forget I asked.

 

[palker]

Jeeze thats what i've been missing

Jeeze thats what i've been missing

Just hire somebody to focus the camera, maybe compose as well. Hell, let him set the shutter speed and the aperture while you're at it. Then you can brag about your fantastic photographs because, after all, you picked out the guy you hired, right?

Wasn't there a famous photog who did just as you advice? he was in that BBC Genius of Photography - and his photo is on the back cover (of my edition) - can't remember his name - some American no doubt - fat and lazy - he fabricated the whole scene - talk about Decisive Moment .. anyway he got paid a fortune for doing just as you say.

Good to see RFF is still positive in its outlook - lol.

So to the OP - I'd look forward to some high paid gigs if I were you - and as soon as I get my Panny I'll let you know how my focus works - if at all different to my wife's P&S Canon - which is always funny in a party - when the number of my drinks exceeds the auto ISO settings 🙂 Never mind the colour of my eyes matching the auto WB.

 

[Merkin]

Just hire somebody to focus the camera, maybe compose as well. Hell, let him set the shutter speed and the aperture while you're at it. Then you can brag about your fantastic photographs because, after all, you picked out the guy you hired, right?

It isn't really that different from using a 15mm lens at f/11, so you know that everything you vaguely point the camera at is going to be in the frame and in focus. At that point, photography isn't really much more than pointing the camera and pressing the button. The methods you use to make a photograph are means to an end, the end being the photograph itself. I don't think anyone has ever said "I would really like this photograph, but I bet the lazy s.o.b used aperture priority instead of full manual controls, so I think it sucks."

 

[Al Kaplan]

It's possible to use a 15mm lens and still be quite precise as to what is in the frame and what isn't. Forty years ago I was doing it with a 19mm Canon lens.

The 15mm Heliar exhibits more diffraction than I like at f/11. I mostly shoot in the f/4.5 to f/8 range.

 

[principe azul]

mabelsound,

Good question.

Face detection can't be any more random than multiple-point AF.

Have just set Face Recognition on on the GF1, but specified AF-S/single-point as well. In IA mode, Face Recognition is automatically selected. In A/M modes, AF-S/single is automatically selected, but face focusing appears as an option.

I'm starting to like the idea of the GF1 having 'proper' modes where I know exactly what's going on, and 'idiot' modes like Intelligent Auto where the camera chooses - so I can just hand the camera over to someone without them asking questions, or I can shoot in those modes myself to try out stuff like face recognition for street photography without having to set and reset options all the time.

I'm used to meterless rangefinders, so I can be knowledgeable/anal about the technical side of what goes into making a photograph - focal planes, DOF, blah blah blah. But if the technology's there, why not go out and have a breeze with it, like you say?

This guy doesn't like face detection, but he uses auto ISO - an interesting blog from an experienced photographer.

Sometimes I fuss about with a rangefinder, sometimes I just point and shoot with a rangefinder. Why not? I have no money riding on it.