Focusing Moving object

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kingmillo

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I am a RF newbee having just converted from Japanese DSLR. Still cant believe i own a Leica after drooling for years. Hope you guys can share tips on focusing a moving object. Do you pre-set the distance then snap when object in focus or you focus along with the object? I m not talking about shooting formula 1. Just street people or buses. And please dont tell me to go back to DSLR.
 
kingmillo said:
I am a RF newbee having just converted from Japanese DSLR. Still cant believe i own a Leica after drooling for years. Hope you guys can share tips on focusing a moving object. Do you pre-set the distance then snap when object in focus or you focus along with the object? I m not talking about shooting formula 1. Just street people or buses. And please dont tell me to go back to DSLR.
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to be honest...i mix and match both of those techniques depending on my mood/laziness level that particular day. Oh and congrats and welcome.
 
I think the zone style of focus works best. Since most movement is not repeatable, and there is no way to hire a focus puller -:). Honestly, manual focus for movement that is not repeatable is lucky at best. You could always use the hyperfocal distance of your kit as well.
 
Generally because it is so ridiculously bright out here in Australia, I have to be stopped down to at least f4 or f5.6. In which case zone focussing does the trick. If I know something is going to move within a certain distance of me, I focus at that distance, compose, and wait.
 
tmfabian said:
to be honest...i mix and match both of those techniques depending on my mood/laziness level that particular day. Oh and congrats and welcome.
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Thank you Thomas, for your always positive encouragement. You have been a great contributor. If you also mix and match i guess i am not as wrong as i thought.
 
sonofdanang said:
Zone/scale and hyperF work fine as long as you are willing to accommodate the transitions of sharpness depending on aperture and where you point the camera and what planar surfaces with what textures extend away from you into the plane of focus and then into the background. Of course, as the aperture grows larger, so must your technique for selective focus. As these are aesthetic considerations, I leave them to you.

Manual focus for movement is a function of practice. Go stand in the street, start at infinity, and track moving objects - cars are a good start. Of course, keeping the RF patch on a high enough division of visual contrast while maintaining some kind of desired composition is a challenge, but again, practice, practice, practice. My father, a PJ, used to do that in idle moments - track something with focus. I do it for a long time with each new lens. When you are doing it without thinking, it is referred to as deformation professional (a la Francais).

Enjoy

Enjoy.
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Forgive my ignorance of the term. Zone/scale hyperfocal I am assuming u mean focusing range with certain apperture. I feel sometimes I am forced to shoot at f4 or smaller to get more leeway/forgiving in focusing. Especially street photo where we have to be snappy. However, I am frustrated at shooting my kids indoor with limited lighting that i have to use f2 and, to make it worse, 1/30 . Even shooting them eating becomes a real battle. I am just wondering if u guys also have same problem or i am missing a killer focusing technique.

Thank you for the tips
 
This was an issue that I raised in one of the threads today and there is no way around it.

Get a basic DSLR.
 
sfokevin said:
Here is a couple good descriptions laying out the theory of Zone & Hyperfocal Focusing:

http://www.markushartel.com/tutorials/camera-related/zone-focusing.html
http://www.markushartel.com/tutorials/camera-related/infinity-vs-hyperfocal-distanc.html
http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/marine/569/rusrngfdrs/focusing.html
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Much thanks sfokevin for the link.
As in my conviction, we are forced to use small aperture or even hyperfocal to have the ease of focusing. But how about at night though? Do you guys sacrifice the iso so you can still use f4 or smaller? I am refering to street shots not portrait or stills.
 
Zone focusing with my M6TTL and Summicron 35/2 ASPH. Here's my greyhound running towards me in the snow:

original.jpg


original.jpg
 
I generally anticipate where the photo will happen and focus there, and then wait for something to happen. Doesn't work with energetic kids though, for them you need an autofocus camera and/or medication.

Also, remember you can decide to use a smallish aperture and a slow shutter speed. This will give you greater depth of field and some movement blur at the same time. This works especially well with slower film.
 
marke said:
Zone focusing with my M6TTL and Summicron 35/2 ASPH. Here's my greyhound running towards me in the snow:
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Those are really great shots. I never thought possible to shoot fast moving greyhound on RF. But now I got it. Thank you thank you very much for the inspiration.
 
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