8 Mar, 2014
by KIKI
Author:
KIKI
Gear - Does it make sense to switch brands because of a faulty AF system?

 

 

NO!

 

It doesn't make sense because it's only one thing that seriously bugs me. The advantages Canon gives me still outweigh a switch to Nikon. And there's also the risk that some things at Nikon appear that are even worse to me. You always find a way to work around a problem. On my trip in autumn on which I shot 10.000 images I only used the Center AF point every single time (well, I shot some frames to confirm that 61-Point mode is unreliable). Sounds crazy? It's not and I tell you why. To be honest I think I probably got more shots the way I wanted them instead of the off focus ones I would have got with Canon's inferior AF system anyway, even if Auto mode worked alright. Canon neiter has 3D tracking nor face recognition so every time I take a portrait at wide apertures I would get a sharp nose and blurry eyes because the Canons can't focus on the eyes by themselves, they still idiotically choose the closest subject in the frame and that's the nose tip. Boo! By using the Center AF point and getting used to it you become pretty fast with reframing. So as terrible as this AF problem is objectively, I found my way to deal with it. And with many of my shots shots much more likely the way I wanted focus-wise instead of the usual hit and miss with the inferior Canon AF (for portraits at least). Easy!

 

Still, I'd love to rely on the 61-Point system from time to time, especially with landscape shots where you got lots of points you would be ok with if the AF system picked them. But unfortunately until Canon fixes this issue that not just me considers serious, the Auto AF is totally unreliable especially when used with lenses wide open.

 

See how this story goes on, will keep you posted.

 

KIKI

 

 

28 Jan, 2014
by KIKI
Author:
KIKI
Photography - Canon, can you hear me?

 

Look, Canon, this is what the Autofocus does in my 5D Mark III, your best and highest resolving camera for people and nature shots. Does this look out of focus only to me?

 

 

But that's not the whole story. I bought the camera nearly a year ago and it has been to Canon Maerz Berlin, to Okam in Zwenkau and to Canon Germany in Krefeld, too. Only Maerz in Berlin admitted after the second time the camera had been in for adjustment it had a defect and they didn't know how to fix it. The 5D has been away for over two month in total.

 

I took the 5D on a dedicated two and a half month photo trip that brought me to ten different countries. I shot over 10.000 photos with it during that time. But now comes the trick, I only used the Single Center AF point to focus, reframing every of those 10.000 shots. 61-point AF mode would have been totally unreliable and would potentially have ruined every single of my unique shots from this amazing trip through Poland, Ukraine, Moscow, Kyrgyzstan, China, Hongkong, Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar. Not so great!

 

How do we get together about this?

 

KIKI

 

 

10 Jan, 2014
by KIKI
Author:
KIKI
Photography - Problems with equipment

 

Who may be able to help me with my Canon 5D III, it's been to Foto Maerz in Berlin twice, to Okam in Zwenkau and to Canon Germany, Krefeld, it still has an autofocus error, but only Maerz is seeing it and told me they have no clue what to do. It's so critical that I'm only using the camera's center focus point for the last 15.000 images instead of relying on it's "sophisticated" 61-point auto mode. And I don't really know what to do ...

 

This is the reference image ...

 

 

This is what I get using center point (needs calibration, too, it's not spot on) ...

 

 

But this is what I get using its auto mode ...

 

 

Any help appreciated!

 

KIKI