Learning to use your tracking autofocus is not just a matter of pick up a new camera and point it at a subject. I’ve been using Canon cameras for nature photography for about 15 years and have over time learned how to use what is given to me….starting with the Canon rebel and going to the 5D and 5DII we had a very basic focus system where I had to really learn to just use the middle focus point for most tracking. I picked up a used 1DIV and my life changed….many focus points, quick tracking and relatively little to learn.
Blue Heron in flight at dusk along the St. Lawrence River. Taken with the Canon 5DII and 100-400L
The 5DIII and 5DS had a bit more configurability and for the first time I started using some of the focus groups and changing the configuration for the type of shooting I did. At the time this was great and I didn’t really think it could get much faster or easier…..I was wrong, but it took quite a while to really get used to thinking differently and adjusting to a new camera brand and the way things worked within that system.
With all of these cameras and at the time I had one other major issue with respect to reach. My longest lens was the 100-400 and if I added the 1.4 teleconverter I could get out to 560 mm but at a minimum aperture of f/8 which meant that I could only use the center point for tracking if in that configuration.
Red-tailed Hawk taking off at Cranberry Marsh. Canon 1DIV with 100-400L
Around this time I started exploring mirrorless cameras, starting with the panasonic micro 4/3 which gave some great telephoto range for a small system but was really only suitable for static subjects. I then got a hold of the Sony A7R….fantastic image quality but the same issue for autofocus. This all changed when the A6000 came out, an inexpensive apsc camera with some pretty fantastic autofocus tracking capabilities. It wasn’t perfect but it was very fast and let you track across a much bigger proportion of the image than almost anything else at the time. This system was pretty easily fooled by complex backgrounds and would sometimes back focus and lose the subject when you left it to do all the work by itself. The one thing I did find was that it could get a subject and follow it significantly faster than anything else I had used at that time.
Brown pelican flying over my kayak in the everglades. Sony A6000 with 70-200 F4.
Things have only gotten better. While all the camera companies have made improvements in autofocus over the last 10 years or so, none have made the quantum leaps that Sony has. To be fair, they did have a long way to go at first to just catch up to Canon and Nikon but once they did they have continued to improve with each new camera in pretty substantial ways.
At this time I have the A7RII and the A7III. The former was pretty close in capabilities with the A6000 I mentioned above, with a few software improvements but it will still lose the subject at inconvenient times and does not work as well in lower light. The A7III however is just another level again.
Ring billed gull with breaking waves. A7III and 100-400GM.
When this camera came out it was shortly after the A9 which I have never had a chance to really work with in the field but is a technical marvel. The A7III was kind of the poor persons A9 but for two grand it really is much more camera than I have ever bought anywhere near this price point. When it came out, I found it had really improved on the software to the point that just leaving it in all points focus I almost never lost a subject. At that time choosing a subject to track was ok, but not great. Sony came out with the latest firmware update which now makes it so that picking a bird out of a small flock and tracking that one bird is now pretty easy.
This now comes back to my learning curve. Every improvement and change in these focus systems means I need to learn new techniques and adjust the way I think about getting the image. It takes time to get good at using any of these new capabilities just as it did when I first started using aiServo with a center point on my original 5D or rebel.
Osprey landing in Sparkleberry Swamp, taken from kayak with Sony A7RII and 100-400 with 1.4 teleconverter.
That was a rather long winded way of getting to the point which is that as good as these cameras have gotten, in all cases you still need to spend the time to learn the camera you have to get the best out of tracking focus for nature photography. I love the new features and things are much easier now, but to capture that swallow diving for a bug on the surface you have to know your camera and lens. It needs to become second nature, even if you switch between brands as I do. To do this I spend a lot of time shooting birds that I will likely never print or show anyone else. I try to capture gulls and terns outside our house diving and twisting to see if I can anticipate a moment….and often miss over and over again until I finally get the feel for the birds movement and how to keep my lens on it throughout.
On Hunting Island beach with the Canon 5DS and 500mm f/4 II. Shooting tri-colored heron and snowy egret fishing as the tide goes out.
The most humbling lesson I have learned in that last few years was just after I had made a huge purchase. I had been looking to buy a big telephoto for many years and had finally saved up to get the Canon 500 f/4 II. I was so eager to show how great of shots I was going to get. The first month or so was frustrating. I could get great static shots, amazing details. I found that my in flight shots were very inconsistent and that I was having a lot of trouble keeping a steady view on the subject. It turns out it wasn’t the weight….I was used to using a sigma 120-300 f2.8 at the time which might have been a bit heavier. Turns out it was the length. It took me a good month to get used to keeping that lens on subject and keeping it smooth while tracking. I had to learn it all again when I added the teleconverter to that combo.
Tri-colored Heron fishing as the tide roles out on Hunting Island, SC. Canon 5DS and 500 f/4 II with 1.4 teleconverter
Along with that lesson, I have also learned that before I make a decision about how good a camera or lens is for tracking subjects and getting the shot I want I need to remember that it may not be better or as good as what I am used to immediately. I need to remember to not fully discount it until I have really used it for usually a few thousand shots.
Osprey taking off along the Niagara River. Sony A7III with 200-600G