Eye autofocus tracking
Eye AF improves portrait hit rate by prioritizing pupil/eye detail in motion and shallow depth scenarios.
Essential Topic
Advanced Focus (Eye AF, Peaking, Back-Button)
Advanced focus techniques improve keeper rate dramatically in portraits, sports, and hybrid manual workflows.
Core Ideas
Focus peaking
Peaking overlays highlight in-focus edges, useful for manual lenses and deliberate focus pulls.
Back-button focus
Separating focus activation from shutter release gives better timing control in changing scenes.
Practical Starting Points
Moving portrait subject
AF-C + Eye AF + back-button focus
Maintains lock while allowing independent shutter timing.
Manual lens video pull
Focus peaking + magnified assist
Improves precision and repeatability for manual focus transitions.
Action bursts
Tracking AF + burst + pre-focus position
Combines predictive behavior with timing safety.
Common Mistakes
- Relying on eye AF without checking focus priority subject selection.
- Using back-button focus but forgetting shutter no longer refocuses.
- Over-trusting peaking in very low-contrast scenes.
Photo Playground
Advanced Focus (Eye AF, Peaking, Back-Button) Visual Practice
Refresh to test your eye on new random scenes while applying this guide's concepts.
Reference
Start by observing tone, contrast, and framing.
original
Monochrome Study
Useful for seeing light and composition without color.
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Atmospheric Variation
Simulate mood change and evaluate subject clarity.
?blur=2Practice Drill
Photograph a moving subject using eye AF and back-button focus, then compare keeper rate to default shutter-AF setup.