Focussing Technique
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Soldato
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Also be interested to know how the pro's do it 
Caporegime
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Compose the shot on your head.
Pick focus point.
Land focus point on what you want to be in focus.
Shoot.
Focus and recompose is old and what people used to do because you used to only get single focus point, and manual focus lenses's centre focus peek is only at the centre. Now with like 61 points focusing you don't need to do that anymore.
Pick focus point.
Land focus point on what you want to be in focus.
Shoot.
Focus and recompose is old and what people used to do because you used to only get single focus point, and manual focus lenses's centre focus peek is only at the centre. Now with like 61 points focusing you don't need to do that anymore.
Personally I just use a focus point for what I want in focus and use it. It's crazy enough to work 
As Ray says, you frame your photo how you want it, then select the focus point. Some times it's not as straight forward if I'm in a gig and the band are bouncing all over the place, but you generally get a feel for what's going to happen, especially if you know what the band are playing.
As Ray says, you frame your photo how you want it, then select the focus point. Some times it's not as straight forward if I'm in a gig and the band are bouncing all over the place, but you generally get a feel for what's going to happen, especially if you know what the band are playing.
Exactly this. I used to focus & recompose but now move the focus point around as required. The joystick on the back is essential for this in my view and the ability of some bodies to store different focus settings/points for landscape and portrait orientiation is also a godsend.
As for the number of focus points, I do the above with my 7D and find the 19 points are more than adequate for 95% of shots, but now and then I can't quite get where I want to be and have to recompose very slightly but I still get as close as I can first. I also have an old 40D and find the 9 points very painful when moving the focus point around - it's one reason why my next body is going to be a 5D3 rather than a 6D - I'm not going backwards in terms of AF from my 7D.
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That's all well and good if you've got the time, but what about when you're shooting a wedding, as you do.. You haven't got time to change the focus point for each photo, so in faster-paced scenarios?
Focus/recompose takes just as much time as moving the focus point, if not more.
I can't say I ever had an issue. I always knew where my focus point was, so if needed I'm already moving it to where I want it in the frame as I'm bringing the camera up to my eye.
Not enough focus points on the 5d mkii to avoid focus and recompose! Yes it probably costs me the occasional shot at large apertures but no more than my shaky hands or other flaws in my technique! If I had more points I'd do it less.
Caporegime
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You turn the wheel, before the camera is even to your eye.
I use back button focusing because a lot of what I photograph is moving (wildlife) and I tend to have AI servo mode (Canon) on all the time.
Basically you can set your buttons up in the menus so you use the AF button on the back of the camera (with the right thumb) and the shutter button only controls metering and the shutter functions. It allows me to refocus manually (or recompose and refocus manually) if needs be without the AF engaging.
Basically you can set your buttons up in the menus so you use the AF button on the back of the camera (with the right thumb) and the shutter button only controls metering and the shutter functions. It allows me to refocus manually (or recompose and refocus manually) if needs be without the AF engaging.
Man of Honour
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After some fiddling around to find a good habit, I have found that for hand held shots off the tripod then using auto focus using center focus point, lock then recompose works well.
For moving subjects then I use the same method but with continuous focus mode selected.
For tripod work, then i'd select the focus point or use manual.
For moving subjects then I use the same method but with continuous focus mode selected.
For tripod work, then i'd select the focus point or use manual.
Always select the closest focus point and change composition to point is exactly on indeed target (this can necessitate a crop in processing depending on available points). Never focus and recompose from at wide apertures, terrible technique from the 1980s when there was only one focus point in the dead center.
Moving the focus points are is quick, and you can preselects the most likely candidates (top left and top right for example) and you can use wrap around to go between the 2 extremes with 2 clicks.
Moving the focus points are is quick, and you can preselects the most likely candidates (top left and top right for example) and you can use wrap around to go between the 2 extremes with 2 clicks.
Man of Honour
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Not sure I quite understand (sorry for hijack op), does this mean i'm doing it wrong?
Unless you're shooting at f1.8 or faster on full frame it doesn't really matter too much because rarely do lenses have such dodgy planes of focus that it'll throw stuff out of focus. Basically the point is that lenses don't all have focus planes that run consistent to the field of view (so a lens might be focused at 2m in the centre of the frame but 2.03m in the corners) so if you focus and recompose there's no guarantee that what you originally focused on in the center is still in focus when you recompose and it's in the corner.
In reality, if you are using a narrow aperture or your subject is some distance away, you are unlikely to see issues using by recomposing. The effect gets worse as you use a wider aperture and/or the subject is closer.
Also at particularly wide angles, the wide field of view means that the act of recomposing itself can move the subject much further away from the lens.
It's also worse if your subject is moving, as they are likely to have moved out of focus in the time it takes to recompose.
I often have to do some recomposition as the 60D has 9 focus points...
On a mostly unrelated note I was using the canon 50mm f/1.4 on saturday at wide apertures and selecting focus point on still subjects about 10-12m away, and not recomposing and was still getting shots out of focus. I'm not normally one to proclaim my lenses are back/front focussing but the actual focus seemed to be about a metre closer than the point I actually focussed on with everything else being still
, and no micro adjustment option on the 60D...I think it is less to do with bad lenses and more to do with plane (ho ho) old physics. The plane of focus is just that.. a plane - so when you rotate the camera you are rotating the plane. When you recompose, the central point of that plane is still at the original distance, but that now needs to be moved closer to account for the fact that the plane on which the subject lies is now closer to the lens than it was before.
example of the plane of focus - but you have to use your imagination for the original plane of focus...
http://www.visual-vacations.com/Photography/focus-recompose_sucks.htm
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Man of Honour
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Ok makes sense given the way you have both explained that. I'll have to keep an eye out for that so i can see the effect myself.