The key to success with any photo is making sure the subject is in focus. With this in mind, I decided to do a little research on some of my autofocus settings and found an amazing little setting called AI Servo on my Canon DSLR.
I typically use the One Shot Autofocus setting on my camera, which allows you to press the shutter button halfway, focus on your subject and hold that focus at that moment until you press the shutter release the rest of the way. The only problem is if your subject moves, your focus will not compensate for that movement.
But with the AI Servo setting, it can adjust the focus based on your subject. The name is derived from the use of Artificial Intelligence used to predict the speed and distance of the moving subject. It greatly increases your chance of getting a sharp image when your target is moving.
So I thought, let’s test this bugger out, and who better to do it on than Bailey. I had her start in the same spot while I focused my camera on her face, and then called her to come toward me, at which point I would press the shutter button all the way. (I did not have my camera set to shutter priority, because I usually don’t and wanted to test this on settings I typically use, which is manual or aperture priority, ISO 200, and for this I used a 50 mm prime lens.)
I used the One Shot Autofocus for the above photo, and you can see that once I called B to come and I took the photo, she was out of focus.
Then I switched over to AI Servo (this being my first time) and did the same thing, focusing on her face, called her to come and quickly took the photo. Look how much more in focus it is. Granted, it’s not perfect, but this is a first try people!
On a technical note, in One Shot AF, the in-focus indicator blinks when the subject can’t be focused, but it lights up when focus has locked, as opposed to no in-focus indicator light appearing when the subject is being successfully tracked in AI Servo AF.
Good job B. Here’s your reward…wait…wait…wait…OK, take it!
GULP.
I have more to learn with this setting, but it’s worth checking out in my opinion. Hope you enjoyed!
