Wildlife Autofocus Settings

Just curious about which AF Zone settings wildlife photographers use on a Canon 5D MK 4 (single-point spot AF, single point AF, AF point expansion, AF point expansion, zone AF or large zone AF). If the animal is stationary, my tendency is to use the single-point spot or single point AF to make sure the animal’s closest eye is razor sharp. That comes at a price, though, because as soon as it moves it becomes nearly impossible to keep in focus. So, what setting do others use with a stationary animal vs. a moving animal? If you use AF point expansion or wider, are you more likely to lose your critical focus, or do you just hope that a higher f stop will keep a broader area sharp (that’s not always feasible in low-light conditions). Bottom line, if you see a stationary elk or a running elk, what AF zone settings do you use? Thanks in advance!

I am Nikonian and really do not know how Canon AF system works in practice. I suppose, in principle, both brands the same.

For me, only shoot BIF. AFC mode, Single point for big bird like seagulls, 4point group for small bird.

Further, I set M mode auto ISO, min. speed, max. ISO acceptable depending body used. This setting allows me to play with aperture and speed according to site condition.

 

Hope this helps.

You must have a really trained eye to use single point for flying birds. That would be a challenge. Will check my camera to see about auto ISO; never tried that. Thanks for the advice, Blurrist!

in pre-AF days, you had to pre-focus and hope the bird would fly into the DoF of the settings.