F5 Autofocus Speed for Wildlife

[brian_small]

Moose Peterson has written about (both in his newsletter and on his website) about changing a setting in the F5 that will increase autofocus speed by 50%. The setting can only be changed by using the Nikon Software that is purchased seperately from the F5. Is anyone familiar with this or has anyone done it and used the updated camera settings in the field. If so, what kind of results have you seen with wildlife (and particularly bird) photos? Many thanks.

[ed_kaar]

Brian, I use the F5 with a 500/4 AFS and have made the software

changes you reference (Priority for Dynamic AF Mode = Horizontal). I

haven't noticed a significant improvement when using only the 500/4

and that may be because it's so fast anyway I can't tell the

difference. However I have found an improvement when using the TC 14E

AF converter with the 500/4 particularly on target acquisition of

birds in flight and maintaining focus lock when they cross a

background of minimal contrast. Whether it's a 50% improvement is hard

to say but it is obvious and IMHO a beneficial change because I do

use the 14E extensively.