Tracking playing dogs with a D850

[afx]

Came to the D850 from a D750.

I wonder what AF field settings to use for playing dogs. Single or D9 (what I used on the D750) is definitely too small. This is very fast-paced action with quite erratic movements.
It is already hard to just maintain a decent framing.
 
What are your experiences for that type of subjects?

thx
afx

[golunvolo]

Hi Andreas, so happy to see you again.
  I have the d500 arranged so the back af-on is either d5 or 3d tracking; pressing the joystick gives me group; the 2 front function are single point and auto-everything. I did this configuration to try to compare the different ways to use it but is still going the same because it is just convenient. Configure it in a way that makes sense to you and you´ll be able to test different options on the fly.

     Personally, I´ll use 3D tracking, group af and d5 for erratic moving dogs.

    I hope it helps

 

[Ilkka Nissilä]

Came to the D850 from a D750.

I wonder what AF field settings to use for playing dogs. Single or D9 (what I used on the D750) is definitely too small. This is very fast-paced action with quite erratic movements.
It is already hard to just maintain a decent framing.
 
What are your experiences for that type of subjects?

I would recommend 9-point or 25-point dynamic for that type of subject and try to maintain the selected primary point over the subject's eye as much of the time as possible. The larger the number of points in dynamic area the further the primary point can go while focus is still maintained but it can be that this increases the uncertainty in what part of the subject is being focused. I never use the larger numbers (than 25). 25 works pretty well for fast action and 9 points for general use (but requires greater precision from the user).

If you have enough depth of field that you can have the dog's nose and the eyes within the depth of field, you can also use group-area AF, but be aware that it has built-in closest-subject priority. It can work well for fast-moving subjects in low light and at longer distances. When the subject is close to frame-filling then dynamic area works better because it allows prioritisation of focus on an area which is not the closest part of the subject (such as the eye).

If the dog's color differs greatly from the background, you could also use 3D tracking.

[MFloyd]

3D or Auto are working quite well for doggies.

[afx]

3D or Auto are working quite well for doggies.

Hmm,
so far my experiments seem to indicate a much lower keeper rate than with group mode.

cheers
afx