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E-M1 CAF compared to D800 question

Started Aug 4, 2015 | Discussions thread
whumber
whumber Veteran Member • Posts: 4,371
Re: E-M1 CAF compared to D800 question
1

Great summary, just two points to add.  First, like Photo Pete said the E-M1 is quite decent at tracking non-accelerating subjects in good light.  Once the light level drops however, the C-AF becomes much less reliable.  Second is that the initial focus acquisition time in C-AF mode is quite long.  I was shooting a road bike stage race this weekend and brought the E-M1/40-150 along with my 1DX/70-200 and shot them side-by-side in a few situations.  The E-M1 did pretty well in a few scenarios that fit the bright light/non-accelerating/plenty of time to lock focus requirements.  Often times, however, the E-M1 struggled mostly due to the long focus acquisition time.

At one point I was camped out on a steep downhill section leading into the finishing straight.  The racers would pop out from around a corner at ~50mph and quickly blast by me.  The 1DX had no trouble locking focus pretty much instantaneously and tracking them even at f/2.8.  I tried a few times with the E-M1 but because the initial focus acquisition time is so long, I wasn't able to get even a single in focus shot using C-AF.

Overall though, the E-M1 is still pretty decent at C-AF as long as you have plenty of time to lock focus, good light, and a non-accelerating target.

 whumber's gear list:whumber's gear list
Fujifilm X-T1 Olympus OM-D E-M1X Olympus E-M1 III OM-1 Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm F2.8 Macro +10 more
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