Ben Rubinstein
pro member
I've always found the 5D's focus in low light to be sluggish. It was one of the main reasons I went back to the 24-70L over the slower 24-105L, I needed all the speed I can get. I'm a wedding photographer and for the dances and those split second candid moments I need every millisecond I can lay my hands on. Unfortunatly I never noticed that my 1Ds which I used prior to the 5D was particularly faster, not in comparison to the lightening fast D2X for example.
I've known for a while that it was the AF assist that was slowing the focus down. I shoot with a flash constantly on camera, for main light or more often for fill. I've toyed with the idea of disabling the AF assist with its horribly slow (or so it seems when shooting action!) - activate/start focus/achieve focus/activate to check focus/allow shutter to release - workflow. For the off center points you can just forget it!
However I've been wary to switch it off 'in the field' being worried about what it would do to my focus in the real world, testing is fine but you cannot afford to test mid dance at a wedding!
Then I went to a wedding as a guest not as a shooter, first time in 3 years! The photographer there was shooting a 5D with a Metz hammerhead and was achieving focus without any difficulty. So last night at a wedding I switched off the assist and went for it. WOW, significant increase in speed and subsequent far more accurate focus with moving subjects as well as not losing shots as the camera goes through the whole routine of AF assist.
So from now on the assist is off unless in very low light, EV 5 or less, in a regular wedding hall with the lights on (admittedly a rare occurence these days!) or even in your own living room, you might find that the 5D is faster than you gave it credit for!
I've known for a while that it was the AF assist that was slowing the focus down. I shoot with a flash constantly on camera, for main light or more often for fill. I've toyed with the idea of disabling the AF assist with its horribly slow (or so it seems when shooting action!) - activate/start focus/achieve focus/activate to check focus/allow shutter to release - workflow. For the off center points you can just forget it!
However I've been wary to switch it off 'in the field' being worried about what it would do to my focus in the real world, testing is fine but you cannot afford to test mid dance at a wedding!
Then I went to a wedding as a guest not as a shooter, first time in 3 years! The photographer there was shooting a 5D with a Metz hammerhead and was achieving focus without any difficulty. So last night at a wedding I switched off the assist and went for it. WOW, significant increase in speed and subsequent far more accurate focus with moving subjects as well as not losing shots as the camera goes through the whole routine of AF assist.
So from now on the assist is off unless in very low light, EV 5 or less, in a regular wedding hall with the lights on (admittedly a rare occurence these days!) or even in your own living room, you might find that the 5D is faster than you gave it credit for!