Autofocus Mode

Background

As mentioned in previous pages, the Infinity setting locks the focus at infinity. Thus, only autofocus and Close-Up will actually activate the autofocus capability of the lens. The autofocus system has two modes, Continuous and Single, which operates in both the A-REC mode and the M-REC.

Under the Continuous mode, the camera continually adjusts focus, and, as a result, you will hear noise from the lens unit. Once the shutter release button is pressed halfway, focus is locked. Under the Single mode, camera focuses only if the shutter release button is pressed halfway down, and then focus is locked. So, what are the differences?

AF mode Pros Cons
Continuous Minimize focusing time. There is a time lag between pressing the shutter release button and recording the image. At least, the camera has to focus first. Therefore, if the camera is in the Continuous mode, focusing time is minimized because the camera will focus continually. You cam take photographs even though the camera is not in focus. Thus, in the Continuous mode, always check the the AF indicator to make sure the camera is focused before taking a photograph. Check here for the details.
Single Since the camera is not continually adjusting focus, the focus motor is not in operation until the shutter release button is pressed. This saves batteries. Under the Single mode, photographs can only be taken when the camera is focused, providing us with a more secure way of photo taking. Because the camera starts its focusing activity only when the shutter release button is pressed halfway down, there will be a time lag between pressing the button and the camera being focused. As a result, your camera may not react fast enough.

A-REC and M-REC

In A-REC and M-REC, the camera is in the Continuous mode if the LCD monitor is on; otherwise, the camera is in the Single mode if the LCD monitor is off. You can use the MONITOR button, shown below, to turn the LCD monitor on or off:

The MONITOR Button

M-REC Only

In the M-REC mode, we can instruct the camera to stay in the Single mode even though the LCD monitor is on. Note that when the LCD monitor is off, only the Single mode can be used. To activate the Single mode when the LCD monitor is on, follow the procedure below:

  1. In M-REC press the MENU button twice to enter the second M-REC menu. The USER SETTING menu appears (below left). Then, press the down arrow of the multi-selector twice to highlight FOCUS (below right).

  2. Press the right arrow of the multi-selector to select this option. Four options appear (below left). Because we need to modify the setting of the autofocus mode, we need to press the down arrow to highlight Auto-Focus Mode (below right).

  3. Press the right arrow of the multi-selector to enter the submenu of Auto-Focus Mode and a new submenu appears (below left). This submenu contains two items: Continuous AF and Single AF. To choose the Continuous mode, press the right arrow of the multi-selector. To choose the Single mode, press the down arrow to highlight Single AF (below right) and then press the right arrow to select it.

  4. Once the above steps complete, press the MENU button to return to the M-REC shooting mode.

    Note that once this option is chosen, it will stay there even after turning off the camera. Therefore, you need to go through the above procedure again to reverse the setting..