Focus Help!

Shot this afternoon. Disappoited to get home, see it on my screen & find I missed the bird!
K7, 55-300. ISO400, 1/1000th. @ f11.
Manual focus.


[IMG]http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af340/rogerhlane/Yellowhammeretc011sharp_filtered.jpg[/IMG]

How can I target the focus area where I want it & not on any old nearby twig!!

C&C please.

Coker.

Well I use centre AF point point it at what I want to focus on and after AFing recompose.

But I have to say it's difficult to do on a scene where there are twigs all over the place.

I would be tempted to go manual focus on that situation and bracket a couple of shots slightly front focussed and slightly back focussed jsut in case. Especially at narrow DOFs

He's already using 'Manual Focus' !!

In which case it's just down to eye sight !?

Looks like it. Focus bracketing then.

Use MF but confirm the focus by looking at the green light.
You have to be very precise... the DOF at 300mm is tiny.

A KPS 1.3x Magnifier helps.

O.K., folks!

In my "defence"....

Manual focus.
pentax x1.2 eyecup fitted, although I've never really got on with it.
Green hexagon confirmed focus.
f11 used to maximise DOF.

Can I define more precisely on what, in the viewfinder, I am actually focusing?

Thanks for constructive, helpful comments thus far.

Roger.
(or is it just the 60+ year-old eyes.... )!

The bird was probably too small for accurate focusing with the green hexagon Roger. The branch/twig in front of it would be included within the focus area. I was getting quite a few OOF shots like this with mine. Haven't used it since I got the 150-500

You needed to move slightly to the left so that the twig isn't in the way.
There's plenty there for the green hex. to pick up.
Turn off all AF points apart from the one in the centre of the finder.

Practice focusing on a small box in the house (Asprin box would be fine).

Just use auto focus!...and centre focussing!....get the red square on the subject and Bob's your uncle!.I never use manual focus on birds...my eyesight isn't the best and they dont stay still for very long!...I always seem to get away with it!

ps...If you are going to manual focus,make sure the diopter is set right!
pps...How much do you want for your eye cup?...

Roger. How much cropping has been done? And my comments were incorrectly based on my K-x, which doesn't have visible focus points, apologies.

This image is, I suppose, about 40% of the original frame.
Although the eyecup magnifies the image in the viewfinfer, the mag. advantage is more than overcome by the reduction in FOV in the finder, so that one can't (readily) see the info presented outside the pic area itself.
I was shooting from the car through the open window. Not because I didn't want to get off my backside & walk a few paces but because the bird was very jittery & moved away more than once because of a v. small movement on my part. Patience on my part is not a prob.

Is it poss to "fine-tune" the focus point to a v. small area which is shown, whilst taking, in the viewfinder?

I'll consider the sale of the mag. eyecup when all else fails!!!

My evolution to a 150-500 is under way but ...........£££!

Thanks, again, to all.

roger.

The focus point indicated by the centre red square should be a small enough area. Remember you can always use quick shift to fine tune further.

Ooer missus!

There is, but not through the viewfinder ... and if the bird doesn't stay still for long you haven't a hope : use live-view (I almost never use it but for the most accurate assessment of your DoF it's better), you can zoom into a very small area and confirm if you are in focus.

Now, Frogfish, that does sound like a good idea!
I'll try that in the garden this afternoon & let you know how it goes.

Thanks, everyone, for all your assistance .

Roger.