Since our return from Yellowstone, John has been watching YouTube videos to learn how to use the various focusing methods on the Sony aR73. We've learned a lot!
At Yellowstone, we were doing all manual focus. This meant that we missed shots when the animal was close by and on the move. When we return in April, we'll try some auto focus methods. You can use a focus mode called "flexible spot" and the do a video and the focus will track whatever you focused on to begin with as it moves, even far away. We are finally getting the fine detail we had hoped to get.
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| A blue heron on an oxbow in the Snoqualmie River Valley |
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| Bald eagle on the Snoqualmie River in Fall City |
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| Two black-tailed deer in our yard |
We practiced on each other running up and down a road and then on a dog that came by. The videos and still images maintain focus the entire time, with the camera's computer running the auto focus on the lens for you. The auto focus on the Sigma 150-600mm lens does not work when we have the 1.4 converter on it. We will probably not use it when we return to Yellowstone in April. On previous trips, we used manual focus and the converter which gives is 1.4 times the focal length, or 840mm at the most soom, but it was hard to focus manually quickly. When the wolf crossed in front of our car, I missed the closest shots trying to get focused. Plus, the 1.4 converter seems to soften the focus a bit.
