Canon Tracking Sensitivity Question

[Grant Atkinson]

Hi there,
When changing the tracking sensitivity settings on Canon cameras like the 7D, 1DmkIII and 1DmkIV, does that setting (Slow-Fast) have an effect on how quickly the camera and lens will be able to initially find and lock focus on a subject. For example, if you pick up your camera and aim at a subject with your lens completely out of focus, will that setting affect how quickly the camera can react to searching and finding that initial focus. A fair bit of my wildlife shooting takes place with subjects that sometimes appear at random distances from me, and I would like to fine tune my cameras to react as quickly as possible.
I think I understand the function of the sensitivity settings when tracking subjects already in focus, but I wonder if anyone can answer my question above.
Thanks very much
Grant

[arash_hazeghi]

Tracking sensitivity does not affect initial acquisition, CFn III-2 is basically the refocus delay, however if the camera loses focus momentarily for whatever reason ( AF sensor hitting the BG or miscalculation of subject trajectory etc.) it will take longer for it to refocus back on the bird, in this case you will most likely miss the shot unless you release and focus again quickly in order to override this delay. In 1DMK4 camera there is another trick you can use and that is to set CIII-4 to 0 (main focus point priority) in this case if you put the active AF point on the subject, camera will ignore the CF-III 2 delay settings and immediately refocus on the subject but only if it is now closer to camera than the original focus plain.

[Grant Atkinson]

Thanks Arash, that helps a lot. I am getting a used 1Dmk3 in ten days time and will be shooting for real the day it arrives, so I want to make sure I understand the set up options. Thanks again
Cheers
Grant

[arash_hazeghi]

Thanks Arash, that helps a lot. I am getting a used 1Dmk3 in ten days time and will be shooting for real the day it arrives, so I want to make sure I understand the set up options. Thanks again
Cheers
Grant

Grant,

I never had a MKIII, I am not sure if the CFns work the same way, Canon claims MK4 AF is fundamentally different than MK3, you may want to check with people who use a MK3...

Best

[Axel Hildebrandt]

On the Mark III, I had tracking sensitivity at slow or moderately slow since it was quick to focus on a varied BG. I use the same settings on the Mark IV but the focus performance is more consistent.

[Ed Cordes]

I have my MK4 set to slow and find the initial AF acquisition is fast and the reacquisition to be equally fast. I never had a MK3 so I can't compare. However compared to my old MK2 it is much faster.