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the Quick menu, or by pressing the AF button just in
front of the top info LCD. The Zone AF option divides
the 19 AF points of the 70D into five different zones,
and you can shift the zone to the centre, left, right,
top or bottom using the same selection process as in
Single-point mode. The centre zone uses the central nine
AF points of the 19-point AF system; all other zones use
just four points. The 19-point Automatic selection mode
uses all 19 points simultaneously; its handy for general
shooting, and works well when combined with AI Servo
(continuous) autofocus. In the latter case, the central
AF point is used to acquire autofocus and to track
moving subjects. However, if the subject strays from
the centre of the frame the autofocus system will switch
to alternative AF points so that it can keep tracking.
Like the autofocus area selection button, the AF-on
button is disabled in full Auto and Scene modes, and only
works in Creative Zone shooting modes such as P, Tv, Av
and M. In these modes, pressing the AF-on button has
the same effect as half-pressing the shutter button it

acquires autofocus and engages the light metering

system. In One Shot autofocus mode, the focus setting
remains locked once autofocus has been achieved, for
as long as you keep the button pressed. When using
Evaluative metering mode, the exposure setting will also
be locked at the same time. In AI Servo mode, the focus
setting and evaluative light metering will constantly
update as the scene changes, or objects move around
within it, for as long as the button is pressed.
For full control its often better to bypass AI Focus,
and stick with One Shot autofocus for static scenes, or
AI Servo mode when you need to track moving objects.
The AF-on button can be particularly useful for sports
and action shots, as its easier to keep autofocus running
without having to worry about maintaining just the right
amount of pressure on the shutter button you can
then press the shutter button fully as and when you want
to take a shot. Its also a good idea to use High-speed
continuous drive mode, and to keep the shutter button
pressed to capture a series of shots.

sTeP BY sTeP Take control of the aF options

Quick Fix

shot in the dark

Ive read that

when using a
high-density neutral
filter you can focus in
Live View mode, even
when you cant see
the image clearly in
the viewfinder. How
is this possible?
James Brown
Aberdeen

Angela says The

viewfinder image
can be too dark to see
properly when a highdensity filter is fitted,
which makes it difficult
to focus. However, in
Live View mode the
brightness of the
image on the LCD
screen is increased so
that its representative
of the exposure setting,
as far as possible.

Quick Fix
Is it on or off?

Single or multi-point?

Use the M-Fn button to switch between Singlepoint AF, Zone AF and 19-point Automatic AF
modes. Its best to use Single-point AF mode when
you want to focus on a specific object within a scene.
Zone AF is a good compromise when you want to limit
multi-point autofocus to a specific area of the frame.

AF mode

AI Focus defaults to One Shot (single) mode, but

automatically switches to AI Servo (continuous)
autofocus if the camera detects movement in the
scene. To override the cameras intelligent selection
of modes and avoid focusing errors, its best to select
One Shot or AI Servo mode.

Live View autofocus

Live View mode enables precise focusing. The

70Ds Live View autofocus system is particularly
fast, and includes a face-detection option. FlexiZone AF,
with multiple or single-point options, is also available.
In Quick mode, the cameras regular AF module is used,
and the Live View image will be interrupted.

Touch control

One of the advantages of Live View focusing is

that you can zoom in for a magnified preview
to ensure precise focusing. The touchscreen LCDs
on cameras such as the 70D and 700D make it
particularly easy to select specific areas to focus on,
before zooming in and making adjustments.

I have a new
Canon D-SLR
with kit IS lens, but
there seems to be
no indication in the
menus as to whether
image stabilisation
is turned on or off.
How can you tell?
Chris McKenzie
Kansas, USA

Hollie says
A status display
on the LCD or in the
viewfinder only tends
to be featured in
cameras that use
internal, sensor-shift
stabilisation, and not
in those that use lensbased stabilisers. With
Canons recent and
current kit lenses you
can see the effect of
stabilisation in the
viewfinder after lightly
pressing the shutter
button, which tells you
that the stabiliser is
switched on.

PhotoPlus October 2014 | 77