Example of setting for shooting a car/train or airplane

The following is a summary of the points and setting tips for focusing on a car/train or airplane.

Train, bullet train car, and other railway cars

Recommended settings

MENU items Setting values
[Focus Mode] [Continuous AF]
[Priority Set in AF-C] [Balanced Emphasis]
[AF Tracking Sensitivity] [3(Standard)]
[ Focus Area] [Tracking: Spot M]
[Spot: M]
[Expand Spot]
[Switch V/H AF Area] [AF Point Only]
[Subject Recog in AF] [On]
[Recognition Target] [Car/Train]
[Recognition Target] → [Car/Train] → Detailed settings [Tracking Shift Range]: [3(Standard)]
[Tracking Persistence Lvl]: [3(Standard)]
[Recognition Sensitivity]: [3(Standard)]
[Sbj Recog Frm Disp.] [On]
  • [Tracking: Spot M]
    If you want to continue focusing on the front of a passing train, it is recommended to set the focus area to [Tracking: Spot M].
    When the camera accidentally recognizes objects other than trains (e.g. towers or other structures), lower the sensitivity of subject recognition to prevent false recognition.
  • [Spot: M]/[Expand Spot]
    When you have already decided the composition for shooting a subject, use the highly versatile recommended basic settings (by setting [AF Tracking Sensitivity] to [3(Standard)] and setting the focus area to [Spot: M]) to shoot the subject.
    When there are many obstructions such as aerial cables, it is recommended to set [AF Tracking Sensitivity] to a slightly persistent setting like [2], and the focus area to a small-area setting like [Expand Spot].

Airplane, air show

Recommended settings

MENU items Setting values
[Focus Mode] [Continuous AF]
[Priority Set in AF-C] [Balanced Emphasis]
[AF Tracking Sensitivity] [3(Standard)]
[ Focus Area] [Tracking: Spot M]
[Spot: M]
[Zone]
[Switch V/H AF Area] [AF Point Only]
[Subject Recog in AF] [On]
[Recognition Target] [Airplane]
[Recognition Target] → [Airplane] → Detailed settings [Tracking Shift Range]: [3(Standard)]
[Tracking Persistence Lvl]: [3(Standard)]
[Recognition Sensitivity]: [3(Standard)]
[Sbj Recog Frm Disp.] [On]
  • [Tracking: Spot M]
    To keep the focus on a subject in a scene where there are no other subjects close to the subject you want to focus on, it is recommended to set the focus area to [Tracking: Spot M] together with the setting of [Subject Recog in AF] to [On].
    To keep focusing on a specific aircraft only, [Tracking: Spot M] is effective.
    If the framing of a subject is difficult (e.g. aerobatic flight exhibition), the camera can capture such subject more easily when you set the focus area to [Tracking: Wide].
  • [Spot: M]/[Zone]
    When you want to steadily focus on a subject in a scene where the subject you want to focus on and another subject are overlapping, it is recommended to perform the following settings. After setting [Subject Recog in AF] to [Off], set the focus area to [Spot: M] or [Zone]. Or, after setting [Subject Recog in AF] to [On], set the focus area to [Tracking: Spot M] and set [Tracking Persistence Lvl] to [5(Locked On)].
    If the framing of a subject is difficult (e.g. shooting air shows with free-flying airplanes in the air), it is also recommended to set the focus area to [Zone].

Car race, cart

Recommended settings

MENU items Setting values
[Focus Mode] [Continuous AF]
[Priority Set in AF-C] [Balanced Emphasis]
[AF Tracking Sensitivity] [3(Standard)]
[ Focus Area] [Tracking: Spot M]
[Spot: M]
[Expand Spot]
[Switch V/H AF Area] [AF Point Only]
[Subject Recog in AF] [On]
[Recognition Target] [Car/Train]
[Recognition Target] → [Car/Train] → Detailed settings [Tracking Shift Range]: [3(Standard)]
[Tracking Persistence Lvl]: [3(Standard)]
[Recognition Sensitivity]: [3(Standard)]
[Sbj Recog Frm Disp.] [On]
  • [Spot: M]/[Expand Spot]
    When you want to steadily focus on a subject in a scene where another subject crosses in front of the subject you want to focus on, it is recommended to set the focus area to [Spot: M] or [Expand Spot].
    You can keep the focus steadily on a subject even in motorsport shooting scenes that involve fast acceleration and deceleration by setting [AF Tracking Sensitivity] to [3(Standard)].
    It is recommended to set the focus area to the highly versatile [Spot: M] parameter. If a car is far away, switch the parameter to [Expand Spot].
    The camera may have difficulty in recognizing some of the cars due to the markings on those cars. In that case, it is recommended to set [Recognition Sensitivity] to [4] or [5(High)].
  • [Tracking: Spot M]
    When you want to keep the focus on a single subject (e.g. shooting a car independently), it is recommended to set [Subject Recog in AF] to [On] and set the focus area to [Tracking: Spot M].
    At that time, if you shoot a subject in scenes where there are densely packed multiple subjects, it is effective to select the settings for making [Tracking Shift Range] narrower and [Tracking Persistence Lvl] for more persistent tracking of the subject so that the camera can steadily focus on the intended subject.

On-road motorcycle, motocross bike

Recommended settings

MENU items Setting values
[Focus Mode] [Continuous AF]
[Priority Set in AF-C] [Balanced Emphasis]
[AF Tracking Sensitivity] [3(Standard)]
[ Focus Area] [Tracking: Spot M]
[Tracking: Wide]
[Switch V/H AF Area] [AF Point Only]
[Subject Recog in AF] [On]
[Recognition Target] [Human]
[Recognition Target] → [Human] → Detailed settings [Tracking Shift Range]: [3(Standard)]
[Sbj Recog Frm Disp.] [On]
  • [Tracking: Spot M]
    In a scene where the subjects move in an orderly manner (e.g. road races), it is recommended to track a single car, which is the target with [Tracking: Spot M] under the condition where [Subject Recog in AF] is set to [On].
    When setting [Subject Recog in AF] to [On] and [Recognition Target] to [Human], you can focus on a subject that is wearing a helmet and riders.
    Since you can flexibly change the framing during tracking, you can shoot a subject by taking into consideration the bike and background balance.
  • [Tracking: Wide]
    The camera can more easily capture a subject if you set the focus area to [Tracking: Wide] when shooting subjects in scenes where the movements of those subjects are intense (e.g. jumping scenes of motocross bikes).
    Furthermore, since setting [Subject Recog in AF] to [On] and [Recognition Target] to [Human] make it possible to track a recognized rider, a steadier focus can be achieved.
    When you want to track a single targeted subject (e.g. when you want to shoot an intended subject) under the condition where multiple individuals and riders are displayed in the composition, it is recommended to set the focus area to [Tracking: Spot M].

* All images and illustrations used on this web page are provided for illustrative purposes only.