The right choice depends on two factors: whether you’re shooting a moving subject or a stationary one and whether you require pristine audio. Here’s what you need to know to make the call:
AF-S: The camera locks focus when you press the shutter button halfway. You then lift your finger off the shutter button; for movies, focus remains set at the current distance throughout your recording unless you press the button halfway again to reset focus. Choose this option if you expect your subject to remain the same distance from the camera throughout the movie—for example, if you’re recording a piano performance.
AF-F: This setting produces full-time, continuous autofocusing, with the camera adjusting focus as your subject moves or you pan the camera to follow the action. Focusing starts immediately after you set the Focus mode to AF-F, and if you want to lock focus, you press the shutter button halfway. When you release the button, continuous autofocusing resumes.
Although this option is best for tracking moving subjects, the built-in microphone sometimes picks up the sound of the focusing motor. To avoid this issue, you can attach an external microphone and place it far enough from the camera body that it can’t hear the focus motor.
You can see the current Focus mode setting at the top of the monitor. To change the setting, use the control strip. Remember: Press the i button to bring up the control strip.
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