This last week has been a busy for me, but I finally took the time to watch a couple of videos about the auto-focus features that were added in the latest G9 firmware update. I should have done it before I started with the riflemen – it would have made photographing them so much easier! The addition of the focus-near and focus-far that I have now assigned to buttons on my camera make it so much easier to have the focus where I want it and not on a distraction that the camera thinks is what I want. The other feature I am enjoying is the animal detect using 1 area mode on it’s smallest area. It is able to find a bird behind a tree branch and stick with it.
After setting these up on my camera I took it out to Waikanae to see how it performed. We were on a hunt for Coot chicks which we did find and they will be the topic of another post, but while photographing the coots some movement caught my eye to the right. I swung around to see a couple of welcome swallow fledglings being fed by their parents. This is something I have wanted to photograph for a very long time, and the opportunity was right there. So I abandoned the coots in favour of the swallows and I am so glad I did.
Initially I was shooting into the sun, but when I realised they didn’t care that I was there I moved around to the other side to get better light. I am so pleased with the results of my testing out the new features. The auto-focus grabbed onto the birds in flight and allowed me to capture some amazing moments as they happened in front of me. I have had my G9 for four years now and I still love it now as much as I did at the beginning. Best investment ever!
