Quote Originally Posted by TucsonTRD


What minimum focus setting did you have the lens set at? 1.3m or 3m. That could have affected your shots in the 10ft range.



I was under the impression that that setting was there to reduce focusing time by allowing the lens to not have to span through the entire focus range?


Quote Originally Posted by TucsonTRD


Focus and recompose is not a very good technique either. Even in one shot mode. I don't know your camera at all, so I can't speculate on the settings you may have been using and what you have available.


The 300D is the very first "Rebel" of the series, and although it still takes great photos to an extent, it only has 7 focus points. So there is always some "focus and recompose" involved since I often times leave the subject in the corners.


Quote Originally Posted by neuroanatomist


The actual size of the AF point is<span>largerthan the box you see in the viewfinder (or in DPP). So, in your example it was integrating the bird and some of the tree branches in the focus calculation.


Most likely my biggest downfall in this situation. 200mm wasn't long enough to have only the subject fill the AF point. Took some photos of my friends playing Tennis earlier this week and they were very good. I now just need a better AI Servo and Spot AF [:P]