I just returned from a fantastic trip photographing bears at Lake Clark NP. In addition to bears we photographed puffins one day, and had lots of opportunities to photograph birds in flight. Which brought up the frequent question of what autofocus mode and techniques to get a sharp bird in flight.
Here is the quick answer. I was shooting at 1/3200 or higher, used wide area large for my autofocus pattern, AF-C mode with back button focusing, manual mode using auto ISO. My aperture most times was wide open at F2.8 or maybe F4 for flying birds. I did try Auto Area autofocus mode, and it worked really well many times. But I found with the busy background if I could pan and keep the bird in the middle of my frame, I had the best luck with wide area large. If the birds were flying against the blue sky, Auto-Area autofocus mode was the best. I was shooting a 400mm F2.8 Z lens. Our group had Canon R5s, Sony A1s, Olympus OM-1, Z8s and Z9s. All the cameras at one point or another would miss the bird and focus on the background…using my Z9 I just keep hitting the back button focus and it would find the bird after a few attempts. I had the best luck if I could track the bird from the moment it left the perch…the Z9 would stick with it the entire time. I had loads of tack sharp birds in flight, just amazing what the Z9 can track in the air.
I really like having my video button set to ‘cycle AF modes’. I choose between auto-area, wide area large, 3D and single point. Just with a tap of a finger I can change focus modes if the situation changes for tracking birds. Single point comes in handy when the birds are in busy backgrounds and I need to put the focus point right on the bird, not branches in the foreground.
Let’s not forget one thing…you still need motor skills to get the best results! How well can you track a bird in flight? You need to get the subject in the viewfinder before the camera can focus on it! I frequently practice panning birds in flight to try improve this skill, it is a lifelong challenge!