telephotos lens inquiry

Moogle Pepper

Ok..

So I recently picked up a 70-200 L lens from here... but I been wondering in the lens barrel there is a switch under the AF\MF that has "1.2m- infinity and 3m - Infinity" What exactly does it mean? Is it the closest I can get to a subject?

LiquidAir

The 3m-infinity setting prevents the AF from focusing on objects closer than 3m. It is handy when you are shooting through something nearby and can also speed of the AF algorithm.

Moogle Pepper

LiquidAir wrote:

The 3m-infinity setting prevents the AF from focusing on objects closer than 3m. It is handy when you are shooting through something nearby and can also speed of the AF algorithm.

ohh ok and I will presume the 1.3 is the same thing, only within the 1.3 parameters.

LiquidAir

Moogle Pepper wrote:

ohh ok and I will presume the 1.3 is the same thing, only within the 1.3 parameters.

The other setting is covers the full focusing range of the lens.

Moogle Pepper

oh..

Thanks! This is the first telephoto lens I have gotten.

sirsloop

If you notice, right around half of the AF rotational distance is taken up by 1.2m-3m. By eliminating that you effectively double the AF speed in hunting situations.

claudermilk

Exactly. If you know your subjects are going to be farther than 3m, limiting the AF throw speeds things up significantly.