Taking a Photo of a Subject Swinging on a Swing with Sony SLT-A55 - Easy!

Have you ever tried to shoot someone swinging on a swing in the park?. If you did, you would certainly understand how difficult is to focus on the subject. To take a focus photo, you will need to focus on a specific point, in which you want to take the photo. I have personally tried taking photographs of my niece, swinging on a swing, and it was pretty hard.

Alternatively, you can use your camera AF AI Servo (in Canon DSLRs) function, to continuously find a focus point on a moving subject. You half-press the shutter release, and the camera will continue focusing on the subject. When you ready to take the shot, just fully press the shutter release. The easiest way to take the shot is when the swing is near stop. It happens when the swing is its in highest position, or at the final step, before going backwards.


So why I am telling you this? - Because with the Sony SLT-A55, this is problem of the past. In the following video, you can see a woman swinging on a swing. Sony SLT-A55 digital SLR continuously focusing  on the subject. The full-time auto focus is directly related to the presence of a Translucent Mirror.

As you can see in the video, Sony A55continouusly tracking the girl on the swing, without the need to half-press the shutter release button. This is Sony's HD movie function, and of course you can take advantage of the continuous AF and phase detection in both videos and stills.

Of course continuous AF is useful in many situations, like running kids, animals, sports photography and other fast moving subjects.Many photographers are pretty happy with the AI Servo (Canon) or "Continuous" (Nikon) feature, which can be found on almost every DSLR camera today. On my Sony Alpha SLT-A55 review, you can see a movie, which compares both Canon 550D in AI Servo mode, and Sony A55. The difference is quite obvious. The Sony A55 AF much faster and more accurately than the Canon EOS 550D.

Because Sony SLT-A55 has both 10fps continuous AF, that means that it is a very capable camera for sports photography. I was very impressed to see the difference, and I am sure that many amateur sports photographers will choose the Sony SLT-A55 DSLR over Canon or Nikon counterparts.