recomposing a shot

[Avas Mom]

so i think i understand what "recomposing" a shot means... ie put the focus point on your subject, get the camera focused. So lets say you had set you camera to focus on the center dot. If i focus on, let say a person dead center, then after i get my focus set, i could move my subject to the right or left.

My question is .. then why does my camera have the option to pick 7 different focus points? Why not just recompose the shot each time. Recomposing seems faster. It takes awhile to get those little dots moved.

[katrinak]

You can use either method. Sometimes changing focal points can give you more precise focus and avoid the battery burn from holding the shutter down half way.

[Avas Mom]

Originally Posted by katrinak

You can use either method. Sometimes changing focal points can give you more precise focus and avoid the battery burn from holding the shutter down half way.

Thanks!

[LauraBean]

Couple things: Often the center point is more sensitive/accurate than the others, so in low light you might want to use the center point and then recompose. Also, when your depth of field is very very shallow, focus-and-recompose methods can create problems as your angle and thus distance changes every so slightly as you recompose. So that's a time when you might prefer to use another focus point.