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04/24/2007 02:12:52 PM · #1 |
Do you guys use auto focus most of the time or manual. The reason I am asking is most of the time I use Manual but I miss most of the action shots. Please help make sense of this situation. For example I was taking pictures of a landscape this weekend when a bird flew by me and I could not get focused.
Help, Jeremy |
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04/24/2007 02:23:20 PM · #2 |
Originally posted by rupypug:
Do you guys use auto focus most of the time or manual. The reason I am asking is most of the time I use Manual but I miss most of the action shots. Please help make sense of this situation. For example I was taking pictures of a landscape this weekend when a bird flew by me and I could not get focused.
Help, Jeremy |
Definitely autofocus most of the time. The only times I use manual focus are (1) when using a shallow DOF where the camera isn't focusing where I want, or (2) when the camera is having too much difficulty focusing. |
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04/24/2007 02:26:15 PM · #3 |
Thanks that makes sense. Thank you for your time.
Jeremy |
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04/24/2007 02:29:59 PM · #4 |
On my 350D I have it set so that the star button (on the back by the thumb) does autofocus. Since most of my lenses have full time manual focusing I can then just manually focus if I need to. Most of the time I use AF though. If your Nikon supports a similar setup it should allow you to autofocus in a hurry if you need to and manually focus the rest of the time.
splidge
Message edited by author 2007-04-24 15:33:15. |
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04/24/2007 03:35:16 PM · #5 |
Autofcus has this main drawback:
Autofocus doesn't always choose the right spot when making its own decisions
Autofucus has a tendency to chose the background to focus on if the main subject is small or to take the average of a number of different points within the frame to make the decision. That isn't always right.
Sometimes the photographer needs to focus between objects in the frame in order to get the depth of field necessary to keep both objects in focus. Autofocus is useless for that.
In action photography you have only two choices: 1-Use autofocus and hope for the best. That is usually the best choice. And, 2-Set focus auto or manual to a particular spot and wait for the action to come to you.
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04/28/2007 12:00:25 PM · #6 |
My eyes are beginning to go south (getting old is not for wimps), so I end up using my autofocus a bit more these days until I get my eyes checked and get some specs.
The camera is pretty dumb when picking places to focus. I put my "cross hairs" on the object I want focused, hold the shutter half way, then I compose my shot, then fire. Works for me until my eyes get fixed.
The other option, is to use a longer DoF for more of a fudge factor. If I am in the studio, and I have a lot of light on my subject, then I will use manual focus, then I will stop down my aperture 1/3 stop to compensate for my eyes. |
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04/28/2007 12:06:04 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by Efergoh:
My eyes are beginning to go south (getting old is not for wimps), so I end up using my autofocus a bit more these days until I get my eyes checked and get some specs.
The camera is pretty dumb when picking places to focus. I put my "cross hairs" on the object I want focused, hold the shutter half way, then I compose my shot, then fire. Works for me until my eyes get fixed.
The other option, is to use a longer DoF for more of a fudge factor. If I am in the studio, and I have a lot of light on my subject, then I will use manual focus, then I will stop down my aperture 1/3 stop to compensate for my eyes. |
Just make sure you have the camera set for centered autofocus. It make a huge difference in centered subjects. |
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04/28/2007 12:08:14 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by Efergoh:
... Works for me until my eyes get fixed...
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I feel your pain (re old eyes), but you shouldn't have to wait for glasses. Most/some/all cameras have a diopter wheel for the viewfinder, so you can adjust it for YOUR eyesight.
However, it is still only a tiny little picture and I miss the focus circle my old Canon film camera used to have, I found that much more accurate. |
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04/28/2007 12:49:50 PM · #9 |
Auto focus has a tough time with a flying bird because there is not much to focus on, so it searches back and forth. I have learned to quickly switch to manual, or to focus on something at about the right distance, and use EV/Focus lock till I get the shot of the bird. I can only get one shot that way but sometimes that is all it takes.
I do most planned bird shooting with an older manual 300mm anyway, and the suggestion about focus first and shoot when the subject gets to the focus point works well if you are lucky and the bird flies into the right area. In any case, I leave the manual focus lens focused at infinity, so that I know which way to turn the focus ring when the heat is on. If it is left focused close, it takes a lot more time to rotate the ring into focus. Another technique that works well is to focus as soon as you spot the subject, and focus as you track it until the frame looks right.
Everg- I also miss having a "split prism" like my old Canon FTb used. My focus eye is now working about half way between the click stops on the diopter slider on my Fuji S3, so one stop is too strong, the next too weak. I also have to watch about accidentally moving the slider.
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04/28/2007 01:08:49 PM · #10 |
A serious disadvantage to manual focus in most digital cameras is they are fundamentally designed to use autofocus only, even when they have manual focus capability.
Film based SLR cameras used to have a rangefinder and/or pentaprism manual focusing aid built into the camera. Pentaprism focusing is VERY precise. Most digitals don't have that, which makes manual focus difficult in dSLRs and effectively impossible with point and shoot cameras. The more expensive dSLRs MIGHT have those aides built in or you can buy them as an accessory.
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04/28/2007 01:58:52 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by stdavidson:
A serious disadvantage to manual focus in most digital cameras is they are fundamentally designed to use autofocus only, even when they have manual focus capability.
Film based SLR cameras used to have a rangefinder and/or pentaprism manual focusing aid built into the camera. Pentaprism focusing is VERY precise. Most digitals don't have that, which makes manual focus difficult in dSLRs and effectively impossible with point and shoot cameras. The more expensive dSLRs MIGHT have those aides built in or you can buy them as an accessory. |
Not "effectivley" impossible in my Point and shoot. While its not "fast" my A630 and the A640 and camera's like the Fuji S9600 that uses a manual barrel zoom and focus ring.
Those 3 camera's and maybe more have a 100% crop in the center of the screen that help you get the focus right. I wouldnt say this is NOT optimal for any fast moving situations though but with the flip out screen its an awesome companion for doing setup shots.
I have used it handheld in a cruddy shot like this 
Message edited by author 2007-04-28 13:59:33.
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04/28/2007 03:11:34 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by stdavidson:
A serious disadvantage to manual focus in most digital cameras is they are fundamentally designed to use autofocus only, even when they have manual focus capability.
Film based SLR cameras used to have a rangefinder and/or pentaprism manual focusing aid built into the camera. Pentaprism focusing is VERY precise. Most digitals don't have that, which makes manual focus difficult in dSLRs and effectively impossible with point and shoot cameras. The more expensive dSLRs MIGHT have those aides built in or you can buy them as an accessory. |
I love the focus screen in my old Minolta. It's just too bad that film is so expensive to use. |
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04/28/2007 04:00:32 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by RainMotorsports:
Originally posted by stdavidson:
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and effectively impossible with point and shoot cameras. |
Not "effectivley" impossible in my Point and shoot. While its not "fast" my A630 and the A640 and camera's like the Fuji S9600 that uses a manual barrel zoom and focus ring.
Those 3 camera's and maybe more have a 100% crop in the center of the screen that help you get the focus right. |
Its good to know there are good ones out there. My experience is based on the Sony F-717 which was one of the more expensive point and shoot cameras with a nice Zeiss lens and the same focusing aide as your cameras.
Unfortunately for me it was impossible to check fine focus properly on the LCD screen. Even when taking an indoor tripod mounted photo of a still subject I would still have to take the picture, copy it to my computer and check the focus in Photoshop before I could get fine focus correct when doing it under manual focus. :(
That is what I had to do with this image:
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04/28/2007 04:06:08 PM · #14 |
| outside of macro, almost always autofocus. There's no way you'll be as accurate as the AF system. |
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04/28/2007 04:26:09 PM · #15 |
I use both manual and auto focus. As I have a selection of older lenses that I use with the K100D, I have had to go back to manual focus and I will admit, I enjoy doing it for myself.
Modern lenses with DSLRs are truly awesome in their capabilities to AF, set on centre, they are sharp and crisp. Yet, there is a deep satisfaction in using an old M42 mount lens and focussing accurately. |
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04/28/2007 04:57:10 PM · #16 |
  Two examples where auto focus would probably crash and burn.
 HP 735 P&S, Auto focus. There was no way to get down and set this up by viewing, so auto focus was the only way to get this right. Both manual and auto focus are good, and like other features and tools, it's the photographers experience and settings choices that get the good images.
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