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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> Manual Focus
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Showing posts 1 - 8 of 8, (reverse)
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06/30/2006 09:56:19 PM · #1
When do you use Manual Focus? I have been using my camera on Auto Focus.
06/30/2006 09:57:53 PM · #2
I really only use it for extreme macro shots or in real low light.

Message edited by author 2006-06-30 21:58:02.
06/30/2006 10:00:33 PM · #3
Always for macro.
Sometimes in situations when the lens tends to "hunt" for the focus, like in low light or a smooth surface.
When speed is important, e.g. whale watching (the whales are bound to be "at infinity", saves time).
Occasionally for certain tricky situations like motion panning - if I know where the subject will be at the moment of exposure, it sometimes works better to pre-focus.

No doubt there are others, but that's all I can think of at present.
06/30/2006 10:01:46 PM · #4
Manual focus:
- Macro stuff: always manual focus
- Shallow-DoF portraiture
- Zone focusing for sports
- Astrophotography (some of the most demanding focusing you'll ever do!
- Landscape (or other) work using hyperfocal distance
and last but not least...
- When the lens I'm using doesn't have AF!
06/30/2006 10:40:51 PM · #5
Originally posted by kirbic:

- When the lens I'm using doesn't have AF!


Amen to that! =)

I've started looking at older MF glass (1970 stuff, mostly, like the Pentax Super Takumar) to get into the ultra-telephoto (around 500mm) world without spending my entire salary...

I picked up one of the cheap ($100!) 500mm f/8 preset lenses to try my hand at MF and stop-down metering, and I'm pretty happy with some of the shots I managed:



/Andrew
06/30/2006 10:54:02 PM · #6
I use manual focus now more than auto. I guess I am just more comfortable that way because it's how I learned to takes pictures back in the "olden days" of film.

I find I can control so much better the look of my images that way. If I do use auto focus, I always use it in spot mode so that I can pick the focal point, hold the button half down and re-compose

Brett (was KiwiPix)

Message edited by author 2006-06-30 22:57:29.
06/30/2006 11:12:00 PM · #7
just make sure your view finders diopter (little adjusting wheel usually to the left of the viewfinder in case you didn't know) is adjusted for your vision so that your images come out right. I had to adjusted mine when I first got it. It is also helpful to use when you have to shoot through glass or even wire (at the zoo maybe) because the AF tends to miss.
07/01/2006 09:08:42 AM · #8
Thank you!
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