5 Situations When Manual Focus is Better than Auto Focus
Digital Cameras present photographers with an ever increasing array of Automatic and Semi Automatic shooting modes. Most of these center around different ways of exposing your shots – however many cameras also give options for different focusing modes (auto, continuous focusing for moving subjects and manual).
It’s no wonder then that many photographers never make use of their camera and lens’ ability to focus manually. In fact this week I spoke with one DSLR owner recently who hadn’t even noticed the manual/auto focus switch on the side of his lens.
Image by dsevilla
When is Manual Focus Better than Auto Focus?
Let me start by saying there is no right or wrong time to use either manual or auto focusing – both can produce great results in almost all circumstances – however there are a few times when you might find it easier to switch to manual focusing:
1. Macro Work
When doing macro photography I almost exclusively switch to manual focusing.
The narrow depth of field in these shots mean that you need to be incredibly precise with focusing and being just a smidgeon out or having your camera choose to focus on the wrong part of your subject can completely ruin a shot.
To use it you’ll also probably want to use a tripod to eliminate any movement of the camera which can make focusing either in manual or auto mode frustrating.
Manual focusing puts the control completely in your hands when shooting in this very precise setting.
Image by maruchan313
2. Low Light
Shooting in dimly lit environments can be difficult for some cameras and lenses when it comes to focusing.
You’ll know when your camera is struggling in Auto mode when every time you go to take a shot the lens will whirl from one end of it’s focusing options to the other and back again before deciding on where to focus.
This can really lengthen your shooting process and make taking quick candid shots quite frustrating.
Switch to manual mode and you can quickly find your focusing point and get the shot you’re after.
Image by Jim Skea
3. Portraits
When shooting portraits focus needs to be precise.
The majority of your shots of people will need to have their eyes in perfect focus (although in the example to the left it’s the lips) and so switching to manual focus will give you complete control to enable this to save you from having to line up the focusing points on your camera on the eyes, press halfway down and then frame your shot.
Manual focusing in portrait work helps to ensure the viewer of the image is drawn to the part of the face that you want them to notice.
Image by Djof
4. Shooting Through Glass/Wire Fences
If you’ve ever shot through anything like a window or a mess/wire fence you’ll know how cameras will often get confused on where to focus your shot.
Whether it’s shooting out of a plane window, taking a shot of an image at a museum or photographing animals through fences at the zoo – you might find your camera is confused.
Manual focusing will avoid this completely and allow you to get things just right – focusing upon the subject behind that glass or fence. If you do this in conjunction with a large aperture (which decreases depth of field) and get in close to the fence or glass you might well eliminate it completely from being noticeable in your shot.
Image by Gregory Lee
5. Action Photography
Shooting fast moving subjects (like racing cars, planes, bikes, running animals etc) can be a frustrating experience when shooting with auto focus.
Even the continuous focusing modes can get left behind or confusing if you’re not panning with your subject smoothly.
One way to overcome this is to switch to manual focusing and pre focus on a point that the subject will move through – and shooting at that point. You need to get your timing just right – but you’ll find that it’ll often give better results than relying upon auto focus modes (particularly if you shoot in continuous shooting/burst mode).
Image by fensterbme
Homework
Shooting in manual focus mode is a skill that you need to learn and practice. While you will have more time to get it right when shooting still objects – it can become more difficult when shooting moving subjects – so practice.
This week set aside an hour or two with your camera to shoot only in manual focus mode. Practice on a variety of subjects including some moving ones. While your practice session might not produce great results the skill that you learn will be useful to have.
Tags: Focusing, Manual Focus
80 Responses to “5 Situations When Manual Focus is Better than Auto Focus” - Add Yours
September 18th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
Also, when shooting something like a bird in some brush or a tree, the auto focus almost always focuses on the wrong thing. It’s understandable since there are so many things at different depths.
September 19th, 2007 at 12:16 am
One thing I’ve found very helpful, paritcularly for the action type of shots (5), is to separate exposure and auto-focus on the camera controls. It gives better control when to focus, without having to keep the lens in manual-focus mode, and then not being ready because it’s in the wrong mode.
On the Canon EOS cameras, there’s a custom function (#4), which when changed to ‘1′ will put the auto-focus onto the exposure lock button (marked with ‘*’), and leave the shutter for exposure lock and release.
That leaves me with two fingers to control both focus and exposure separately. I pick this pre-focus point, focus, and then I’m free to move the camera, lock exposure, and release.
It takes a bit getting used to, but is quite helpful. Oh, and if you let someone else use your camera, don’t forget to turn it off or tell them. My brother in-law tried to take some pictures during a trip we took together, and none of them were in focus :-)
September 19th, 2007 at 1:23 am
The biggest downside of my point-and-shoot in macro photography is that it doesn’t have manual focus. And most shots I do are macro :/
September 19th, 2007 at 1:26 am
Another situation:
Getting an inexperienced DSLR user to take a pic of My Wife and I. What I will do is set the camera on Manual focus mode, focus the shot then just get the user to snap the pic. I have found that if I leave it on Auto Focus the picutre does not always come out the way I want it, and sometimes the dreaded Auto focus Lock comes into play and the focus is on the background instead of us.
September 19th, 2007 at 1:40 am
Thanks for this great post. I have been studying my images lately in an attempt to improve my ability to focus on the most important component of the shot. This article is a timely reminder to take things more in hand.
September 19th, 2007 at 2:23 am
Great article! I’ve recently purchased a DSLR and find my self switching into manual mode more than using auto mode as it doesn’t get what I want most of the time.
I do however use auto focus mode to help me “grab” the subject, then I switch back into manual mode and adjust from there. I find that easier than having to move closer/farther from my subject all the while adjusting focus just to get things back in focus.
September 19th, 2007 at 2:38 am
I found manual focus extra useful:
- With long lenses. Why? I have no idea. There’s just something very cool about seeing your subject pop into focus. With a wide-angle, it can be hard to tell unless you’re close up.
- doing ’studio shots’. Not really macro, but just ‘I’m taking a picture of This Thing’. Leaving the camera in manual everything just lets me leave it on the tripod and snap away while fiddling with light, etc.
September 19th, 2007 at 3:44 am
Reflective surfaces. My Sony P&S had an extremely hard time to focus on anything that was shiny, for example berries, the top of a beetle, a scorpion, etc. I haven’t checked if my Canon A640 suffers from the same problem (I guess yes), but I am happy that it has manual focus.
September 19th, 2007 at 9:03 am
I think this is a great article about when/how to use manual focus. There are truly cases where human judgement or artistic choice exceeds what the camera can do for you. However, there are also many situations where auto-focus can help the photog focus (no pun intended) on the task of composing a shot rather than wrestling equipment and doing automatable tasks. Understanding some of the advanced features of the equipment can be helpful.
Kevin – you may check your lens docs. Many Canon lenses allow manual tuning of the focus on top of auto-focus (have to turn auto-servo off). That way you can grab and tune, without having to flick a switch.
figz – On higher end DSLRs you can select the auto-focus points to be used. In a complex scene that can avoid the problem you describe.
September 19th, 2007 at 9:41 am
I actually don’t own a portrait lens with auto focus. This hasn’t been by choice, but because of funding. I have taken some decent pictures though in my opinion.
September 19th, 2007 at 9:47 am
It’s also better for microscope photography, which is a wierd hybrid of the macro and glass problems.
September 19th, 2007 at 9:58 am
This seems like strange advice. For me, the autofocus is always more reliable than my own eyes for very narrow DoF shots (and I have 20/20 vision!). For action shots, manual focus is so slow and imprecise as to be pure folly. For low light shots I use a f/1.4 lens I never have problems with AF ‘hunting’.
September 19th, 2007 at 11:32 am
Very nice basic overview. I do everything manual, but auto focus is sometimes good for things besides sports.
For sports you need to make sure that depth of field is small, no reason to have the crowd in focus. Check out the site for more examples: http://www.eugenef.com
September 19th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
I would highly doubt the effectiveness of using manual focus for sports photography, if that was the best, there wouldnt be 15 grand autofocussing lenses, if you are having problems with hunting and out of focus shots, you most likely need to work on your panning technique, your camera does not have the ability to do this, or you have the autofocus settings wrong.
For low light you should be using a af illuminator, as af systems can see down to about 0 ev, which through a viewfinder on normal dslrs is better than what the human eye can do for contrast detection most of the time
September 19th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Another plus point for manual focussing, on the lenses I use for macro. I can get 2cms closer to the subject than with auto-focus.
September 19th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
On my PAS, Macro mode (little flower) and manual focus is an either/or situation. Does “macro mode” do anything other than change how close the auto-focus can handle?
If so, then can I use manual focus for all my macro shots and not lose out on anything “automagical” that the macro mode used to do for me?
September 19th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
I have a question, if a point-and-shoot camera doesn’t have a manual focus, can I somehow compensate it?
September 19th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
Echoing some of the comments above, you forgot ‘cluttered foreground’.
September 19th, 2007 at 11:37 pm
Good article. I can agree with all but the last. I shoot track and cross country frequently and I just couldn’t do it with manual focus. There are so many runners on our team that I have to focus quickly on and shoot quickly before the next person comes up. Granted I don’t always get the best shots of everyone simply because all the runners are faster, slower, in groups, alone, behind trees, etc. I tried it once with manual focus and waited until they all came thru one area and did my best to hit the remote button on time, I only got 1 shot per person and they were almost always out of focus because there were several people bunched up together, or I didn’t hit the shutter at the precise moment.
Other than that I am almost always unsuccessful photographing macro in auto focus. Good read thanks!
September 20th, 2007 at 12:16 am
Cool stuff
September 20th, 2007 at 5:03 am
To do manual focus you’ll better have a decent focusing screen (not the ones on entry level DSLR). I think a pentaprism instead of a pentamirror can be useful too.
September 20th, 2007 at 7:20 am
great article again – love the sample images.
seen on http:\\www.photographyvoter.com
September 21st, 2007 at 1:40 am
i am in favour of both the mechanisms and as mentioned above the manual focus mode is best. thank u for good suggestions and tips.
September 21st, 2007 at 9:20 pm
Using Auto Focus, we can press the shutter halfway to lock focus and then recompose. Can I do the same thing with Manual Focus (for example using Canon 400D) ?.
September 30th, 2007 at 3:59 am
With manual focus, you don’t need to lock the focus since it won’t change unless you changed it yourself. Gonna try setting my * to autofocus, might work very well with my 17-85 is since it has full time manual capabilities
October 14th, 2007 at 6:13 am
If I use Manual Focus in 400D what are the Manual A(uto) F(ocus) points use for ?.
Thanks
May 13th, 2008 at 7:05 am
I so totally agree. I take pictures of roofs for drawing and bidding and autofocus does nothing for my shots. In thumbnail mode, the pics look great, in paintshop or any program that makes it bigger, I loose my picture entirely and it just becomes a blurr… What camera would you recommend. I prefere digital, I dont have time to wait on pics to be developed, and I cant afford a 1000.00 dollar camera. I am soooo frustrated..
June 27th, 2008 at 9:17 am
I use manual focus when auto focus falter or becomes confused. This usaually happened when you are shooting macro. The only problem is the grip on the lens is to small. Unlike during the times of Nikon F3 or the film camera where focusing is mannually done, the grip is sufficient to focus the lens. I just hope that lens manufacturer would bring back the old lens where manual focusing would be easy to use.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:24 am
When you are shooting manually you have the freedom to choose your subject but you must be fast when you will shoot a moving subject. During the camera film days there was no auto focus not until the advent of N2000 by Nikon. Therefore, manual focusing can be perfected through constant pratice and bring back the memories of the film era.
July 13th, 2008 at 2:03 am
Since I’ve started using a camera the only time I’ve used Automatic focusing is when I have difficulty seeing the shot myself in a long zoom.
I feel like I’m cheating otherwise, is there a point of being a photographer if your camera does ALL the work?
September 9th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Great article. Sometimes due to weird lighting conditions its hard to gauge the correct shutter speed and f/stop. In many cases i have metered and used full auto to give me some of these readings. I then gauge from these readings to set my f/stop and shutter speed, lock them, and then switch to manual focus. If time is short then i use either aperture/shutter priority but use the lens switch in m/f with some decent results. No doubt complete m/f usually gives you total control. Only trial and error can help you improve.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Thanks for the great article. I think it’s also important to mention that manual focus is also a terrific creative tool, for example, when using it with a long lens at night to blur the coloured lights of your background when shooting foreground silhouettes.
February 26th, 2009 at 12:10 am
Funny — clearly this was originally posted in 2007, and not even re-copied into a new post!
For the record, I’ll add that I am in love with nighttime photography, and manual focus is absolutely required in these situations. However, it’s often hard to actually see your focus clearly through the viewfinder (and the “focus dot” only works some of the time). So, I frequently take multiple shots at slightly different focal distances and later pick the best one.
Two good examples are these: Centennial by Moonlight and Quincy by Moonlight (two shaft-rockhouses at the abandoned mines in this area). Each one was a 10-20 second long exposure. The first one, I could barely find focus at all, the viewfinder was so dark (I had to rely on the focus scale on my lens) — this was the best of the bunch. The second one was better due to the full moon, and turned out reasonably sharp on the first try.
February 26th, 2009 at 1:11 am
I’ve found manual focus to be indispensable on wildlife shoots.
As others have noted, some shots–the most recent example that comes to mind is a nest of baby spoonbills hidden in a cluster of trees–are really near impossible to get with autofocus. With a long lens, I have more than once shot “through” twigs or even branches that can be blurred out of view, but would grab the camera’s focus on auto.
Another benefit of going manual on wildlife shoots is the ability to visually travel through a complex, deep subject like a tree to look for interesting patterns or subjects (which is how I found the baby spoonbill nest at all…it was camouflaged too well for my naked eye to notice).
Finally, in situations where the terrain or respect for the subject and its habitat makes a convenient vantage point impossible–an example being shooting an eagle in a tree almost directly above from a riverside snowbank–using manual focus with a tripod and live view allows me to set up the composition and focus that work for the subject, then shoot, trusting that things are as they need to be until the subject moves significantly enough to require a new setup.
More and more, I’m switching off the autofocus…while it’s great for tracking on a clean background, the imprecision on low light and closeup work has caused loads of frustration.
February 26th, 2009 at 1:21 am
I haven’t really used my manual focus at all, but I love your suggestions. It’s happened to me more than once when I needed to get out of auto focus, and have basically forgotten I could use manual. I’ll definitely try to use it more.
Thanks for the great suggestions……………………:)
February 26th, 2009 at 2:46 am
Interesting: my comment from 3 hours ago is still awaiting moderation. I’m trying to post this one just to see if it works.
February 26th, 2009 at 3:10 am
I only really photograph Jewelry which is a tough job, at least for me. My problem besides lighting is I wear reading glasses so I am not sure weather the item is in focus or not. I try to just leave my glasses off so sometimes the piece comes out blurry so I am at a loss when using manual focus.
February 26th, 2009 at 3:52 am
Nice article Darren. I’ve recently started using Manual Focus in combination with Live View and the results are great. The process is still slow for me, but being able to apply 10X magnification to the Live View screen allows for such a finite focus on the subject.
February 26th, 2009 at 3:53 am
An OK article, but I couldn’t disagree more with lowlight or action photography – especially combining both! Check out ishootshows.com or onelouderphoto.com and you will see 2 professional fast action low-light photographers use the d3 and 100% of the time will never, ever rely on manual focusing. And professional sports photographers never rely on manual focus. Why? They have 3D 51-point autofocus tracking cameras and continuous mode. If you are having problems with AF, then your camera is broken, you aren’t using an AF-S or AF lens, or you don’t know how to use the camera right. Not to mention to DoF at 1.2, 1.4, and 1.8 is so much that if you rely on eyesight that could really throw things off.
Just my 2 cents.
February 26th, 2009 at 4:37 am
U cannot use autofocus to do fireworks…it just does not work….need to put the lens in manual focus and move the focus ring to infinity !!!!
February 26th, 2009 at 5:05 am
Well, I’m submitting this again due to the previous one being stuck in moderation — bizarre.
For the record, I am in love with nighttime photography, and manual focus is absolutely required in these situations. Under a quarter moon with no other light, autofocus is almost guaranteed to fail — sorry Chris! It’s often dark enough that it’s hard to see your focus clearly through the viewfinder (and the “focus dot” only works some of the time). So, I frequently take multiple shots at slightly different focal distances and later pick the best one.
Two good examples are these: Centennial by Moonlight and Quincy by Moonlight (two shaft-rockhouses at the abandoned mines in this area). Each one was a 10-20 second long exposure. The first one, I could barely find focus at all, the viewfinder was so dark (I had to rely on the focus scale on my lens) — this was the best of the bunch. The second one was better due to the full moon, and turned out reasonably sharp on the first try.
February 26th, 2009 at 6:03 am
One of the best things you can do to make auto focus work “better” and focus where you want it on a DSLR is to set your camera to the center point focus only. Don’t let it pick the focus points that it thinks are right. Set the focus point to the center point only and recompose as needed.
February 26th, 2009 at 7:21 am
My problem is that I don’t have 20/20 eyesight, so I cannot trust my manual focusing. What’s in focus to me, might not be in focus for the camera. This is because the camera can act as “glasses” for you unless you properly adjust the viewfinder for your eyesight.
February 26th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
There’s also twiggy trees or through hedges,. Auto focus makes the picking out of, say, a bird in the further branches (It’s Autumn here in the N hemisphere:) ) difficult/impossible.
February 26th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Great set of tips. I find myself an AF slave. Time to resist and give into MF!
February 26th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
great tips. It is difficult to overcome the fear of switching to MF. For me it has resulted in some really great photos. Putting your camera in Manual mode or focusing your lens manually gives you so much more freedom!!
February 27th, 2009 at 1:18 am
I use manual focus a lot on my EF 200 2.8. Some lenses make manual focus very easy and others make it nearly impossible. I find it extremely useful when focusing through brush to get wildlife shots. On my 40d I made the rear button the focus button and the shutter button is metering and release only. This set up mean I never need to flip a switch or worry about the camera trying to change my manual focus point.
February 27th, 2009 at 2:23 am
I have to take pictures of my miniatures for my website and use the macro for that….talking manual has opened my eyes somewhat….thank you great article……tomorrow here I come hope to have improovemnet in my pictures
February 27th, 2009 at 2:48 am
One of my knitches is shooting aquarium fish. People do like photos of their pets, whether dogs, cats, snakes, birds…. and fish. They can be very difficult to do on auto. I do take a number of practice shots at 1/125, 1/250, end 1/500 shutter speed to stop action them and a higher aperture, 11, 15, 22 to make the fish really stand out from the background. I keep the ISO as low as possible to keep the prints perfect. Ialso shoot from a distance, no flash.
February 27th, 2009 at 3:04 am
I find it quite useful to use manual focus in racing situations where the action shifts and you shoot quickly but you are right, you must practice this. It comes more naturally to those of us who learned viewfinder first. I also make a habit of switching to all manual functions just to stay grounded in my shooting.
February 27th, 2009 at 3:05 am
I have encounted all of the problems you mentioned in af. However I have avoided using MF because I don’t trust my eyes. This said I’m planning to use MF for all of my Macro work. I know that the images will be better because I will pick the point of focus.
February 27th, 2009 at 3:12 am
Great tips! Don’t forget about snow falling! Arrghh with the auto focus! (and don’t forget your plastic bag!)
February 27th, 2009 at 4:11 am
So with practice are you able to manually focus faster? How do you catch those moving children portraits?
February 27th, 2009 at 5:24 am
But you don’t explain exactly what settings to use when taking photos in these five areas. Obviously you switch the lens to mf on the Cannon but then what? AV? TV? M? P?
February 27th, 2009 at 5:34 am
Shooting objects from the ground without looking through the viewfinder should be done with manual focusing in advance. Meaning, set the focus of your object from a point which is approximately in the same distance as your subject, lower your camera to ground level, aim and click. You may not get it right on the first shot and need a second take but it is better than in autofocus mode.
February 27th, 2009 at 6:05 am
Other missions I’d recommend manual focusing is when shooting thin plants from a short distance on a windy weather. After you’ve decided on your subject switch to manual and move your camera/head to and fro until your subject is in perfect focus and click. The moving plants won’t let you focus in outo.
February 27th, 2009 at 6:33 am
It seems to me that modern cameras discourage the use of Manual Focus. My first “real” camera was a Pentax K1000 (I know, I’m showing my age). AF was not an option. However, the focus screen made MF a breeze. In the center of the viewfinder, it had a circle split in half. When the two halves of the subject in the circle lined up, it was in focus. The rest of the viewfinder was covered with little triangles or prisms that were more obvious when the subject was out-of-focus, and all but disappeared when the subject was in focus.
I was disappointed when I got my first DSLR (Canon 300D) and saw the focus screen (or lack thereof). I have moved up to the 50D, but the MF situation is about the same. The focus screens on most DSLRs almost force you to use AF.
February 27th, 2009 at 6:50 am
For those with simpler cameras, my Canon SX10 does have manual focus, but I have trouble with getting the menu set up and the “dial” for adjusting it. By the time I can focus, my bird is gone. BUT, I can change the size of the focus box to much smaller, and that has really saved some of my shots. I leave it that way most of the time, except for people snap shots, where the eye detection works great.
Another aspect of a problem area for auto focus is framing, e.g. with a tree limb nearby on a scenic shot … at least there you can focus on infinity, hold the exposure button halfway down to hold focus and reframe.
February 27th, 2009 at 8:04 am
I subscribed for the letters of this school and no regrets at all. Love the site and find so many usefull thngs especialy for non-pros and beginners. Grate job Daren and many thanx.
February 27th, 2009 at 8:16 am
Thanx for the article and the challenge to shoot w/o auto focus for a week. Being very much an amatuer, this article is very concise w/o lots of technical jargon (for me, at least) and made me understand not only when to use it, but also what both auto and manual do and don’t do in those situations. And I always enjoy and learm from everyone’s comments.
February 27th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Another time I find it essential to use manual focus is when using my Canon Remote Control to trigger the shutter. If left in Auto Focus, the camera will refocus on whatever it chooses when you press the RC button, usually providing disappointing results.
February 27th, 2009 at 10:06 am
I use manual mode all the time i have no problems with it i do low light sports landscape wild life like
others said you just have to get used to it the more you do it the better you well get.
February 27th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Excellent post! BTW I have been shooting moon through my window lately due to the cold weather, and no body could ever guess. Anna :)
February 27th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
I would like to add one more advantage. Switching to manual focus can conserve battery power especially when you are using zooms.
February 27th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
I like this post very much as well as past ones! Not only the descriptions but example shots help me a lot. Thanks!
I try to use manual focus as many times as possible and practice. I wear glasses generally except taking pictures. My camera has -3.0 to +1.0 diopter adjustment and adjusted according to my glasses (I need approx. -1.25). The pictures of manual focus still have high variance in sharpness. Any tips regarding this would be also appreciated.
Best regards, Laszlo
February 28th, 2009 at 3:43 am
Manual focus is also indispensible when shooting full moon or night sky shots.
February 28th, 2009 at 9:55 am
One of the main reasons for using manual focus is trying to obtain a certain depth of field where the actual focus point has nothing to autofocus on. Some cameras have an “automatic depth-of-field” mode that will attempt to do this for you, but – as with other camera controls – in many cases manual is the only way to go.
February 28th, 2009 at 10:55 am
My friend shared this website with me and it is great and those five situations I have encountered a time or two. Great job in writing understandabel detail.
March 2nd, 2009 at 12:06 am
Excellent!! To the point and very helpful. Thanks.
March 2nd, 2009 at 9:24 am
Great web site, i’ve recently purchased a DSLR. This site is a great guide.
March 2nd, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Thanks, for this very useful tips,just a few days before i was thinking bout my focusing problem ,yours tips really helps me a lot thanks again
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Photography is my hobby, and I know of a great way you can easy use auto focus most of the time, and still have CRISP, CLEAR lines.
It’s called High Pass with Linear Light. I use it now on all of my modeling photographs. Works better than manual focusing.
March 4th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Today I switched to manual focus while using my macro lens to shoot some flowers. The auto focus was confused by the surrounding leaves and other flowers. MF allowed me to get in closer too. I have a Pentax K200D and a 35mm f/2.8 macro lens. I will definitely be switching to MF in similar situations from now on.
I agree with the suggestions in the article and have used them all because of being a 35 mm film photographer for over 30 years without an auto-focus camera, until I added a DSLR to my gear last year.
Btw “bogart”, the “film era” is not completely over for some of us…I have 3 bodies loaded all the time.
March 11th, 2009 at 7:58 am
Thank you you don’t know how useful is this for us the beginners. I’m studying photography and you have just answered a lot of questions in my head. Really thank you Darren.
March 17th, 2009 at 4:33 am
I have a similar problem as Laszlo. As an out of control diabetic I have a problem with the clarity of my vision constantly changing. Some days manual focus is a breeze with great results, other days not so much. I’m new to photography and although this is probably a ‘dummies’ question I was wondering. Once I’ve decided on my spot, if I zoom the feature I want to focus on , focus it and then zoom out to the distance I want to photograph, does the focus hold?
BTW, I’m using a Canon Rebel Xsi w/ 14-40mm EF L lenses for landscape. I’ve only been able to use it on cloudy overcast days and have been seriously disappointed in the sharpness. The kit lenses that came with the camera seems to do a comparable job. Both seem soft and not sharp at all. Any ideas?
Thanks! Darren, your many tutorials and articles are deeply appreciated!
March 19th, 2009 at 6:48 am
In reply to lazlee’s question, the focus does not hold when zooming, at least not with either my Pentax 50-200 or 28-55 lenses. And this is when using auto-focus and focus lock or using manual focus.
Other lenses could be different so maybe there’s a Canon user out there who can join in…
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:25 pm
In response to lazlee’s question, it depends on which lens you use. The upper-spec range of Canon lenses have a symetrical layout and will hold focus at different zoom lengths, but expect to pay big $$$ for them
April 4th, 2009 at 5:30 am
I have a canon 28-90 lens i use mf all the time i do leave the camera on p.I havent had any problems in
low light or other wise. I do not care for af anymore mf is great once you get use to it just takes time put
on mf and just take photos. AS faras other settings on the camera i have used but i like the p setting and
had no problems.
April 4th, 2009 at 5:36 am
The problem i see the most is people buy cameras and do not read the manual i think that is a big mistake..
READ THE MANUAL. Thats how to learn to use a cameras settings. You well be amazed how much better
you will get .
May 27th, 2009 at 3:42 am
“I feel like I’m cheating otherwise, is there a point of being a photographer if your camera does ALL the work?”
If you think automatic focus is cheating, then surely digital photography as a whole is cheating. You really should be developing your own film prints at home.
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