5 Situations When Manual Focus is Better than Auto Focus
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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.
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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.