manual or auto focus, prefer?

[kgb224]

Originally Posted by freybear3

Which do you prefer, manual or auto focus?


I used to do auto focus all the time. I just started using manual focus just recently.
I now prefer to use manual focus over the auto focus. I found out that it is faster and easier to get the photo i want. I do still use auto focus for some occasions, but with the new telephoto lens it takes awhile for it to focus on longer distances. This is how come i started using manual focus.

I was always using auto focus. I am glad i tried out the manual focus. Plus manual focus does wonders for macro shots!


I want to hear your opinion on which one you use, auto or manual focus? And why?

Practice and use Manual Mode.
I need to do the same.
I am using aperture mode most of the times at this moment in time.

[sk66]

Originally Posted by CaptainNH

Am I misunderstanding what you're saying here Ken or are these two statements contradictory?

All of my AF lenses focus at max aperture, then stop down to take the shot (speed of focus is one of the reasons I went for f2.8 over f4 for my 70-200).

I can't see, in that case, how being stopped down will have any impact on "visibility" for focus points.

No, not contradictory. That's because many zooms have rather small max aperture at the long end. I.e. a 70-200 f/3-6 will be "wide open" at f/6 and 200mm.

[daft_biker]

Originally Posted by Swisstony10

I use neither. Altering the focus on the lens is, in my opinion, an unnatural level of processing along the same lines as using Photoshop. I move my own position backwards and forwards until my subject is in focus.

Nice one

With some lenses that is how you focus them though. Most of my shots are done that way

On the Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro there's a scale that tells you the focus will be 41mm away from the end of the lens when working at 5x - the only way you can focus is by getting the lens 41mm from the subject.

....macro bobbing

[Jim Bryant]

Auto focus for sports, photojournalism and anything that moves. Manuel for portraits and landscapes.

[NaturalWoman]

i use auto focusing mostly, but just yesterday - after reading an article on this site - i will try out manual focusing. the only thing with manual is i wish there were some type of prism like there was with the35mm. sometimes i can't tell - because of my own eye sight if the image is in focus.

i will switch back and forth but have been practicing with manual. nobody knows what focusing i'm using but EXIF.

[natek313]

If I'm not doing a shoot or requiring fast shooting, then I will use manual focus, especially when I am doing macro work.

But, for the most part, when I use auto-focus, it does a good job.

[Nik0nator]

Hmmmm so now 3 years later lets see some thooughts? I use both although I'm a beginner so I use AF the majority of the time. I use MF for shots where I intentionally want to blur something out or when my AF wont focus and I can get it with MF. I do eventually want to use MF more often than AF but I think that will come in time, a long long long time.

[nickbedford]

I only ever manually focus when I'm doing a landscape (not often) or when there's little light and nothing is moving.

Which basically means I always use AF, but I only ever use a single AF point. The auto-select mode is balls. It has no idea what I want to focus on.

Even with portraits, I just AF, especially if I'm within ISO 100-400 as there's a heap of light for the camera. Whenever I'm in an ISO 100-400 type of exposure, the auto focus is tack sharp.

With portraits, I'm always focusing on the eyes and the eyes have a decent amount of contrasting areas. The eyelids, the pupil, the iris.

I typically find that the photos that end up slightly back focused are ones where I would have failed in manual anyway because they're moving shots. That being said, the camera and lens I use cooperate well together.

[RichardTaylor]

Normally it is autofocus (and then centre focus point only active)

The main times I use manual focus is.
(1) Macro.
(2) Night 'scapes.
(3) When the camera has trouble focussing.
and
(4) When shooting "through" something like grass & leaves.

[ravncat]

Originally Posted by kencaleno

... Autofocus is only useful for fast sports and wildlife-manual for all else-It's faster and more accurate....

Strictly speaking, I wouldn't say this without some calibration. My d200 is better with AF than MF - and this has to do with the tolerances. LuLa has a good article about this at the moment. It`s a matter of factory construction tolerances, and the optical path from the lens to the mirror through the pentaprism or mirror box and on to the ground glass may have a different length than through lens to sensor, which may also be different from the optical path through the secondary mirror to the phase detectors...

The result meaning - that it`s possible for the image on sensor to not be in correct focus when it is on the focusing screen, or the AF sensors to that effect. So MF may not always be more accurate. It also may change slightly depending on which lens is used. Wide Angles tend to be worse off than Telephotos. (also gotta watch out for those pesky lenses that have a slight focus shift upon stopping down)

Oh how I wish the major manufacturers produced more focusing screen options - optimized for sharpness and DoF over Brightness...