auto vs manual focus?

[Sirashley]

Okay I have a question, I'll keep it short. Do you get better performance from shooting in manual focus? I ask this because it always seems like I get a more accurate depth of field by shooting in manual focus. I have tried adjusting the auto focus points, but it still is better manually. I was just curious if this is a general rule of thumb, or am I not setting the auto focus points correctly? It's easy to say "just shoot manual focus" but I'm not that fast with action shots. What do you guys do?

 

[ANDS!]

Both situations have their advantages and disadvantages. Depending on the lens/camera combo, there might be no reason (unless you are shooting macro) to use manual focus. As for which results produce the best. . ."results", I've gotten great prints from both.

 

[lockwood81]

I use manual focus for macro...but pretty much everything else is autofocus...I tend to miss the focus point when I try manual focus with the small view finder in my dSLR.

 

[Mgw189]

I find it very hard to shoot with manual focus I dont know why that is. It could be my vision I guess although i am not really sure

 

[Josh66]

I find it very hard to shoot with manual focus I dont know why that is. It could be my vision I guess although i am not really sure

The very small viewfinder on most DSLRs (compared to a 35mm SLR) doesn't help. I find it much easier to manual focus a film camera.

I use auto focus probably 80-85% of the time. Pretty much the only times I use manual are with macro, and when autofocus just doesn't work.