Is there a trick to manual focusing?

[usayit]

Agree with everything that has already been said... most of all.. Practice! Yes, most of the AF equipment these days are designed for AF; Not properly damped focusing rings and dim viewfinders with no proper focusing screen.

I can provide one tip.

Don't keep you focus in the middle somewhere an then "chase" the subject distance for focus.... you end up wasting time hunting back and forth resulting in some misses.

Start with either the lens focused at closest near distance or at infinity. When you spot your subject and focus turn the ring in ONE DIRECTION until image is in focus. If you are working at an aperture of let say f/5.6 or smaller, nine times out of ten, you can trip the shutter and the subject will be within the DOF and in focus. If you are working at a larger aperture, take the few moments to make minute critical adjustments then trip the shutter. It takes practice but can be very effective...

* If most of the time your subjects are at far distances, you will be faster if you always return your lens to infinity between shots and turning the focus ring towards close distance. For things sports on large fields, much of your subjects will fall just behind infinity anyways.
* If most of the time your subjects are at near distances, you will be faster if you always return your lens to near focus between shots and turn the focus ring towards infinity.
* With practice, many can look and guesstimate a subject distance and "prefocus" as they bring the camera to eye-level. I've seen some photogs demonstrate this with such speed that they can often beat an AF camera at less than wide open apertures. Me? Not even close... lol (many rangefinder lenses have a focusing "tab" which can be used to "feel" instantly the current focus ring position)
* Lenses with shorter focus throws will focus faster but require steady hand to stop right at the desired focus spot. Lenses with a longer focus throw will be slower but it is easier to obtain critical focus. As a rangefinder shooter, focus throw length AND feel is probably the number 1 (or 2) design characteristic when I am deciding on a lens purchase. My Summarit 35mm f/2.5 has a lens throw of less than 1/2 rotation, has very light action, AND a tabbed focus ring. My Nocitlux 50mm f/1 has a VERY long throw and fairly damped... great for low light, shallow DOF work.. frustrating for normal photos.

 

[usayit]

Well all I know is that I manually focus my 400 2.8FD on a 1Dmk without any problems or camera help, no lights, no bells. Just my eye.

1 series is equipped with a prism viewfinder... one of the reasons its probably easier. Honestly, I never had a problem using 1dMarkII's AF in low light so I never bothered with manual focusing.

 

[LeftFieldPhotography]

Practice

I agree...it really just takes practice

 

[dupek]

Ever try to use autofocus to shoot spider sitting on web?.Forget it. You have to manual focus. I have T1i. I saw somewhere conversion kit to convert to prism, but can not locate it.

 

[Garbz]

Ever try to use autofocus to shoot spider sitting on web?.Forget it. You have to manual focus. I have T1i. I saw somewhere conversion kit to convert to prism, but can not locate it.

In live you this is true. Contrast detection will miss the spiderweb complete. Phase detection will however lock onto details providing you know how to use the camera. In the case of the spiderweb you'd need to limit the focus points to prevent it snapping to the background again in an effort to maximise the focus of the picture, also the distance to the spider web needs to be shorter than the distance to the background.

If you follow the above then continuous AF makes it far easier to photograph a spider

 

[PASM]

Go just beyond then come back.

So is there a trick to it

 

[grandad66]

I use old film cameras with no range finder or light meter and manual focus. With 35mm or normal digital the depth of field should be enough for small errors.you should be able to guess the distance or focus on a subject that is the same distance as the subject it is also a good idea to use a fast film or set your digital camera on a fast iso say 400asa in good daylight then you can close down to about F8 or smaller that will give a very good depth of field. you should not have any trouble then. If the focusing is that bad I wonder if your camera is faulty.?