Manual Focus Vs Auto Focus

BrianJoseph

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hey everyone i have a quick question i was wondering how many still do manual focus when shooting people. i have some friends who are photographer that always tell me to shoot manual i turned to this site to get input from everyone on this idea of always shooting manual.
 
I use MF when the camera just can't get the focus where I want it. AF is not perfect.

Same reason I use the R on my trucks transmission.... my truck never knows when I want to go backwards.
 
lol i guess MF is always good to use :)
 
My eyes fail me. So I use AF 99% of the time.
With fast action shots too it's just much more accurate and faster.
I use focus override or MF from time to time for more specific shots.
 
There is a difference between "Shooting Manual" and using "Manual Focus". Which do you mean?
 
manual focus i always shoot manual.
 
I have 10 lenses (7 Zeiss and 3 Canon) for my A7II and only one AF (Batis 18mm)... And I love it ! :fat:
 
causapscal so im taking it as you only do MF did it take you a long time to get use to it?
 
On 35-Format I use and love two manual focus lenses regularly:

The 4.0/200mm Ai-S Micro-Nikkor for its superb color rendition as a simple solution for food shots while cooking

The 1.4/35mm Ai-S for its super crazy bokeh wide open and the 1970ies feel shot into the light. I also did a food series and see that it is a great match for the D500, which features the Ground Glass of the Analogue Nikon F6.

General remark: There is no AF in Large Format work so all of my commercial digital product shots are MF naturally

Style: I love the process of MF shooting. I slows me down
 
manual focus i always shoot manual.
I don't understand why you would always use manual mode, but if it makes you happy that's a good thing.

I use manual MODE some of the time when the circumstances warrant, but I never use manual FOCUS. Autofocus is faster and more accurate than my eyes so I let the camera do the work in that respect.
 
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I'm-a hankerin' fer some manual-focus lenses, which I will eventually obtain, so then I will have no option but to focus manually. Meanwhile, since my current setup will focus acceptably, I just let it.
 
It depends on how I'm using the camera and the conditions I'm shooting in. I can't speak for other brands, though I would assume they are similar, but on my Pentax when using the view finder, the AF uses "phase detection" to focus (a process that splits the image into 2 copies then adjusts the lens until the copies merge). The process works well in low light or low contrast scenes, and is quick. In Live View, the the AF uses contrast detection which measures the intensity difference between adjacent pixels on the sensor. In low light or scenes that lack contrast the AF has a hard time focusing. Which is why I use manual a lot in Live View, when shooting in low light/low contrast scenes. Otherwise I rely on AF.
 
If you were shooting macro shots, you might select manual focus. Also, if you were shooting a lot of shots of the same subject. Let's say portraiture where the person is sitting in the same spot. Focus once and leave it set. (Same with exposure). Also, if you're shooting street shots and zoning the focus or when you don't want the camera to decide which person is the focal point, then manual or zone focus would work better. Another time might be when shooting landscape when you want to pick the hyperfocal distance to get the maximum Depth of Field to infinity. Or maybe you only want a portion of the depth of field to be in focus. So you have to select that point manually in the field that covers that portion combined with a selected aperture.
 

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