Manual or AF

[Jus7 A Phas3]

Which do you guys use more and why? I use AF more because when i shoot skating i do not have time to focus on the skater while he is in the air and before he lands. I do envey the people who can get super crisp manual shots though. What do you guys use more?

 

[John_Olexa]

I use AF for just about everything. For the same reasons.. faster. The only exception is Marco work I almost always (98%) use manual.

 

[Overread]

I would say certainly that traking subject with autofocus is certainly far eariser than with manual - however autofocus can sometimes get things a little wrong so I do put in as much practise as I can to get my manual focus up to speed - but with something like skating or tracking birds in the air I think AF is almost always going to get consistantly better shots (that is not to say that manual is not possible, just that for each great manual shot you get you might get more infocues AF shots)

 

[taracor]

I personally use Auto Focus most of the time. It's faster, and with my DX lens, even faster still. Granted, it doesn't get everything right, and in that case I'll switch over to manual, but generally it's AF for me.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

AF all the time, my eyesight isn't good enough to manually focus unless I use my FE.

 

[Miaow]

Mainly AF (faster etc) unless its too dark for it to work right then I'll use manual

 

[photogincollege]

I use af almost always, sometimes using manual focus afterwards to fine tune it.

 

[usayit]

AF.. most cameras are decent enough for most situations. Besides, most consumer level modern day wiz-bang DSLRs have the crappiest viewfinders for manual focusing.

 

[JimmyO]

For skating i usually get the subject in focus with AF while hes setting up then switch to MF when he actually goes for it so the camera doesnt try to re-AF between shots

 

[plentygood]

Lately it's been manual focusing. I've been shooting a lot of Rob-inspired stuff completely out of focus.

Otherwise it's AF. More accurate and faster.

 

[Garbz]

Definitely Manual Focus at all times. Nothing beats all the out of focus and missed shots. Nothing beats having expensive silent wave motors only to slowly turn the ring to find the correct spot.
It's fantastic I suggest it to everyone. Why I've thrown away about 200 photos that were out of focus last month, that is what photography is all about...

Now in all seriousness. AF is a tool. Use it when it works, override it with MF when it doesn't (low contrast, too dark, predefine focus point, etc)

 

[Jus7 A Phas3]

For skating i usually get the subject in focus with AF while hes setting up then switch to MF when he actually goes for it so the camera doesnt try to re-AF between shots

Good idea, i have the problem sometimes and it sucks, now i know how to fix it though. haha