AF vs Manual - When do YOU use it?

[DorkSterr]

98% of the time I'm on auto. There has never been a time too dark too use manual focus yet...

 

[ConradM]

Zone AF 90% of the time. MF with peaking when I'm taking still product type shots.

 

[Mikemaz]

Mostly i use manual focus.

 

[bribrius]

lot of this really depends on how much im drinking. usually the more I drink the more apt I am to use auto for everything. BUt on the other hand, usually a little drink im more stable so less likely to need a tripod.
To much, I have trouble setting up the tripod and then you get the kind of stuff I post on here.

 

[glun]

I use manual when I take landscape photography when my camera is on the tripod. Also I use it group shots after I use autofocus to have an accurate measurement, I turn it off and use remote trigger to take the shot. I found the picture has better quality that way because of less vibration in the lens.

 

[agp]

I use MF when doing things like light painting. Because you start with pitch black (or very often I do), I have to light the object first, manual focus, cut the light, press the shutter button, then get creative with the light.

 

[Solarflare]

I use manual when I do macro (well, near macro, I dont really have a real macro lens and I dont have any of the other necessary macro equipment), in which case I set the camera to nearest focus point and just move it around instead of using autofocus or touching the manual focus control any further, or when I want to use some really unusual kind of focusing.

Like, I tried to "paint" color recently by setting my lens to nearest possible setting and photographing stuff far away. Turned out I didnt actually liked the result, though. Maybe I need some really wide aperature lens so the background actually turns into mush and doesnt just look out of focus.

Well, just as an example for when I would disable autofocus. In general, I use autofocus all the time.

Ever since I had the D600, I can finally see if things are actually in focus, or not. Not possible with my D5100 before. Thus, on the D5100, I always used autofocus.

 

[jjd228]

With the emphasis on YOU... What times do you find yourself using autofocus compared to manual?

Personally, I try to focus on my own because there is nothing more painful to me than missing a shot due to AF grabbing the "wrong" thing. However I sometimes find myself unable to keep up with the ring. Maybe it's just my crappy eyes, dunno, but I'm curious to see what people think of as a good time to rely on autofocus.

Curious, how does your AF "grab the wrong thing"? It sounds like you have automatic AF point selection turned on. Why don't you instead manually choose only the center AF point? Then there's no way the wrong thing will be grabbed, unless you don't put the point where you want it.

 

[astroNikon]

With the emphasis on YOU... What times do you find yourself using autofocus compared to manual?

Personally, I try to focus on my own because there is nothing more painful to me than missing a shot due to AF grabbing the "wrong" thing. However I sometimes find myself unable to keep up with the ring. Maybe it's just my crappy eyes, dunno, but I'm curious to see what people think of as a good time to rely on autofocus.

Curious, how does your AF "grab the wrong thing"? It sounds like you have automatic AF point selection turned on. Why don't you instead manually choose only the center AF point? Then there's no way the wrong thing will be grabbed, unless you don't put the point where you want it.

Unless you have a busy background and the AF system thinks you want the background. I have that happen alot in kids sports. using Dynamic 9 the AF system, even though the subject is in the d9 area, will focus on the background, or in some instances the grass.

 

[TCampbell]

If I can trust auto-focus to work, then I use it. But auto-focus won't work in dim light and there are a few situations where I don't want the camera to attempt to change focus after I set it.

Here's an example of a shot taken at manual focus because auto-focus would not have worked:



This light pattern was actually VERY dim (the camera is really mis-representing the image). In fact the dim light in the hallway (that's actually a reflection in a mirror) was so dim we hadn't even realized it was going to be in the image at all. This is a 20 second exposure at ISO 6400. It was barely noticeable to the human eye.

To shoot this, I had to manually focus the camera. While this was shot with an f/2.8 lens, I actually used f/5.6 because I didn't want the depth of field to be too shallow.

I do have a tilt-shift lens and those are manual focus only -- so that's manual focus too... but for different reasons.

Also, when I shoot astro-images those have to be manually focused as well.

 

[SDreams]

I like this thread. As a semi-noobie I have often felt like like I NEED to learn how to MF. Now I wont feel so pressured. Thanks

 

[astroNikon]

I like this thread. As a semi-noobie I have often felt like like I NEED to learn how to MF. Now I wont feel so pressured. Thanks

You'll know when you need too ... which may be never ..

 

[DBA]

I shoot fast action sports (motocross) with a typical DOF of 6'ish feet and the subjects take up 5'ish feet. If I shot manual focus I'd be lucky to get one decent one out of a 1000. :lmao:

Single point AF-C is what I use.

 

[nzmacro]

I shoot fast action sports (motocross) with a typical DOF of 6'ish feet and the subjects take up 5'ish feet. If I shot manual focus I'd be lucky to get one decent one out of a 1000. :lmao:

Single point AF-C is what I use.

1 out of a 1000 !! Then that would have to be very bad technique 6 feet DOF, man that is a lot, try inches and it gets tough. MF is all about technique and we used it for fast action long before AF came along and we still get a lot more than 1 out of a 1000 now days using MF Heck, I would give up at that ratio.

All the best and just out of interest, how many times have you tried it ??

Danny.

 

[minicoop1985]

Like TCampbell said, there's definitely times for manual focus. For me, it's AF 99.9% of the time with the Canon. With the film cameras, well, there's no choice, so manual it is. I'd also like to add: if you use manual focus to shoot a rambunctious toddler, you're gonna have a bad time. Believe me, I've tried it, and continue to try it, against the advice of my therapists and the people who put me in the special padded room.