Is there a trick to manual focusing?

schumionbike

TPF Noob!
Joined
Mar 9, 2007
Messages
1,083
Reaction score
0
Location
Houston, Texas
Can others edit my Photos
Photos OK to edit
I try manual focusing a few time and I never seem to get a very sharp shot. I put the lens on manual focus and turn the focusing ring to make the subject in the picture reasonably clear and then take the picture but I ended up focusing on something else beside the subjects. So is there a trick to it or do I just need a lot more practices.
 
Generally speaking, DSLRs, particularly entry level to mid-range, are just very very difficult to manual focus successfully. There's no reason that you should worry about manually focusing the camera unless you are in a situation where you just can't get the AF to work right. In that case it's just a matter of practice.
 
also check that your diopter is set right (look up in your manual for this) its a common problem that people don't set this right and then try manual focusing and get repeatedly soft shots.
 
You can also rock your body to pull final focus by moving the camera... got enough light? Tripod?

-Shea
 
I would set your auto focus to the center point only. In manual focus the point will still blink when correct focus is reached.
 
Yeah the trick to manual focusing is to use it when you can't autofocus anymore like in low light or when you're setting up a shot waiting for a subject to move into a focus point. Unless the autofocus doesn't work, autofocus will be faster and dead accurate every time when used properly.

Modern SLRs are not at all designed for manual focusing and without a focusing aid like a split prism which were available in every SLR back in the day, autofocusing using the small viewfinder and a little focusing dot is like pulling teeth and works only about half of the time.
 
Thanks for the responses guys, I have upgrade to a Nikon D40 with the kit len and the 55-200 VR. I was messing around with the manual focus with the kit lens. I figure I learn how to manual focus just in case I need to know how to use it but the results from my picture is all over the place.
 
Yeah the trick to manual focusing is to use it when you can't autofocus anymore like in low light or when you're setting up a shot waiting for a subject to move into a focus point. Unless the autofocus doesn't work, autofocus will be faster and dead accurate every time when used properly.

Yeah auto focus sucks in low light, which really sucks, because it's hard as balls to manual focus in low light.
 
Generally speaking, DSLRs, particularly entry level to mid-range, are just very very difficult to manual focus successfully. There's no reason that you should worry about manually focusing the camera unless you are in a situation where you just can't get the AF to work right. In that case it's just a matter of practice.

I agree.

That is why they invented AF. Manual is hard.
 
Depth of field can help of course - if your focusing at F1.4 it'll be a whole lot harder than F22.
 
Depth of field can help of course - if your focusing at F1.4 it'll be a whole lot harder than F22.

If you're using a camera from about the early 80's onwards, this isn't the case because all focusing/viewing is done with the aperture open to its widest to allow a bright image, with the iris diaphram only stopping down to what the user has selected when the shutter is released.
 
It seems like it should be simple enough, but it is a skill that requires practice.

It's also a task with the tiny, dim viewfinders of today's DSLRs. There are focusing screens with manual focus aids such as split rings, microbeads, etc... available for most DSLRs. I installed them in all my DSLRs for a while after I switched from manual focus film cameras to DSLRs. I must be trusting AF more as I haven't bothered to get on for my latest DSLR (although it's not the camera I use most often anyway).

I wish my fancy DSLRs had the ability of my CHDK hacked point-n-shoot to display exact focusing distance and DOF in the LCD. I zone focused with great success for a decade, but it's tough to do without a DOF scale. I guess I need a Blackberry or fancy cell phone I can upload a DOF calculator to.
 
If you're using a camera from about the early 80's onwards, this isn't the case because all focusing/viewing is done with the aperture open to its widest to allow a bright image, with the iris diaphram only stopping down to what the user has selected when the shutter is released.

Of course it's the case, the point is depth of field give you a margin of error. If your focusing slightly off @ f22 it'll still be in focus but probably out of focus @ f1.4
 
If you're using a camera from about the early 80's onwards, this isn't the case because all focusing/viewing is done with the aperture open to its widest to allow a bright image, with the iris diaphram only stopping down to what the user has selected when the shutter is released.

Unless you have full frame, the dinky dim viewfienders of a DSLR are total junk compared to the bright and crisp viewfinders of the better 35 towards the end of that era.

Night and day.

Plus, they of course were designed for manual focus with split screen viewfinders.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top