When to use AF or MF?

[Thebigbarkhouski]

I always try to use manule everything while shooting but am slowly learning to let my camera carry some of the weight. I always want to remain artistically responsible for my shots and enjoy using MF but indo notice I can miss the chance for a good shot sometime. My questions to you people out there is when do you use AF or MF? what's the pros/cons? What other setting do you adjust while shooting in either mode?

 

[Peeb]

Use AF when you are in a hurry to catch a fleeting moment.
Use MF when you have time to compose.
Use AF when you don't trust your eyes.
Use MF when you want something the camera doesn't or can't 'see'.

Among others....

 

[robbins.photo]

I always try to use manule everything while shooting but am slowly learning to let my camera carry some of the weight. I always want to remain artistically responsible for my shots and enjoy using MF but indo notice I can miss the chance for a good shot sometime. My questions to you people out there is when do you use AF or MF? what's the pros/cons? What other setting do you adjust while shooting in either mode?

Autofocus gets a bad rap sometimes. I think because a lot of folks don't really take control of the AF system in their camera. Most cameras will come out of the factory default with settings where the camera is choosing the AF point from a multitude of AF points so the camera will pick the highest point of contrast within those designated points, instead of what the photographer actually wanted.

On my 7100 I normally set it to a single focus point so I get to make that choice. I will occasionally change my settings if I'm shooting something that is fast moving and harder to track, but for the most part a single focus point usually works fine for my needs.

As a result I really don't use manual focus much at all, it's a rare occasion when I need too.

 

[runnah]

I only use MF when shooting video or using my film camera.

Modern lenses are designed to be used with AF 99% of the time. Compared to old MF only lenses moderns lens are much more "sloppy" when it comes to the precision of the focus system.

 

[Big Mike]

I always try to use manule everything while shooting but am slowly learning to let my camera carry some of the weight.

There are very few times when manual focus is a better option that AF. The AF system is very likely more sensitive to focus/distance that your eyes are, so why not take advantage of it? Of course, it helps to have a good understanding of your camera's AF system...AF Modes and points/area mode etc.

That being said, there are times when AF won't do what you want or simply won't work at all. So sometimes, manual can be a better option.

Also note that you can utilize the camera's AF system, even when in manual focus. You can have the camera in MF, but use the AF confirmation light (green circle seen in the viewfinder) to have the camera confirm when it's in focus.

Another method that I recently discovered, is to use a 'hacked' firmware (Magic Lantern, on a Canon). It has several options and one of them is trap focus. In this mode, the camera is in manual focus mode and you hold down the shutter release button, and then when the AF system confirms focus, the camera snaps the picture.

 

[imagemaker46]

I grew up using manual focus shooting sports, I missed pictures, but I was sharp on the majority, it was the difference between good photographers and poor ones. The manual focus lenses I used were sharper than the majority of what is being produced these days. Auto focus lenses are designed for just that. I still manual focus in some situations, usually when the subject is static for a moment before movement. Example is the starting blocks at swimming, shooting from the side, I will focus on the swimmers head knowing that he will be going on a straight line into the pool, autofocus will grab the first person into the frame, on manual it stays sharp on the person I want, and allows all the movement around them.

Auto focus for sports is really the easiest way to shoot.

 

[Alexr25]

I use AF most of the time and only switch to MF when AF will not produce the results I need, e.g. when shooting macros, doing focus stacking or when I don't want the focus to shift between shots.
Generally AF does a better and faster job of focusing than you can do manually. The viewfinder screens in DSLRs are not equipped with the focusing aids that the pre AF SLR cameras had and not designed for accurate manual focusing. Also many of the modern AF lenses have very short focusing throw making accurate manual focusing even more difficult.

 

[Dave442]

I use the AF-ON button for focus, with most of my lenses that lets me do manual focus by just not pushing that button. Macro and focus stacking are where I always use manual focus.
These days I trust the cameras AF more than my eyesight.

 

[JustJazzie]

Manual focus: macro work
Auto focus: every other time.

My eyes are terrible (probably from spending too much time on tpf and stating at a screen ;-) ) and it takes me forever to MF. I don't use it unless I have to!

 

[BananaRepublic]

Don't use af if you're doing astro photography

 

[KmH]

Use MF when AF can't get the job done.

 

[unpopular]

When you're too cheap/too broke/too hip to use AF lenses.

 

[Dao]

Another method that I recently discovered, is to use a 'hacked' firmware (Magic Lantern, on a Canon). It has several options and one of them is trap focus. In this mode, the camera is in manual focus mode and you hold down the shutter release button, and then when the AF system confirms focus, the camera snaps the picture.

Do you mean the camera will take the photo automatically once the focus is confirm by the camera and the user do not need to anything else but just keep half pressing the shutter button?

If that is the case I need to look into and see if they have a firmware for my 7D. That is going to be very useful for macro shots!!

 

[soufiej]

I always try to use manule everything while shooting but am slowly learning to let my camera carry some of the weight. I always want to remain artistically responsible for my shots and enjoy using MF but indo notice I can miss the chance for a good shot sometime. My questions to you people out there is when do you use AF or MF? what's the pros/cons? What other setting do you adjust while shooting in either mode?

Why do you "always" use manual everything? I assume you somewhere have read "pro" photographers shoot in manual and you think that will make you a better photographer.

Your information is flawed and your conclusion is the result of flawed input. Pro photographers no more use manual everything than a race car driver always manually shifts their automatic transmission when driving in downtown traffic.

There is no benefit to manual anything when automatic will provide the desired result.

Now, that means you must manually select certain operations such as preferred metering modes and focus points, which in turn limit the operation of the camera to only those specifics you have chosen. So, yes, there is some "manual" operation to a modern camera but not the type I assume you are using.

In general, auto focus is a fairly well developed system on any modern DSLR. You can confirm this statement by reading any number of reviews on any number of photography websites. However, you must instruct the systems of the camera to do as you wish and not as they would have you do. In other words, the auto systems of today's DSLR's are based on hundreds of thousands of complaints from hobbyist or casual photographers about missed shots. The camera's system's designer creates algorithms which take all of those hundreds of thousands of complaints into account and makes the attempt to minimize the errors the camera will make should the user leave it to its own system operations. The result is generically boring photography.

If you do not set the camera to focus "here", it will focus, possibly, here, there and everywhere.

If you do not use the familiar focus/recompose technique, the camera will combine focus and exposure metering into one instant just prior to releasing the shutter.

If your camera is capable of being set up for "back button focus" lock and separate exposure metering, both independent of the shutter release, then your camera is still in control of what you will see as a result of your efforts.

Therefore, before you "use" auto focus, you must first understand how to "properly use" auto focus.

Read your owner's manual first. Then, if you remain unclear about how your camera's systems work, use a search engine with your camera's manufacturer and model number along with a few words such as "tips and tutorials". Now you will have instructions and explanations from someone using your specific camera or - at the least - a camera very much like your camera.

Once you understand how your camera will focus when set to "X", you have more creative choice in whether you wish to use a different focusing technique or simply allow the camera to, as you say, carry the load.

I also find it beneficial to know whether the specific lens I am using has; 1) any known auto focus errors common to its operation and, 2) whether it can be manually focused as an override (in other words, must I move a switch on the lens or camera to release the auto focus systems).

For example, I have a lens. I initially have tested this lens to see how it achieves focus at various focal lengths (if it's a zoom lens) and focal distances. Let's say I know this one lens (and every lens of every model number is unique so don't go only by what a reviewer has found) will be slightly off its perfect focus point when I am at a very short (but still within spec) minimum focus distance.

Fortunately, this particular lens has a manual focus override which allows me to simply tweak the focus for the distance.

Once I back off a bit with distance between lens and subject, this lens focuses without problems.

Therefore, with this specific lens I can use auto focus when I am, say, relying on the lens' auto focus system for shots of more distant subjects. Yet, I know I must tweak slightly when I am doing a close in shot. That's this specific lens and not another lens or another camera I own.

Therefore, knowing your equipment is a must.

I will also use manual focus when I desire a very specific bit of the subject to be in focus. Most auto focus systems will select the object closest to the lens no matter how much you have narrowed the selection process in your control of the lens.

Well, knowing that, I'll allow the camera to auto focus on the closest object even if that is not specifically what I want as the focus point. I will then take my manual control override and adjust the actual focus to the point I desire.

I find this is a quite common function when I'm shooting, say, flowers. The lens wants to focus on the closest object. I know that. I can't beat that system.

Let's say that focus point is the stigma or the anther of the flower which is attached to the pistul and comes up from the base of the flower's center (the ovary) and sits proud of the center of the flower. If I want that to be my focal point, I do nothing to refocus the lens, it has achieved the focus point I am satisfied with. I can't improve upon what the camera/lens has done.

However, if I prefer the ovary and the deepest bits of the flower's center - the base of the filament - to be what is in focus, then I know I cannot force the automatic systems of the lens to achieve that point. Now, I auto focus on the closest object with the auto focus system and then use the manual override of the lens to achieve the focus point I desire.

If I'm shooting wildlife or landscapes I will use a similar technique.

In short, I would say I use the automatic systems of the camera and lens when I; first, know the result I desire (the idea of "seeing" the image you want before you release the shutter) and, second, when I understand how the systems will work either for me or against me.

 

[Peeb]

Use MF when AF can't get the job done.

And use AF when MF can't get the job done.