[panik343]

Which do you like better when taking pictures: manual focus, or automatic focus (if available)?

I'm just curious because with manual it seems to come out more clear.

 

[blessingx]

What does that mean?

Which camera are you comparing manual v. automatic? What's your subject?

A good camera with multi-setting auto-focusing can be very crisp (assuming light, speed, etc. conditions).

 

[Arainach]

With modern AF systems, there's no reason not to use it. AF is always faster and nearly always more accurate than the MF abilities of 99% of people. Some people who have used MF all their life will be able to get a hair more accuracy out of it, but unless you're doing Macro Shots or working with ultrawide (f/1.4 or larger) apertures, there's no reason to use MF.

 

[Dimitris]

It depends. I have a Nikon F3hp (manual) and I love using it. Sometimes its annoying when you want to focus somewhere and the sensor focuses elsewhere. Then you have to recomposition, lock focus etc etc. On the other side its very tough to achieve good focus with manual on long lenses.

 

[Lord Chaos]

Which mode works better depends on what you're shooting, the light level, contrast in the scene and what kind of camera you're using. My Canon Powershot G2 had a hard time in shady areas, and would not reliably focus on anything in the macro mode. The digital SLR which replaced the G2 is much better, and most of the time I let it do the focusing.

I still do macro photos manually, and also some low-contrast or off-center compositions. Any time there isn't enough depth of field for the whole scene to be in focus is a time to manually focus on what you want to be the photograph's main area.

 

[Contrastique]

Depends on what's in front of the lens. If there is little contrast I will use manual. Also with macro. For the rest I use Af since my eyes are not really oke and I refuse to wear glasses LOL

And when you use AF, you just have to know how to use it in order to get what you want. ( I am talking slr here)

 

[vagarach]

I try and use AF as much as possible, I like my shots razor-sharp

. However, in macro shooting, or when there are lots of objects in view to focus on but only one subject, I use manual, and even then, getting really sharp focus takes patience.

Sometimes though, I like putting the camera in manual mode and shooting, just to decrease the camera's control over the focus, aperture, and shutter speed. Sort of like manual vs automatic gearboxes, where in one you are much more involved in the process than the other. Silly, I know!

 

[jjcha]

I'm still figuring out what I really like using. I know I don't like full-on automatic point selecting auto-focus. But full manual focusing with the standard viewfinder on my Rebel XTi is not an option. The viewfinder just isn't big enough or bright enough to have any confidence a scene is precisely focused.

This photo was done with manual focusing and it looked like it was focused on the 5 prong plug, but as you can see it's somewhat front-focused. I spent a good 20 seconds or so trying to get it in focus in the viewfinder.

So generally, I've been shooting with center point auto-focus then recomposing the image once I have focus-lock. I posted this in another thread here, but I think this method works pretty well for me. So far I don't have the muscle-memories or habits to select an auto-focus point when I don't have much time to set up a shot.

If you like manual focusing and want a better viewfinder, there are replacement split screen focusing screens. I don't know if I'm quite ready to give up my autofocus points on screen quite yet.

http://home.kc.rr.com/educ/screen/ht...der_views.html

Best,

-Jason

 

[dj_mocok]

Well, it depends on the subject really. If the subject is still or cooperative, manual focusing (with proper gear) is fun.

Try manual focusing with Nikon F5 and AI/S lenses, then you'll know how fun it is to manual focus.

 

[Dimitris]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjcha /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm still figuring out what I really like using. I know I don't like full-on automatic point selecting auto-focus. But full manual focusing with the standard viewfinder on my Rebel XTi is not an option. The viewfinder just isn't big enough or bright enough to have any confidence a scene is precisely focused. This photo was done with manual focusing and it looked like it was focused on the 5 prong plug, but as you can see it's somewhat front-focused. I spent a good 20 seconds or so trying to get it in focus in the viewfinder. So generally, I've been shooting with center point auto-focus then recomposing the image once I have focus-lock. I posted this in another thread here, but I think this method works pretty well for me. So far I don't have the muscle-memories or habits to select an auto-focus point when I don't have much time to set up a shot. If you like manual focusing and want a better viewfinder, there are replacement split screen focusing screens. I don't know if I'm quite ready to give up my autofocus points on screen quite yet. http://home.kc.rr.com/educ/screen/ht...der_views.html Best, -Jason

Focusing manually with an XT can be very challenging. The same is with my 20D. Its like you are seeing the picture through a tunnel. I so miss full frame.

 

[Mr_Penut]

on my mamiya, I manual focus, on my nikon fe, I manual focus. On the 20d? Have fun with that tiny viewfinder

 

[Dimitris]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_Penut /img/forum/go_quote.gif on my mamiya, I manual focus, on my nikon fe, I manual focus. On the 20d? Have fun with that tiny viewfinder

I have a Nikon F3hp too with a very cool viewfinder. The 20D viewfinder isn't any worse than my old FM2 so I bet its at least on par with the FE. The best viewfinder I have tried was F5. I am definitely going to upgrade to a 5D or something in the future.

 

[Mr_Penut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dimitris /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have a Nikon F3hp too with a very cool viewfinder. The 20D viewfinder isn't any worse than my old FM2 so I bet its at least on par with the FE. The best viewfinder I have tried was F5. I am definitely going to upgrade to a 5D or something in the future.

I have never used a 35mm camera that came/comes close to the nikon fe finder. It's HUGE, I don't care about having a bunch of info in there, I was a bright, full frame view. 20d can't come close, f5 comes close, but isn't the same. I've shot the 5d, 1d, everything, and canon doesn't make a dslr with a viewfinder that can match the fe. There was an article in a photo mag a few months back about how the old finders are better than the new ones.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_Penut /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have never used a 35mm camera that came/comes close to the nikon fe finder. It's HUGE, I don't care about having a bunch of info in there, I was a bright, full frame view. 20d can't come close, f5 comes close, but isn't the same. I've shot the 5d, 1d, everything, and canon doesn't make a dslr with a viewfinder that can match the fe. There was an article in a photo mag a few months back about how the old finders are better than the new ones.

Actually, the FE's viewfinder does not show 100 percent of the picture that will make it onto the final film: Its framing accuracy (area coverage) is only about 92 to 93 percent - typical of a mid-range SLR of its era. This means that the film will record slightly more picture area than what you see in the FE's viewfinder.

The top-line Nikon F-series (F, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6) have virtually 100 percent viewfinders (this means that the viewfinder will show virtually all of the picture that will make the final negative or slide, and little else).

Oh, sorry for being off-topic about viewfinder coverage. It's the viewfinder magnification that you are referring to. Many DSLR viewfinders provide significantly smaller than 1.0x magnification, making some finer details hard to see.

 

[rb67]

I have a Nikon D70 and mainly use my 28mm 2.8 AI-S manual lens. Love it, but only for nature and still photos. If something isn't moving, I really avoid using the center weight-focus, recompose method because it doesn't give you perfect focus control if it's not near the center of the composition, especially on a non-telephoto lens. Moving things and snapshots I stick to the kit 18-70 AF-S because it's faster (for me) and allows for quick composition.