Auto Focus vs Manual Focus

[anaanda]

Obviously since this is a dedicated rangefinder sight, all true rangefinders are manual. What is it about manual focus? It seems like with autofocus and AE you could concentrate more on composure. Please enlighten me to what's special about manual focus and a full manual camera.

Thanks

 

[aad]

Well, I could point out thee pictures I got when my auto P&S focused on a piece of rigging on my boat instead of the kids I was trying to get-but there's also a bit of sailing vs. powerboating involved.

 

[JoeFriday]

street photography often happens so quickly that waiting just 1 second for a camera to focus (hopefully) on the subject means you missed the shot entirely.. an experienced street photographer will 'preset' his focus as he's waiting for a photo opportunity to happen at a given spot.. say, a sign on a wall that would play well off a pedestrian walking by.. he then can raise the camera and frame the shot in an instant and not miss the moment.. an AF camera generally won't allow for that

also, AF cameras are notorious for having focusing problems in dim light.. which is another situation that rangefinder cameras are chosen specifically to deal with

another thing is that to compose a good shot, you generally use the Rule of Thirds.. and AF cameras don't deal well with that.. they like to focus on what's in the center of the image

 

[Theo-Prof]

With non-SLR AF systems there is no way to know precisely on what the camera is focusing. With AF SLRs the situation is better, although most have focusing screens with so little etching that this is sometimes a little of a guessing game as well. Even if you place a focusing frame on, say an eye, does the focusing element correspond exactly to the mark on the screen? With auto focus there is always an element of guesswork invovled. (The same could be said, however, about paralax error in a rangefinder as well.)

The biggest problem with AF cameras is that, depending on what AF mode you have chosen, the cameras will often not fire exactly when you press the shutter release, thus missing that all-important critical moment.

All this being said, I have an AF P&S and an AF SLR. Each has its own purpose and I use them according to their intended uses.

Kevin

 

[oftheherd]

There are advantages and disadvantages to AF and manual, whether in an SLR or an RF, as has been stated. Frankly, I think a lot of it is personal preference. I can prefocus an SLR just as easily as an RF. Fixed lens RFs tend to be a little smaller and I guess lighter than interchangable lens RFs. Although some fixed lens RFs were rather bigger than they needed to be other than for giving the photographer something to hang on to. I have 35mm RF cameras and one MF camera. I use them for different things than I use SLRs for. Even though my SLRs tend to be rather small. The MF is almost exclusively for when I want a larger negative. My Canonet is quite small, but not as small as my Welta Welti.

As I said, it me it seems a lot of it is just personal preference.

 

[boarini2003]

I use manual focus only on my Bessa R and my FM2, and using the hyperfocal technique (keeping the lens at the smallest aperture possible) I generally do all my shots in daylight at f16 and 1/125 or 1/250 using fast film (Hp5), and I get almost everything in perfect focus. Not having to focus at all is even faster than the fastest AF system in the world. As the day grows darker, I am forced to progressively open the aperture more, getting less depth of field, but using the distance scale and the average subject distance (I set it at 3 meters) focusing is often very fast. And even if something is out of focus from time to time, it can look great!

 

[wtl]

Manual focus always gives me shutter priority, meaning that the shutter is always ready to take shots regardless what's the focus is doing. Not like the AF camera that will not let me take pictures if the camera thinks the focus is not done properly.

Second, manual focus lets me focus on what I want, ALL THE TIME. AF camera once in a while slips and focuses on the wrong thing.

I'd rather make mistake by myself instead of the camera.

 

[Bertram2]

It seems like with autofocus and AE you could concentrate more on composure.
Thanks

True. To have AE as an option is an advantage , no question, AF too, leaving aside that it does not work without probs in low light environments, and that you must control it in any case, otherwise you often will get annoying mistakes.
Working with the DOF and a preset hyperfocal distance on a manual wide angle lens is still the fastest solution of all, as fast as the famous super fast Instamatic with the fixed focus lens. 😉

Bertram