Autofocus?

[Corran]

Unless your camera is on a tripod and your sitter has a neck brace on your focus needs to change. In this day of 16, 24, 36, and soon 50+ megapixels, even stopped down you'll be noticeably out of focus if you drift just slightly. I've seen it clearly in my shots with my Nikon D800 doing portraits, especially using longer/faster lenses of course.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

This is how I focus with Canon DSLRs. Well known method, back button focusing.

 

[furcafe]

As a hardcore manual focuser, I will almost always choose to separate AF from shutter release if possible. I only wish all modern cameras were less right-hand-centric & had the option of an AF button on the lens or on the left side of the camera to give the left hand something to do (same deal w/aperture rings on lenses).

 

[Keith]

When I press the shutter button on my M-A it does not seem to focus before it fires the shutter. I assume AF must have been assigned to the back button at the factory but I'll be darned if I can even find that silly thing.

Guess I'm just going to have to send it to Leica and insist they calibrate the AF properly!!

😀 😀

I don't know what I am going to do with my Rollei. Harry Fleenor refuses to answer my e-mails. 🙁

Wow ... amazing! I'm having exactly the same problem with my M240 ... please keep me updated on Leica's progress with your problem. 😀

 

[rbelyell]

i find seperating focus from the shutter is advantageous in two important ways: first, as bill pointed out, it reduces lag between shots and thus one can capture more 'decisive' moments. second, often i find it advantageous to seperate exposure from focus. using a button other than the shutter to focus accomplishes both.

certainly habit prevents many from setting things up this way. i also think the modern preoccupation with shooting fast lenses wide open regardless of circumstance also requires 'refocusing' constantly because the workable DOF people work with is so (needlessly) shallow.

 

[MCTuomey]

Back button AF for my Canons, older habit from sportshooting days and, yes, it preserves my ability to lock exposure with the shutter button. No back button use with my Fuji though - poor button placement for me, sadly.

With wides, yes, MF with a rangefinder tops all. In tight, in a crowd, with a 35mm or wider, zone focused, nothing's faster for me.

 

[jsrockit]

But when I use autofocus I do the same as jrockit. With one exception: I notice people use "focus/recompose "- why!? <scratches head>

Modern dSLRs have a zillion focus points, so if you set the camera to single-point autofocus you can move that point all around the viewfinder. More accurate and far quicker then "focus/recompose" because, well, it's just "focus"!

I like to know exactly what is in focus... if I point and focus on what I want in focus, then I know it'll be in focus. My subject isn't always in the same part of the frame.

 

[willie_901]

...
But when I use autofocus I do the same as jrockit. With one exception: I notice people use "focus/recompose "- why!? <scratches head>

Modern dSLRs have a zillion focus points, so if you set the camera to single-point autofocus you can move that point all around the viewfinder. More accurate and far quicker then "focus/recompose" because, well, it's just "focus"!

I find focus and recompose is quicker than manually moving the focus box around to the desired focus object. And I've used contemporary Nikon DSLR bodies with ergonomics that make this an easy task.

As JR mentioned above, I don't trust the camera to figure it out. If I miss focus I'd rather blame myself than the strangers who designed hardware and software to focus a frame they've never seen.

 

[John Bragg]

I have found back button focussing to be the best way for me, and if I want to track something, just hold the button. Nikon F5 and Nikon F100 both work well like this. It is more natural for me shooting portraits to focus and then concentrate on my subject, just like manual focussing.

 

[Darthfeeble]

The last thing I want is more buttons to push. I use the center point, half press and re-compose. Quick and simple. I shoot a couple of different cameras and the shutter button is in the same place on all of them, the "back button" isn't. I'm too old to deal with that.

 

[furcafe]

Ditto, or "word" as the kids would say (20 years ago). I find the whole deal of moving the focus points around to be counterintuitive (like playing a bad 1980s video game) & slower than just manually focusing (even w/the crappy default focus screens that are in current dSLRs, even top-of-the-line models). It's fine on an iPhone or something w/a similar touchscreen interface, but on dSLRs, it just doesn't work for me; you get all the disadvantages of manual focus combined w/the disadvantages of AF.

I find focus and recompose is quicker than manually moving the focus box around to the desired focus object. And I've used contemporary Nikon DSLR bodies with ergonomics that make this an easy task.

As JR mentioned above, I don't trust the camera to figure it out. If I miss focus I'd rather blame myself than the strangers who designed hardware and software to focus a frame they've never seen.