raid
Dad Photographer
AF may have focused on the subway train and not the woman.
As I said I'm a manual man, but AF when I need it. It would have been impossible for me to make this image with my manual cameras:
Pentax K1 by John Carter, on Flickr
Really? Skateboarding photography on ramps and bowls has been done since the 70s... you just focus where you know they will be going.
Ko.Fe.
Lenses 35/21 Gears 46/20
AF may have focused on the subway train and not the woman.
Depending on DOF she might be still in focus.
raid
Dad Photographer
I used an Olympus XA with ISO 400 film. The aperture must have been set to 2.8 then. The DOF was shallow or not wide.
AF may have focused on the subway train and not the woman.
Not if you told the AF where to focus... you literally point it at what you want to focus, wait until it locks, and then compose. AND that's in its most basic form too. It is very easy to do and get right 99.9% of the time.
Wait, do some people think AF is random and that you don't control it?
Ko.Fe.
Lenses 35/21 Gears 46/20
This is why I'm big fan of wide AF lenses. 
UWA AF f2.8 zoom on FF DSLR:
UWA AF f2.8 zoom on FF DSLR:
raid
Dad Photographer
Mackinaw
Think Different
Auto-focus sure is great, when it works, but I’ve been let down too many times. Living in the country, we often see wildlife in our backyard. Last winter, a Cooper’s Hawk took up residence in a spruce tree near our backyard bird feeder looking for some hapless chickadee to come by. I grabbed my Olympus OM-D and fired off a few shots, all which were blurry. Even though I put the focusing bracket right on the bird, the surrounding branches must have confused the camera’s auto-focus sensor. Big disappointment.
A few weeks back, there was a peaceful demonstration in our small town. I grabbed my ancient Canon IVSb rangefinder and 35/2.8 lens and walked through the crowd (BTW, all were wearing masks and socially distanced). I set the aperture at F11 and zone focused at about 6 feet. I took about 40 shots, all which ended up being perfectly focused. I was a happy camper.
Jim B.
A few weeks back, there was a peaceful demonstration in our small town. I grabbed my ancient Canon IVSb rangefinder and 35/2.8 lens and walked through the crowd (BTW, all were wearing masks and socially distanced). I set the aperture at F11 and zone focused at about 6 feet. I took about 40 shots, all which ended up being perfectly focused. I was a happy camper.
Jim B.
Michael Markey
Veteran
I don`t think its a flaw but rather it`s designed to indicate that the focus is spot on.
At least that`s what I read.
As an aside I find the AF on my A7R2 with the Batis lenses and even adapted Canon lenses to be fine.
Likewise the AF on my 5D3 .
Both will miss occasionally but so will I with manual focus .
I'm still a fan of the relatively ancient AF of the late 90s/early 2000s. Such as on the Nikon F100 or F80...5 or so focus points, but I very rarely move them off the center point. Even the Nikon F4 with a single focus point and a monstrous torquey motor is hard to beat today, other than by the latest mirrorless systems that have high speed computers to recognize eyes and faces, phase detect pixels across the entire sensor, along with lenses with minimal mass that can move very quickly.
AlexBG
Well-known
The best thing I ever did to help my photography and autofocus was stick with one camera and one lens. In my case the fuji 35 1.4 and XT line of cameras. Now on my X-T3 I have the continuous autofocus set the way I need it, full frame, following objects etc etc. It saves me worrying about the camera doing it's job and I can concentrate on getting the photo. I've also changed the slow burst to 3 frames and high to 20 something. I use slow burst a lot.
I have now stopped using adapted lenses because I take too long to focus and miss shots and am using my leica M3 less and less. Having the fuji work exactly how I want it me has made me stop thinking about gear and concentrate on the actual image.
I have now stopped using adapted lenses because I take too long to focus and miss shots and am using my leica M3 less and less. Having the fuji work exactly how I want it me has made me stop thinking about gear and concentrate on the actual image.
You are right; I may just not like to use AF.
Nothing wrong with that!
raid
Dad Photographer
I still don't need to wear glasses, and I can focus well (when I pay attention to it!).
charjohncarter
Veteran
I can't I'm not good enough.
And Ko.Fe., he only did this once; it was the last move he made that day. I just turned and shot: AF and AE. Then he picked up his water and phone and was gone.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
John, it's mostly a matter of practice. Nothing more.
—
For me, personally, I get far more usable exposures when I don't rely on autofocus (or autoexposure for that matter), for whatever reason. I know what I want my camera to do, and I don't like fighting automation systems to make it do what I want. Setting things up the way I want the camera to work, for whatever scene I'm trying to capture, is for me the best way to get what I want.
What other people do ... well, it's up to them to do whatever is needed to get the results they want. I don't care what that might be. If AF and AE works perfectly for you 99.9% of the time, just use it and make the photos you want/need to make. I have nothing negative or disparaging to say about that .. the results are all that matter, not what technology you used to obtain them.
Photography should be about making the photos that you want to make, for whatever reason and however you can, not arguing points of specifications or workflow incessantly.
onwards,
G
charjohncarter
Veteran
I really have no desire to do sports photography, but thanks, I won't be practicing fire hose photography. This was a day I took my grandsons to that park, but the spectators had to sit too far way for my 35mm lens.
phrons
Established
Reading all of these post make me believe many of the AF detractors have not used a modern (within the last 5 years) AF technology.
If you are only using your experience from 10, or even 20 years ago; then you are completely missing how technology has made AF so much more superior.
If you prefer manual focus, or scale focus, then that’s fine. However, in no way is it better than the accuracy of AF these days.
Even modern entry level cameras have superb AF.
If you are only using your experience from 10, or even 20 years ago; then you are completely missing how technology has made AF so much more superior.
If you prefer manual focus, or scale focus, then that’s fine. However, in no way is it better than the accuracy of AF these days.
Even modern entry level cameras have superb AF.
raid
Dad Photographer
I have used AF with an Olympus EPL1. It works well. My AF lens is a Panasonic 25/1.4 Lux
I also used a Nikon D700.
I also used a Nikon D700.
Michael Markey
Veteran
I`m coming around to that point of view after many years .
zuiko85
Veteran
Have an Oly EM10 but not even one M-Zuiko, got it mainly to use my old 1960’s Pen F lenses. But even to manual focus accurately I have to resort to magnified view.
An iPhone 7 is my only autofocus camera.
An iPhone 7 is my only autofocus camera.