IS AUTO FOCUS OVERATED???

For me AF is not very interesting - I don´t like to make my image composition focus point orientated. I work with the EOS 5D + EE-S screen - and have the mirror replaced with an 100% silver mirror - no longer AF on this camera

I have blurred images of my active child - but I have enough sharp ones too.
For the birth of my second child I took my 5D without AF, the DIY converted Canon FD 24mm/1.4L and Minolta Rokkor 58mm/1.2 and it was fine. In a bag at home I had a second 5D (original) with the Canon EF 50/1.4 - the lens long unused. Have the AF lens on the camera to get my wife take some photographs of me and the child.

But I have no problems if others like AF and those front and back focus problems...

Feel like i've opened a can of worms!! I have been taking photos for 15 years as a hobbiest, I have used the auto focus system my entire time, I bought some Zeiss 3 months ago and for me It just seems to be more natural!. How many images have been lost when auto focus has confirmed??? I've seen out of focus images with my red auto confirm box over the " so called " point of focus, this is why I posted here. I could have a faulty camera??? But I don't think so, feel like you can't trust a $5500AU camera!!!

harcosparky wrote in post #13709693
Oh cool ... another IS thread!

Give me a DSLR body with a bright viewfinder, an excellent screen and I'd do manual focus almost all the time. Just like I did when I started out in photography. Back then it was manual only and I cannot recall any focusing problems.

First off, "IS" is Image Stabilization and an AF discussion is not about "IS" ...

I'd also bet that back then, with Manual Focus, the only person you blamed when you had an out of focus shot was- probably you- right ?

Musicmacd wrote in post #13713709
Feel like i've opened a can of worms!! I have been taking photos for 15 years as a hobbiest, I have used the auto focus system my entire time, I bought some Zeiss 3 months ago and for me It just seems to be more natural!. How many images have been lost when auto focus has confirmed??? I've seen out of focus images with my red auto confirm box over the " so called " point of focus, this is why I posted here. I could have a faulty camera??? But I don't think so, feel like you can't trust a $5500AU camera!!!

Maybe you should send it in.. If you feel that your AF is doing that bad of a job, then by all means, send it in and let them fix it..

On the other side of the equation, how many shots did you not be able to take because you were attemting to get it into focus using manual focusing ?

Whatever, if at the end of the day, it seems that your AF is not right- and you paid so much for it- definitely send it in and let them fix it..

wayne.robbins wrote in post #13713915
First off, "IS" is Image Stabilization and an AF discussion is not about "IS" ...

I'd also bet that back then, with Manual Focus, the only person you blamed when you had an out of focus shot was- probably you- right ?

I am not talking about image stabilization, i used " is" as the start of a question!

As I am now part of the "senior" set, my vision isn't what it used to be, even with progressive lens glasses. So I'm overjoyed at having auto-focus on my lenses. Makes my life a lot easier. So does the "auto" mode on the camera.

But, as countless others have learned, auto-focus and auto camera won't deliver the desired results when needed. I had a number of blurred, low-light shots in AF mode before I figured out that it was focusing on nearer subjects than the where I wanted it to be. No where did it become more apparent than with my 135 f2 L shooting over the heads of the audience to the stage in a small setting. Once I figured out I needed to focus manually, the results were fantastic!

I also found manual focusing necessary when taking pix of items on a table, where AF decides it wants to focus on the table edge rather than the real subject. Here's where live-view with the twist-screen on my 60D worked magic! As the camera was on a tripod at a very inconvienient location, I simply focused using live-view and then hit the remote release!

Slowly but surely, I'm learning the ins and outs of the 60D...

^^^it's never a good idea to let the camera choose the focus point for you...

DreDaze wrote in post #13715028
^^^it's never a good idea to let the camera choose the focus point for you...

Unless you are a beginner but most figure out real quick choosing your own AF point works much better.

No. I shoot film and enjoy MF'ing on those, but I do appreciate and love the option of quick, accurate AF as well.

I don't think its good to generalize in this regard. there are way too many varying scenarios. But, for me, AF is overrated. I rarely shoot moving subjects and when I do its movement that's easily predicted and/or not as fast moving as athletes.

More people should give Manual Focusing a try, it expands your compositional choices when you're not composing with AF points in mind. This is how I felt when I moved from purely using Auto Focus to manual focusing.

It's not overrated.
Want to shoot fast moving action? AF
Want to be in the middle of can't miss crime scene investigation action, or perhaps getting the shot of the cop getting their man? AF usually gets you the shot. MF can get it, but I find my hit rate is much less.
That's not to say manual focus is incapable, for news work and MF you can usually shoot F8 @ 250 or so and get a shot, but you've usually prefocused at that point -- assuming you can guess distances fairly well.

Let's see, the suggestion is that everybody has got a motorcycle and a bicycle and a bunch of bored nits who have got nothing better to do are arguing about which one is better and which one I should use?

Well if both are mine, what I do with them is none of anybody's MFing business.

...and further, it is an indisputable fact that whether you use a "protective" filter or not, on FF or crop, even if you AF or MF and neglect to release the shutter, you will fail to produce an image.

Sometimes it can also be underrated. Like when I try to take a pic of my children, or when I ask someone that has never used MF to take a picture of my kids/wife and myself. Or the times I've suggested my wife that it might not be a crazy idea to sell my 85L.

I think the more intelligent course of action is to evaluate technology and how it can or cannot work for you/streamline your workflow/etc etc. Rather than making sweeping generalizations, understand that your opinion and experience is one in many thousands or millions.

I enjoy shooting with legacy glass for myself. I would not trust myself with them at a paid gig.