Auto or manual focus

Hi all...just curious whether most people tend to use single or multi point af or manually focus....
I pretty much use centre single point then reposition for the shot....

Would like to go more manual (not sure why, maybe somebody can give me a good reason) but I'm just a lazy guy mostly and figure modern cameras af is pretty good..

Just curious...say what you use and why...

Cheers
Phil

Almost always single point AF. I'll move the AF point around as needed unless the lighting conditions make it too hard to get focus. (My 5D's outer focus points aren't that great.) In that case, I'll use center point and recompose.

The only time I use manual focus is when I'm using a tripod for macro, especially when I'm using extension tubes.

Focus: AF, Exposure: Manual. Except for certain situations, there's no good reason, IMO, to try and manually focus with digital cameras. Even when you do get to those situations, with modern lenses, the focus throw is so short on the damned things that it's quite difficult to really nail 'critical' focus.

Single point focus, usually, but I move the AF point to the closest one to my intended framing so that recomposing is kept to a fair minimum. Too much movement and you've thrown your plane of focus off the target area.

I use single point AF most often.

Manual focus is great for macro or for portraits when you have the time to use liveview and a lens that is right for it. My sharpest lens (the Samyang 35) is manual only but it is worth the trouble for environmental portraits.

Once you get good at it and have the right glass, MF is often just a bit sharper then the best auto focus...sometimes a LOT sharper. Plus it gives you a lot more control over the Depth of Field in terms of composition and subject selection.

Whew....I'm glad you both said AF and recompose....

I don't feel so lazy anymore...

While I can happily MF if needed (especially with a good focusing screen), I prefer to AF...I do everything else manually, but I figure it's advanced enough to rely on without compromising too much.

OP, you aren't lazy, just not experienced about situations where MF helps.
I"m too lazy to explain something you might never need. Sorry.

AF all the way.
DOF is super thin with the long lenses I use.

Also, I trust the camera's AF much, much more than I trust my own eyesight peering thru a viewfinder. I have terrible "thru the viewfinder" eyesight, and really cannot tell if the subject is sharp or not when trying to manually focus.

Toss in the fact that most of what I shoot is in constant motion, and AF is really the only sensible option for me.

I'll use whichever method works best for the situation.

crackennz wrote in post #15411473
Hi all...just curious whether most people tend to use single or multi point af or manually focus....
I pretty much use centre single point then reposition for the shot....

Would like to go more manual (not sure why, maybe somebody can give me a good reason) but I'm just a lazy guy mostly and figure modern cameras af is pretty good..

Just curious...say what you use and why...

Cheers
Phil

SLR cameras have not been optimized for manual focus since the days that split-prism viewfinders were universal. Minolta essentially made manual focusing obsolete with the Maxxum line of cameras in the 1980's, cameras with sales success that forced Canon and Nikon to all but eliminate their manual focus equipment. If you want manual focus equipment, you'll find affordable material with the Canon AE1 and other FD-mount equipment, available in large quantities because there's no longer any significant demand for manual focus cameras.

mike_d wrote in post #15411481
The only time I use manual focus is when I'm using a tripod for macro, especially when I'm using extension tubes.

same here

AF except for macro and Tilt/shift on a tripod.

I mostly use single point AF and move the points around as needed and I switch between one shot and AI servo depending on my subject. I will focus manually if Im using a tripod to capture still subjects.

Now the funny thing is that I actually prefer the modern screens when it comes to MF with long lenses with small maximum apertures. Hang an f5.6 or narrower lens on a camera with Split Image/Microprism focusing and they tend to go half dark anyway, so are useless. This is an example of MF with a long lens, taken with my 300D, which has broken AF, using a 100-400L. My hit rate for both my 300D and 20D is about the same for MF or AF using the long relatively slow lenses that I have. Of course I will choose to use AF where that is an option, but for this particular situation of long relativly slow lenses the current screens in DSLR's are actually better than the traditional Split Image IMO.

Alan

With our 30D, we tended to use manual focus almost exclusively. But then our subjects we either macro or small wildlife, such as birds in bushes or /trees, bobcats in brush or woods, that sort of thing. In such cases, AF is virtually useless, as it invariably wants to focus on braches or other surrounding crap.

And yes, we had our 30D fitted with a split-prism screen.