Quote:
Originally Posted by John Tanglewood
What's the take on autofocus vs manual focusing?
I have been shooting for years and only using auto, as I find it difficult to get that sweet spot quickly when manually focusing.
Any tips or suggestions on that front?
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I use AF 99.9% of the time, usually only considering MF when shooting a landscape on a tripod and focusing in LiveView. I use MF for astrophotography and long exposure photography or panorama stitching.
I don't know which body you use, but learn to steer the AF point or AF sector. Also, learn to Focus Lock and recompose, for when you don't have time to steer the AF point. In many cameras, the AF point selected by the camera will light up, so that you can see what it's focusing on. Make sure that you have this function enabled.
Modern DSLRs are not designed for MF. Way back, we had ground glass focus screens and even split-screen aligners. That's generally all gone. However, if you use MF, with most camera/lens combination you can get a focus-confirm beep when the camera thinks you're in focus. Consider enabling that.
Make sure the AF point is one what you want in-focus. Some people turn ALL the AF points. That's fine, so long as you know what the camera is choosing. All bodies are far from infallible. Watch what's going on. Considering narrowing down to one or one-expanded AF point, if the subject that needs critical focus is buried in a bunch of other stuff, like a rabbit in a briar patch.