Auto focus question...

Do you use auto focus more than half of the time?

  • Yey

    Votes: 166 94.3%

  • Ney

    Votes: 10 5.7%

  • divnee nar...

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    176
Nearly always. Only time I dont is for macro type shots or low light on tripod (moon etc)
I use Center point focus only, That way I still choose the focal point. (half depress shutter to focus on subject. Re-compose shot, then fully depress shutter.)
 
Macro and low light I go manual (unless I have a manual focus only lens!) other than that I go AF.
 
Out of your options Yes.

Only went digital 2 years ago (40 odd mf slr and other camera usage). Still use mf for macro work and for pre focus on some panning shots.

I used to be able to mf on moving images whilst panning but find the continuous focus is just as effective and with a better ratio of keepers than I could do by hand. Not by much mind you but enough to use it unless light is really bad.
 
Nat - do you see AF as the same as putting your DSLR onto green auto?

If so then don't! AF is very accurate when used properly and aside from macro and low light is perfectly acceptable to use 24/7!
 
90%+ autofocus but with the AF point shifted onto the subject.

I found that increased my "spot on focus" rate as opposed to the focus/lock/recompose method. What with all that waving about ;) It's an invitation to induce camera shake!
 
BouncyMelons said:
90%+ autofocus but with the AF point shifted onto the subject.

I found that increased my "spot on focus" rate as opposed to the focus/lock/recompose method. What with all that waving about ;) It's an invitation to induce camera shake!
Click to expand...

Interesting - normally I can never be bothered to move the focus point unless I know I'm going to need it in a particular position for a series of shots. What sort of increase are you talking about... 50%? More?
 
Autofocus is kind of an unavailable option to me 90% of the time, as 9 times out of 10 I'll have a 30+ year old all manual lens stuck on the front :) I've found myself switching af off whenever I do have a modern lens fitted :cuckoo: It would appear I prefer it now.
 
I use AF mainly for motorsport,but manual is better for most other things.:)
 
tidehtooms said:
Nat - do you see AF as the same as putting your DSLR onto green auto?

If so then don't! AF is very accurate when used properly and aside from macro and low light is perfectly acceptable to use 24/7!
Click to expand...

Not quite, but not always much better, I see it as getting a machine to do something that I should be able to do. I probably wouldn't hate AF as much if I always had the option to physically MF
 
MagicMynx said:
Not quite, but not always much better, I see it as getting a machine to do something that I should be able to do. I probably wouldn't hate AF as much if I always had the option to physically MF
Click to expand...

:( ....and probably therein lies the biggest answer - wanting something you can't have. We ALL are like that. The poll atm certainly shows that using AF for the majority of the time is the norm, but for most of us, using manual isn't a problem either, just an annoyance that slows us down and reduces the hit rate. Only you can decide what you want to do Nat, but at least you can see that using AF isn't unusual, infact its pretty much the accepted norm. That doesn't mean you have to use it of course, but I hope it means you won't feel in any way guilty or less of a 'proper' photographer if you do from time to time ;)
 
Syx said:
Interesting - normally I can never be bothered to move the focus point unless I know I'm going to need it in a particular position for a series of shots. What sort of increase are you talking about... 50%? More?
Click to expand...

I normally shoot people so it's not too difficult to decide on a composition and shift the focus point. I found that the images were just that little bit sharper, especially if shooting at slowish shutter speeds. I'd say I found about a 15% increase in quality. That meant about a 5-10% increase in the shots that I found acceptable when printed above A4.

And that's a perfect reply Yv :thumbs:
 
Great response Yv - lots better worded than mine was :thumbs:

Nat - it definitely isn't a green auto equivalent - that would restrict you creativity whereas AF means you can have the time to concentrate on the other factors.
 
Autofocus almost all the time as I can't manual focus reliably
 
Mud said:
If Zeiss and Voigtlander made AF lenses I'd change my answer...
Click to expand...

Zeiss do, I own and use one. You're just using the wrong brand of camera body ;)
 
I voted yes... but that's just on digital. I tend to shoot film a lot recently which is all MF on my cameras.
 
MF was OK when you had no choice, but if you've got AF then why not use it?
I'll accept macro is a different case, but for most things AF is fine.
 
You mean to say I have a manual focus on this thing :lol:
 
use it all the time
now i have a manual/auto choice...i dont think i really will want to go back to manual
eyesight not that good and too lazy
 
BouncyMelons said:
I normally shoot people so it's not too difficult to decide on a composition and shift the focus point. I found that the images were just that little bit sharper, especially if shooting at slowish shutter speeds. I'd say I found about a 15% increase in quality. That meant about a 5-10% increase in the shots that I found acceptable when printed above A4.
Click to expand...
That's intriguing, I might have to give it a go on the non-VR lenses and see what the results are.
 
AF for me, although it's always set to the spot I choose rather than letting the camera decide.
 
Big_Ham said:
AF for me, although it's always set to the spot I choose rather than letting the camera decide.
Click to expand...

Well that's quite sensible, I do the same. But it's still AF, although maybe tempered with a bit of logical common sense :)
 
Big_Ham said:
AF for me, although it's always set to the spot I choose rather than letting the camera decide.
Click to expand...

use the autofocus and lock it with the shutter half depressed...:|
 
I use back button AF for all my shots. Since my main lens has FTM focusing I can adjust it if need be without switching to MF.
 
BouncyMelons said:
90%+ autofocus but with the AF point shifted onto the subject.

I found that increased my "spot on focus" rate as opposed to the focus/lock/recompose method. What with all that waving about ;) It's an invitation to induce camera shake!
Click to expand...

I shoot that way too Ali - never been a fan of focus/recompose. I think if you're shooting with big appertures it's the best way to go.

(Apologies for going off track OP).

To answer the question - auto focus 99% of the time.
 
My eyesight is not good enough to manually focus unless I use live view and that's too time consuming.
 
To me a shot can look in focus in the viewfinder but once on the big screen it's not in focus at all! So AF pretty much all the way unless I'm using LiveView for macro etc. then it's always manual.
 
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