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07-22-2012, 04:06 PM   #181
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Except that AF has yet to successfully read my mind about exactly what I want to be in focus - how I want the zone of acceptable focus to lie. Nor does AF deal so well with certain situations involving motion and/or low light. And in any case, we're mostly splitting hairs here - my MF is good enough 98.5% of the time, what differences does it really make if AF manages to make it to 99.2%?

07-22-2012, 04:20 PM   #182
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Never had that problem. But I have the AF set for spot focus. Rarely ever change it. For me, faster, easier. Whatever I need in focus, is in focus. Instantly. But YMMV. Depends on your own needs. Depends on your style of shooting.
07-23-2012, 07:01 PM - 1 Like   #183
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Not just style of shooting, but subject matter. AF is just not that reliable on many subjects.
07-24-2012, 06:44 AM   #184
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I'm thinking we'll have to agree to disagree. As I said, I have mine set at spot focus. I also have the shutter AF disabled and use the AF on the back of the camera so it doesn't change when I snap the pic. So if I want to take a shot of one flower in a field I can do that. If I want the whole field I can do that too. And since I have the shutter AF off I can still adjust manually if I feel the need.
On the other hand, as we all know, some (even identical) lenses are better than others. I have some primes that are great. Others are horrendous. And that's certainly the same with AF lenses. But I find the AF (IF you can find a good one) lenses save those precious split seconds when you need to get that shot in focus quickly.
Of course... nothing is perfect for everything! Do I have some of those once in a lifetime shots I destroyed? Oh, ubetcha!

07-24-2012, 06:49 AM   #185
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QuoteOriginally posted by Marc Sabatella Quote
Except that AF has yet to successfully read my mind about exactly what I want to be in focus - how I want the zone of acceptable focus to lie.
when someone develops mindread.exe they will be rich. remember when canon had eyeball tracking focus points, in an attempt to achieve this?
QuoteQuote:
Nor does AF deal so well with certain situations involving motion and/or low light. And in any case, we're mostly splitting hairs here - my MF is good enough 98.5% of the time, what differences does it really make if AF manages to make it to 99.2%?
to be exact, 0.7% and I guess the real issue is, would that 0.7% increase at all the keeper ratio? For me, focus errors happen just about as much with my MF lenses as they do with my AF lenses so I don't perceive any impact at all in the keeper ratio, and I suspect you don't either.
07-25-2012, 12:54 AM   #186
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Aren't MF and AF different tools for different jobs again?

When I have the time, I prefer to focus manually. And get that focus point exactly where I want it and the DOF exactly how wide I want it.

But when I don't have that luxury, and want to shoot a fast moving object, I like to use the continuous focussing option with the high speed continuous shooting and just shamelessly fill up the complete buffer. There's a always a few in there that are really good.

None of the features are "better", they have their own advantages and disadvantages. I prefer to have and use both when appropriate.
07-25-2012, 05:12 AM   #187
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QuoteOriginally posted by Clavius Quote
Aren't MF and AF different tools for different jobs again?

When I have the time, I prefer to focus manually. And get that focus point exactly where I want it and the DOF exactly how wide I want it.

But when I don't have that luxury, and want to shoot a fast moving object, I like to use the continuous focussing option with the high speed continuous shooting and just shamelessly fill up the complete buffer. There's a always a few in there that are really good.

None of the features are "better", they have their own advantages and disadvantages. I prefer to have and use both when appropriate.
I'm not so sure the tools are different, it is just that AF is an automation of the process your brain does to manual focus. It is a matter of convenience, but the problem is that all too often, these convenience tools make us lazy, and camera dependent. you can focus and track focus on moving objects, within reason just fine with manual focus lenses, and in many cases get equal results to auto focus. But there are a lot of people today who pick up a camera and expect it to really do it all.

07-25-2012, 03:26 PM   #188
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QuoteOriginally posted by garyoa1 Quote
I'm thinking we'll have to agree to disagree.
I agree to no such thing. There are some thing AF will not focus reliably on it. No amount of agreeing or disagreeing will change that. It is simply a fact.

Whether or not you ever shoot those things, or whether the focus errors that result are an issue for you - now that much is indeed subjective.

QuoteQuote:
As I said, I have mine set at spot focus.
Of course. But if your subject is smaller than the focus sensor, has low contrast, is in motion, in poor light, etc - it's still not going to focus reliably.
07-25-2012, 03:28 PM   #189
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QuoteOriginally posted by Lowell Goudge Quote
I guess the real issue is, would that 0.7% increase at all the keeper ratio? For me, focus errors happen just about as much with my MF lenses as they do with my AF lenses so I don't perceive any impact at all in the keeper ratio, and I suspect you don't either.
No, actually, in the "easy" cases, I absolutely agree with those who say that AF does it better and faster. No contest, no even close for me. But that's the easy cases. Get to the harder cases, and even with my AF lenses, I often end up switching to MF.
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