Manual focus after auto focus

[rohitsapra]

I am a newbie photographer. My question is quite general (some people may say silly) but I am quite sure most of the beginners doesn't know about this.

My question is, when there is an automatic focus in the camera why we need to manually focus it? Does that bring something which is entirely different or what?

 

[Eye-level]

Re: A little thing I need to know

You don't need to MF it and no it doesn't bring something different. Next question. lol

 

[TedG954]

Re: A little thing I need to know

me·tic·u·lous (m

-t

k

y

-l

s)adj.1. Extremely careful and precise.
2. Extremely or excessively concerned with details.

---

[From Latin met

cul

sus, timid, from metus, fear.]

---

me·tic

u·los

i·ty (-l

s

-t

), me·tic

u·lous·ness n.
me·tic

u·lous·ly adv.
Synonyms: meticulous, painstaking, careful, scrupulous, fastidious, punctilious
These adjectives mean showing or marked by attentiveness to all aspects or details. Meticulous and painstaking stress extreme care: "He had throughout been almost worryingly meticulous in his business formalities" (Arnold Bennett). Repairing the fine lace entailed slow and painstaking work.
Careful suggests circumspection and solicitude: A careful examination of the gem showed it to be fake.
Scrupulous suggests care prompted by conscience: "Cynthia was scrupulous in her efforts to give no trouble" (Winston Churchill).
Fastidious implies concern, often excessive, for the requirements of taste: "Your true lover of literature is never fastidious" (Robert Southey).
Punctilious specifically applies to minute details of conduct: "The more unpopular an opinion is, the more necessary is it that the holder should be somewhat punctilious in his observance of conventionalities generally" (Samuel Butler).


Or, just go here...... 5 Situations When Manual Focus is Better than Auto Focus

 

[stmv]

Re: A little thing I need to know

actually,, there are times, for example, when you have a fence, and you want to focus beyound the fence, then manual focus is great.

Also, sometimes manual is just faster, because you can lock into the object, move it around and not have the camera hunt for a focus, or have it keep resetting the focus point.

And then there are people like me with manual focus lens that don't have AF, so,, well no choice.

And there is low contrast shots that well,, AF just can't focus, manual again.

oh,, and well nighttime,, ah,, Manual Focus.

and then there are the old film guys like me, that well, just used to setting,, focus, aperature, speed, composition -> Click -> Photography.

 

[madcapmagishion]

Auto Focus is just a general good setting for someone to shoot in. A 'general good setting' is OK some of the times, but not others.
Whereas Manual Focus is used for more precise photography. At all times, because you are constantly changing settings as conditions warrant.

If you're new and learning set your camera on Auto Focus and 1/2 click your shutter release and note what settings the camera selected then take the pic.
Now go back and set your camera to Manual Focus and put in the settings that you took note of when in auto and input them into the camera. But instead of inputting f/5.6 like auto focus did put in f/6.3 or even f/7.1 and take a pic, and compare the pics. Then change the auto focus ISO from 400 to 200 or even 800 and take another pic, and compare them. Then do the same with the shutter speed .... The key is to learn what the different settings on the camera achieve. Take lot's of pics and use a lot of different setting to see what comes out.

 

[cbg]

@madcapmagishion, I think you are talking about the green "Auto" mode on the camera, not auto-focus. Using auto-focus or manual focus will have no affect on the apperature, shutter speed or iso. Auto-focus simply focuses the lens using either the motor in the lens or camera to achieve focus for the image. In the same vein, manual focus will not affect apperature, shutter speed or iso. Changing the mode of trhe camera from Auto to Apperature prioorty, Shutter Priority or Manual allows you to control the shutter speed or apperature. Unless you have the camera set to auto ISO, it will only change the ISO when you change it.

 

[Eye-level]

If you are new to your camera and you do not come from a pre-1980 film camera background I advise you to spend at least 6 months or so maybe a year doing other things before attempting to learn manual focus and manual operation. There are just to many other aspects of the camera and photography in general that are more important to your skill set then manual operation. Once you have a good grasp of these other things then it would be a good time to expand your knowledge and capabilities with manual focus and manual operation. Trust me I use only manual focus lenses and I select all settings myself and I have been at this for quite some time - it is very difficult to put it all together in a photo.

 

[rohitsapra]

@ ALL

Thanku all, seems like I can learn a lot of stuff from this forum.

Nikonites rock !!

 

[BackdoorArts]

All the points are good, but I'll offer one more. I do a lot of HDR photography, and I've learned the hard way that in some scenes the camera will choose a different focus point when you bracket the exposure. So I auto-focus on the point I want, and switch to manual so it will not refocus. I do the same thing when I do interval shooting, particularly at night when I may reach a point where the camera doesn't have sufficient light to lock onto the subject.