Manual vs. Autofocus?

D

Dean Papoutsis

Member
Novice indie video wanna be here . . .

When is it impractical to use manual focus and you need to rely on Autofocus?
(e.g. fast runner, car, bird, wedding???)

When should I absolutely be using manual focus?
(e.g. indoor set with actors moving in predicatable ways???)

Thanks guys.

Dean
 
I find that anytime the camera and subject are fixed, manual's the hands-down winner. Zoom all the way in and push the focus assist, and then focus until razor sharp. Then undo focus assist and re-frame to where you want to be--keeps everything nice and sharp. When camera and/or subject are changing distance, the manual focus gets tricky. That's when you might want to switch over to auto focus. I'd say anytime you can do a quick zoom in, focus assist, you'll be more certain.
 
I would say we shoot in manual mode 95%+ of the time. Autofocus is OK, but not brilliant, and can be slow to pick up new subjects that are substantially different distances away.

If some one were walking towards me (e.g. a bride walking down the isle) then auto focus works better than manual focus. For the rest of the time I try to use manual focus when ever possible.

Beware though, as easy as it seems with zoom-in, focus assist then focus with the aid of the patch, it's still possible to get things wrong without some practice. I highly recommend using EVF and not just the focus assist patch, which can give a misleading reading if there is something (like a dark window frame) a few feet behind the subject that could easily be more in focus that the intended subject it.
 
Thank You

Thank You

Thank you Danny and Exact. Picked up some other good ideas off the net too. One guy said never use auto focus and if you think you need to, for a moving shot, critical focus on target, then shoot wide--at least you'll have the shot.

Another guy that seemed to prefer manual focus, said to use the focus to lead the audience's attention (using the depth of field) to reveal the story.

Dean
 
My theory is simple... never trust a computer algorithm to decide what it is you want in focus and out. It takes practice (and potentially the investment in a good zoom remote), but I have never used auto on this camera (I tried with the DVX100) simply because I don't trust it. I find I can get better results with manual.
 
The single best thing I did for my shooting was switching to manual focus and manual exposure all the time. Took some getting used to, but once you've got it down, your shooting will never be the same. And no crazy surprises as the camera struggles to decide on exposure and focus, which drives me nuts when I see this in someone's foootage.
 
Like Thomas atl, I too prefer shooting in manual. Much of what I shoot is subject to people walking through the shot on occasion and auto focus would ruin the shot of the intended subject. Similar effect with auto iris. There is no avoiding the walk throughs, so I try to minimize the effects they have on my shots by using manual mode for both.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top