MicrostockGroup
Microstock Photography Forum - General => General Photography Discussion => Topic started by: velocicarpo on April 04, 2012, 20:43
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One day some two years ago I got so angry with the screwed up results of the Canon autofocus (5D) that I switched almost completely to Manual Focus. Since this moment, every now and then I may switch to Autofocus - e.g. when I have a scene with lots of Movement - but in the end, I cannot image anymore doing a whole shooting with auto. Just no options, many out-of-focus material, no play with f-stop and depth of field (well, very limited, depending on the mood of the red dot :D ) etc.
However, I ran into a quite professional microstock shooter lately and he uses ONLY Autofucus...
...so what do you use? Speaking of Studio shooting exclusively....
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In studio, 99.999% manual focus. In the field it's situational and could go either way, depending on the subject and what I'm trying to achieve. Either way, just be sure to check your diopter before beginning. If you're like me, where your eyes change from day-to-day, that can make the difference between a nice clean image and garbage.
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99% auto. Manual if it's macro. Otherwise I'm trusting in set situations.
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99% auto. Manual if it's macro. Otherwise I'm trusting in set situations.
Sean, are you using a 5D as well?
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1ds3 for isolated, 5d2 for most else in studio. 1ds3 outside of studio..
Impresses the peeps ;)...
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Manual if the subject isn't moving, otherwise mostly auto.
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90% AF; in what i do manual focus just take to long...
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Always manual focus, in the studio. in fact I almost always use M/F, indoors or outdoors. Pretty hard, justifying a poor AF result to a client.
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I Switch between those two. I can usually get more accurate focus with AF, but sometimes I don't have a correctly placed AF point (happens a lot with 5D mk II) and I need to focus manually.
When I get a 5D mk III I propably use AF even more.
Generally speaking:
AF: Moving subjects / hand-held camera
MF: Non-moving subjects / camera on tripod
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Always manual focus, in the studio. in fact I almost always use M/F, indoors or outdoors. Pretty hard, justifying a poor AF result to a client.
You must be good at MF, I get much more good results with AF than with MF, my MF shots are almost always a little off, especially when I shoot with large apertures.
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Always manual focus, in the studio. in fact I almost always use M/F, indoors or outdoors. Pretty hard, justifying a poor AF result to a client.
You must be good at MF, I get much more good results with AF than with MF, my MF shots are almost always a little off, especially when I shoot with large apertures.
In all my cameras, even medium format, I have installed the Split-screen, nowdays adjusted to digitals, its rather expensive but, dead-accurate! and for all types of shooting, even Macro photography.
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Same as others have said. I use whichever best suits the job at hand.
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In all my cameras, even medium format, I have installed the Split-screen, nowdays adjusted to digitals, its rather expensive but, dead-accurate! and for all types of shooting, even Macro photography.
Yes, a split screen helps a bit. The problem is that it's in the center, and when shooting large apertures the focus plane isn't straight. i.e. if I focus in the center and then re-compose the image, the focus may be off.
(When I'm talking about large apertures I'm talking about apertures in the f/2 region:) )
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Same as Sean. Just replace 1ds3 with another 5d2.
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99% auto. Manual if it's macro. Otherwise I'm trusting in set situations.
Same here. I paid a lot of money for the auto-focusing capability of my 1Ds3 and L glass; why would I then not use it?
It's a fact that machinery/technology is almost invariably superior, by a country-mile, to the best endeavours of a human. That's why we have them.
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I like the convenience of the AF. But I do use MF where the AF is unreliable or slow like open aperture and macro.
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In studio shooting models, 100% auto focus. I use one focus point, focus on the eyes, then recompose and shoot. I use 5D MK II camera bodies.
The only time I use manual is macro work but I don't do that too often.
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Same as others have said. I use whichever best suits the job at hand.
Same here.
For non-moving studio objects, I typically use auto, but if I want a specific place in focus and the auto just isn't getting it, I switch to manual. Moving objects, always auto. The camera is better at that than I am.
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Excellent poll. I learned something. My closeup work is being rejected because I insist on making AF work. It doesn't -- and my over-70 eyes have trouble with MF.
What happened to the "blue heart" or whatever it was that we used for marking posts as something valuable?
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Top right of each post, Warren.
You might need your auto-focus glasses ;)
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Aha... it is not about looking; it is about seeing. :P
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:D
Wise words indeed!
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unless you're shooting my gorgeous 15wk old rhodesian ridgeback puppy.......... frankly, nothing works!! little bugger just eludes the focus zone altogether. if i'm shooting my favourite thing: non-moving non-talking stuff: manual focus. otherwise i'm in "auto" but the move-it-where I want type of "auto".
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99% AF, altho not totally accurate, it eliminates all of my out of focus manual shots
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Interesting!
- AF indoor (Sony A900), but I've been trying for testing to do MF + magnification in the EVG when using the NEX-7 cause it's oooooh so good.
- MF outdoor when shooting landscapes cause they tend to not move (and not laugh at my jokes)
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99% auto. Manual if it's macro. Otherwise I'm trusting in set situations.
Same here. I paid a lot of money for the auto-focusing capability of my 1Ds3 and L glass; why would I then not use it?
Agreed. Maybe my eyes aren't what they used to be, but I have a hard time getting tack sharp focus looking through the viewfinder. The one caveat is my 5D is a lot faster to focus using the center point, which you often don't want to use since the eyes are going to be elsewhere in the shot.
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Agreed. Maybe my eyes aren't what they used to be, but I have a hard time getting tack sharp focus looking through the viewfinder. The one caveat is my 5D is a lot faster to focus using the center point, which you often don't want to use since the eyes are going to be elsewhere in the shot.
I always auto focus, using the center focus point, then recompose. Never have any problem getting tack sharp images using that method with either the 5D or 5DII.
Only problems I ever have are shooting in natural (low) light and getting a bit of camera shake.
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I always auto focus, using the center focus point, then recompose. Never have any problem getting tack sharp images using that method with either the 5D or 5DII.
Only problems I ever have are shooting in natural (low) light and getting a bit of camera shake.
Lisa, do you also recompose when shooting wide? I've had lots of OOF problems when recomposing in this scenario. Any tip?
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I like using Live View to manual focus when I've got my camera on a tripod. Really get consistent excellent results. (I have good reading glasses - got a reading prescription in the bottom of my sunglasses - highly recommend it to those over 50).
I considered getting a split screen - miss it from the days of film when I only had manual focus - but it would void the warranty. My D700 is out of warranty now though so I may look into it. Any suggestions on where to get one for a Nikon - and if the lens does the focusing rather than the camera as in the good old days, how does it work?