Manual focus. why the obsession?

I don't use manual focus very often, but the option should always be there — and implemented well when it is. It's like any tool in a kit: it might not be needed all the time, but there're situations where literally nothing else will do.

Good example: last week I wanted to get a relatively close-up shot of some falling snowflakes in mid air at a high aperture. I don't think I need to tell you how hard it would be to focus on a snowflake using AF while throwing the background OOF, particularly one that's close to me in mid-fall.

With manual focus it's actually quite a simple task. Get yourself and the camera into nice, stable position; select a manual focus point that's a metre or few away; and wait for the right snowflake to fall into frame. Because the photo is taken the moment you hit the shutter it means you can react much more quickly.

I didn't quite get the photo I was looking for as the snow wasn't heavy enough, but rest assured I'll get this shot or I'll die trying!