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Does shooting manual focus make you a better photographer?
- Thread starter sportyaccordy
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Moti
Veteran Member
You are confusing hardware and skills. Using manual focus is a skill and every additional skill can make you a better photographer.
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Moti
Veteran Member
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I don't think you understood what I was saying...
But I'll spell it out.
Semi automatic gears on a formula 1 car does not make the current batch of drivers less of a driver than it did when manual gears was all they had.
You still need a lot of skills to go around the track as you still need a lot of other skills ,apart from manual focusing, to take a good photo now mostly because the standards , particularly for action shots, are a lot higher than ever.
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It makes me a vastly worse photographer.
Because using brainpower to try MF on a large aperture lens, on a modern screen not optimised for focus, with an erratically-moving subject, results in close to zero properly focused images. I'd prefer to use what little remaining brainpower I have left to concentrate on composition and timing.
Because using brainpower to try MF on a large aperture lens, on a modern screen not optimised for focus, with an erratically-moving subject, results in close to zero properly focused images. I'd prefer to use what little remaining brainpower I have left to concentrate on composition and timing.
mahidoes
Senior Member
Depend on which system you use , what subjects you shoot and how much time and freedom you have. Manual focus will give you most precious way of focusing when you use the tools within a camera that are trailered for manual focusing for subjects which can be made still.
Eg: Live view in DSLR
EVF focus magnification
Split prisms.
Eg: Live view in DSLR
EVF focus magnification
Split prisms.
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M
Mark B.
Guest
If you mean 100% of the time, I would say not necessarily. The better photographer is one that knows when to use manual focus, and not all the time because they think it's what pros do.
Mark
sportyaccordy
Forum Pro
And what is that exactly?
T A L E N T would be my guess.
sportyaccordy
Forum Pro
DLGW
Senior Member
.. in that it helps you learn how your gear works. It will help you understand what your 'automatic' settings do well and what they don't do well - and it will let you know when you should take over (and when you should let the automatic settings do their thing).
I generally shoot manual exposure with auto focus (since most of the time auto focus is better than me). Sometimes however, auto-focus isn't the right answer - like car racing where my auto-focus is just too slow - here I set things to manual - pre focus and what for the car to be in the right spot.
If you don't ever use manual focus and get comfortable with it, if you are in a situation where auto-focus doesn't cut it - you simply won't be able to get the shot.
I generally shoot manual exposure with auto focus (since most of the time auto focus is better than me). Sometimes however, auto-focus isn't the right answer - like car racing where my auto-focus is just too slow - here I set things to manual - pre focus and what for the car to be in the right spot.
If you don't ever use manual focus and get comfortable with it, if you are in a situation where auto-focus doesn't cut it - you simply won't be able to get the shot.
John Sheehy
Forum Pro
Manual focus skills make you a more versatile photographer, but depending on what kind of photography you do, that versatility may be of great or little value.
Manual focus is not just a skill, it is a skill which requires some skill in deciding whether or not to use it.
I don't know if you've ever shot a telephoto into trees or bushes, or wildflower meadows, but AF in many such situations is hopeless, especially if it is dark or the lens is slow, because the AF system is always seeing things that you don't want to focus on, and tries to focus them, or goes completely OOF, hunting. If you use manual focus in such situations, you may not focus as perfectly as the AF can in ideal situations, but a certain percentage of your shots will be spot-on, and those that are off, only slightly.
When working with extremely shallow DOF, like with a 200mm f/1.8 lens at close range, manual focus can help you get exactly what you want in focus, which becomes even more practical with larger live view display devices and zooming.
It does make you a better photographer knowing how to manually focus fast, just as knowing when to throw the shutter/aperture priority overboard and do all your settings manually on moment's notice makes you better.
The question smacks of the intent of someone who wants to be told "no, you don't need to learn that or you don't need to be able to do it quickly".
Autofocus is lovely, when it works. Then suddenly one day you face that moment where the f-stop or the contrast or the backlight interferes with focus hitting the mark, and you have to grab and set it by eyeball, or that good shot in front of you is gone. Whether it's high-jumps at the Olympics or a birthday snapshot of an old relative, you either get the shot or you don't. The skills matter.
I do camera work for broadcast TV. Our studio rigs are around $250,000 a piece and we have to be on focus every second, no excuses. There is no auto focus, just our eyes and the viewfinder. When DOF is sliver-thin or people move mid-shot, you follow, manually.
I learned manual focus with my Konica TC at age 15 and I would not want to feel like I would be losing images if my auto-focus suddenly died.
Claus.
The question smacks of the intent of someone who wants to be told "no, you don't need to learn that or you don't need to be able to do it quickly".
Autofocus is lovely, when it works. Then suddenly one day you face that moment where the f-stop or the contrast or the backlight interferes with focus hitting the mark, and you have to grab and set it by eyeball, or that good shot in front of you is gone. Whether it's high-jumps at the Olympics or a birthday snapshot of an old relative, you either get the shot or you don't. The skills matter.
I do camera work for broadcast TV. Our studio rigs are around $250,000 a piece and we have to be on focus every second, no excuses. There is no auto focus, just our eyes and the viewfinder. When DOF is sliver-thin or people move mid-shot, you follow, manually.
I learned manual focus with my Konica TC at age 15 and I would not want to feel like I would be losing images if my auto-focus suddenly died.
Claus.
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Paul B Jones
Senior Member
Not when a bird is flying by at 80kph.
Chris Wolfgram
Veteran Member
With my eyesight getting as bad as it is, and constantly having to change glasses, or take them on or off, I often have to totally rely on my camera lens combo to "get it right"..... So Thank God I have some freaking awesome equipment, which sees WAAAY sharper than I do 
No, but because MF is just about essential for macro work (and other subjects or equipment limitations where you have to use MF). So it's a useful skill to learn.
You are a better macro photographer if you use MF.
Glen Barrington
Forum Pro
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