When photographing an event, such as a wedding, where you are capturing people and their expressions, do you find autofocus to be more helpful? Mine stays on manual focus, but I often wonder if I might not miss out on moments if I use auto focus. Like, if it's quicker?
I'd say manual is okay if you are focusing on just the bride and groom and they are staying still... but definitely autofocus for things like the reception or when you just want to catch people in action. Plus, with manual focus, it takes longer and you could accidentally be off by a smidge... when the camera can just do it for you :)
@lauren211 Thanks, Lauren. I think that's what I was afraid of. I have this control issue regarding auto focus!! I'm always afraid that it won't capture exactly what I want, but I also have this sneaking suspicion that I am making things harder than necessary sometimes. :)
@laceyjogautreau - those exact same thoughts go through my head :) but to me personally, autofucus works best because I feel more secure. if it IS going to focus... it will focus faster and at least SOMETHING will be in focus. with manual, its slower to get the focus just right (for me) and you can't really afford that in a wedding... unless there's a lot of time left with the bride and groom like I said :)
I use autofocus, but I set one of the points in the view finder to focus on (generally one off centre). This way you will focus on the exact point you want quickly and it also naturally frames the picture for you with the law of thirds (most of the time:)
Why don't you switch your options to BBF? Using your back button for AF means that your camera behaves like it is in MF mode unless you push the back button - perfect for someone who prefers MF but wants the option to quickly AF when it is needed, or for when someone wants to pre-focus and take a few shots without shifting it.
@jinximages I was going to ask if the cameras didn't have a one-shot autofocus button to help out in manual mode. Mine has, and having used it, it seems like such an obvious, easy to provide but very useful feature.
@ukcam Most DSLR models have a back-button focus option now, but you have to activate it through the menu. I've used it, but wasn't crazy about it. Some friends of mine, however, swear by it. It is mostly useful with lenses that have a "manual focus override when in AF mode" feature (my 85 doesn't have this, which is probably why I don't use BBF very often).
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