5 Situations When Manual Focus is Better than Auto Focus

Digital Cameras present photographers with an ever increasing array of Automatic and Semi Automatic shooting modes. Most of these center around different ways of exposing your shots - however many cameras also give options for different focusing modes (auto, continuous focusing for moving subjects and manual).

It’s no wonder then that many photographers never make use of their camera and lens’ ability to focus manually. In fact this week I spoke with one DSLR owner recently who hadn’t even noticed the manual/auto focus switch on the side of his lens.

Image by dsevilla

When is Manual Focus Better than Auto Focus?

Let me start by saying there is no right or wrong time to use either manual or auto focusing - both can produce great results in almost all circumstances - however there are a few times when you might find it easier to switch to manual focusing:

1. Macro Work

When doing macro photography I almost exclusively switch to manual focusing.

The narrow depth of field in these shots mean that you need to be incredibly precise with focusing and being just a smidgeon out or having your camera choose to focus on the wrong part of your subject can completely ruin a shot.

To use it you’ll also probably want to use a tripod to eliminate any movement of the camera which can make focusing either in manual or auto mode frustrating.

Manual focusing puts the control completely in your hands when shooting in this very precise setting.

Image by maruchan313

2. Low Light

Shooting in dimly lit environments can be difficult for some cameras and lenses when it comes to focusing.

You’ll know when your camera is struggling in Auto mode when every time you go to take a shot the lens will whirl from one end of it’s focusing options to the other and back again before deciding on where to focus.

This can really lengthen your shooting process and make taking quick candid shots quite frustrating.

Switch to manual mode and you can quickly find your focusing point and get the shot you’re after.

Image by Jim Skea

3. Portraits

When shooting portraits focus needs to be precise.

The majority of your shots of people will need to have their eyes in perfect focus (although in the example to the left it’s the lips) and so switching to manual focus will give you complete control to enable this to save you from having to line up the focusing points on your camera on the eyes, press halfway down and then frame your shot.

Manual focusing in portrait work helps to ensure the viewer of the image is drawn to the part of the face that you want them to notice.

Image by Djof

4. Shooting Through Glass/Wire Fences

If you’ve ever shot through anything like a window or a mess/wire fence you’ll know how cameras will often get confused on where to focus your shot.

Whether it’s shooting out of a plane window, taking a shot of an image at a museum or photographing animals through fences at the zoo - you might find your camera is confused.

Manual focusing will avoid this completely and allow you to get things just right - focusing upon the subject behind that glass or fence. If you do this in conjunction with a large aperture (which decreases depth of field) and get in close to the fence or glass you might well eliminate it completely from being noticeable in your shot.

Image by Gregory Lee

5. Action Photography

Shooting fast moving subjects (like racing cars, planes, bikes, running animals etc) can be a frustrating experience when shooting with auto focus.

Even the continuous focusing modes can get left behind or confusing if you’re not panning with your subject smoothly.

One way to overcome this is to switch to manual focusing and pre focus on a point that the subject will move through - and shooting at that point. You need to get your timing just right - but you’ll find that it’ll often give better results than relying upon auto focus modes (particularly if you shoot in continuous shooting/burst mode).

Image by fensterbme

by Darren Rowse

How to Shoot Super Macro Photos

In this post, professional photographer Yanik Chauvin from Yanik’s Photo School shows us how to take stunning super macro photos.

I’m a big fan of macro photography. So much so that when I chose my first ever digital camera, the Nikon Coolpix 4500, it was mostly base on its macro capabilities. And when I purchased my Nikon D70 with kit lens, the next lens in my bag was the Sigma 105mm macro.

After shooting lots of macros, I wanted to push the envelope and see if there was a way to get even closer to my subject (without the need for a microscope). Looking on the net, I found a photographer who did just that! Boy was I a happy camper. I have since been using this technique called “Super Macro” to take some pretty amazing photography.

Ok, before I get into the “how to”, let me first give you a brief explanation of what macro is. It’s basically close-up photography where the image projected on the camera sensor is relatively the same size as your subject. We give this term a ratio of 1:1. Most standard macro lenses give you up to 1:1 ratio. As for super macro, depending on your lens combination, you can usually get a ratio of 2:1 or greater. What this means is that your sensor sees closer than the human eye which leads to some unusual photography.

Equipment

Alright! Let’s look at what we need to achieve super macro photos.

• A macro lens (ideally a prime lens)
• A fast lens (ideally a prime lens with f1.8 or f1.4)
• A step-down ring
• A portable flash
• A tripod

The reasons why I suggest prime lenses is that they’re the sharpest lenses and when you’re staking that much glass in front of your sensor, things then to go soft very fast. The step-down ring should match your lenses’ respective diameters.

There are other ways to setup for super macros, some using extension tubes or teleconverters, but I wanted to keep it simple.

Setup

Now, let’s make it work.

Step 1: Put the macro lens on the camera (in my case it’s the Sigma 105mm)

Step2 : Make sure your lens is on manual focus

Step 3 : Screw the step-down ring onto the macro lens

Step 4 : Turn the aperture dial on your fast lens (in my case it’s the Nikkor 50mm) to it’s widest setting (smallest f-stop #). We need as much light as possible getting in.

Step 5 : Screw the front of the fast lens onto the front of the macro lens.

Step 6 : Put your camera on manual focus

This is what the setup should look like.

The reason I added the tripod and the flash in the equipment list is that, since there isn’t a lot of light making it to the sensor, you’ll either need a long shutter speed or more light.

You’ll notice that your depth of field (DOF) is extremely small (roughly 1 or 2mm) so things get blurry very fast. Make sure your subject isn’t moving or else you’ll be out of focus. If you insist on doing this hand held, exhale before you press the trigger… you might get lucky. ;-)

Being so close and having such a small DOF is a great combination for fun abstract photography. Use you imagination and have fun!

As for the flash, you’ll have to trigger it off camera because of the length of the combined lenses and the proximity of the subject to the lenses.

Here are some samples images as examples.

Morning frost on my canoe.

Orange Hawkweed

Daisy

Wolf Spider (if you look close enough, you’ll see my lens in its eyes!)

Key Ingredients for Black and White Images

Photo by Maurizio Polese

Digital Camera Magazine (UK) has a useful feature in their October issue on Black and White photography. It contains a lot of good information - but one of the topics that they cover was on how to ’see in black and white’.

In it the author shares 4 ‘key ingredients’ of that will help you to visualize whether a scene will work as a black and white image or not. The titles below are from the article - the thoughts are mine (and I’ve added one of my own tips too).

1. Look for Contrast

One of the elements that can give interest to a black and white shot is contrast. Because you can’t use color to distinguish one element of your image from another the tonal variances become all the more important. This doesn’t mean you need to look for stark contrasts in every shot you want to convert to black and white - the subject matter will come into play here - but you should ponder how the contrast will come into play when composing your shot.

2. Wait for the Right Light

Linked to contrast, the lighting in a black and white shot can be very important. For example - h3 or direct lighting will often add to contrast. Side lighting will reveal any texture that a subject might have (and in portraits will accentuate features) and light from any one direction will create shadows. All of these techniques can add interest to a black and white image - however they can also be distracting - so play with light with care.

3. Shapes and Patterns

Patterns or shapes that can sometimes almost go unseen in color (due to the color itself drawing attention) can come alive in a black and white shot. Black and White shots that rely upon pattern can often take on an abstract quality.

4. Capture Texture

I’ve already mentioned this above when talking about side lighting - but revealing the texture of a subject can add a new dimension to an image. The sidelight does this by creating shadows.

A Tip for Black and White Landscapes

Photo by Maurizio Polese

One more quick tip of my own for those wanting to try black and white landscape photography:

When shooting black and white landscapes look for ‘active skies’. I was given this advice by a photographer a few months ago who showed me some examples of his own black and white landscape work. The skies in his images were breathtaking with wonderful cloud formations and what often looked like storms about to break. Having skies with so much ‘action’ in them added mood and a really dynamic look and feel to his images. Without this active element the images looked rather empty and dull. I think the same principle could be applied to most types of black and white images that have large parts of them dominated by any one thing. If a large part of your image is all the same tone the image can look quite lifeless (unless of course you’re going for a more minimalist look.

Darren Rowse