Re: [Leica] Pros and autofocus

[TEAShea <TEAShea@aol.com>]

<< With autofocus, you have to focus first, then compose the shot >>

John, I do not understand this.  AF actually allows one to concentrate on
composition while the camera is doing the focusing.  It does not have to be
sequential.

With regard to your main point, I believe that you are correct.  Using AF is
very different than using a manual focus camera.  It takes time and practice
to effectively use AF.  

Moreover, just because the camera is autofocusing does not mean that the
photographer is giving up responsiblity for focusing decisions.  The
photographer must be aware of where the camera is focusing and may override by
manually focusing.  Canon lenses with the ring type ultrasonic motor make this
very easy to do.  One can manually focus at any time.  

A competent photographer is aware of how the camera focuses and is familiar
with the situations where the AF systems needs to be overridden.  Most of the
time, the photographer knows how the camera is autofocusing and uses that
information to determine what is being done.  For example, many AF cameras
allow the photographer to choose among AF sensors in the viewfinder.  The AF
point does not have to be in the center of the frame.  The Canon Elan IIe even
allows the photographer to control the selection of the focusing point just be
looking at it.  An infared beam bounces off of the eye and is detected by
small sensors in the camera.  Alternately, the focusing point can be selected
manually or the camera can be instructed to choose the closest object that is
covered by an AF sensor.  Many options - many ways to shoot - many styles that
work for a varierty of photograhers.

That being said, for many situations I prefer to use my manual focus cameras
instead of my AF ones.  It does feel more satisfying to me to focus manually.
But for some subjects, AF is much faster and offers much more capability.
There are some sports photographers that use MF, but it is a mightly low
percentage.

Tom Shea