 Leonid Strizhevskiy |
Lenses A very shameless question, sorry: What are the differences and advantages (disadvantages) of AF compared to manual lenses? Leonid
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doug Nelson |
For making photographs under many conditions (still lifes, landscapes, macro), AF has NO advantage over manual focus. However, as we become older, it's harder to focus accurately, so AF can be a real help. For shooting sports or wildlife on the move, AF is probably essential. When the Japanese companies flooded the market in the 70's with excellent, affordable, durable cameras and optics, the marketing people had to comeup with with something "better", and, after various developments in automatic exposure, settled on autofocus. My complaint is that viewfinders have become cheaper and dimmer on all but the best cameras, because they just figured we didn't need them any more to use for focusing. Fortunately, nearly all serious cameras allow manual focus as well, and some even allow manual focus lenses. Like auto exposure, AF can be used as a crutch by the lazy, and so can be an impediment to learning photography, even though it doesn't have to be. That said, I haven't seen a press or sports photographer using manual focus equipment for 15 years. Maybe they focus manually in low-contrast situations. Funny, too, how Leica and Contax continue to make mainly manual focus lenses for SLR's and for Leica rangefinders. People still buy them, just as they still buy rear-wheel-drive cars. They continue to do well what the user wants them to do.
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Leonid Strizhevskiy |
Many thanks Doug, Now I have a better idea of what it all is about. But actually my question was about lenses only: what would be the difference between AF and manual focus lenses used with a SLR?(advantages and disadvatages) Thanking you in anticipation, Leonid
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doug Nelson |
Well designed lenses of each type are capable of resolving the finest of detail. Remember, too, that the cutting edge of lens design has been in autofocus lenses (except for Leica). I personally do not like the lack of distance scales on many newer lenses, but that has nothing to do with their optical quality. Michael Reichmann at luminous-landscape.com swears by EOS lenses. For another point of view, Erwin Puts (try his name or Leica lens tests on google)is convinced that autofocus is theoretically wishful thinking. The truth probably lies somewhere in between. It's the photographer, not the stuff. Many photographers here love autofocus. I hope one or more weigh in here with their views.
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