04-01-2014, 01:55 PM
I don't know if I have expressed it clearly.
In a situation when you need nail focus with a shallow DoF, as popo said, it would be better to use magnified live view and MF ( and a tripod maybe). But it also depends on the lens that you are using. Many AF lenses have a too short focus throw, which makes it painful to get precise focus. And not every camera has live view that is good enough for precise focus.
While for candid photography, in my experience the most frustrating thing is pointing your camera and lens to the target, AF focusing, then reframing and firing. The time lapse during the entire process is often big enough to caught attention of the target and let him/her respond. It may be a little better if you can move the focus area in your VF away from the centre to avoid reframing but it can only improve the situation a little. Moving around the focus area in the VF frequently is also very boring and take time. With a good MF lens I would just set the lens focus at a distance that I guessed and raise you camera and fire. To get a sufficient DoF of course an appropriate aperture need be preset.
Of course it is a question how precise the distance that you guessed is. But I think the precision can be improved with more practice.
Yes I know in the digital era DoF markings are probably not as useful as in the film era. But in my opinion they are still useful since they can give you a reference for the DoF that you will get.
In a situation when you need nail focus with a shallow DoF, as popo said, it would be better to use magnified live view and MF ( and a tripod maybe). But it also depends on the lens that you are using. Many AF lenses have a too short focus throw, which makes it painful to get precise focus. And not every camera has live view that is good enough for precise focus.
While for candid photography, in my experience the most frustrating thing is pointing your camera and lens to the target, AF focusing, then reframing and firing. The time lapse during the entire process is often big enough to caught attention of the target and let him/her respond. It may be a little better if you can move the focus area in your VF away from the centre to avoid reframing but it can only improve the situation a little. Moving around the focus area in the VF frequently is also very boring and take time. With a good MF lens I would just set the lens focus at a distance that I guessed and raise you camera and fire. To get a sufficient DoF of course an appropriate aperture need be preset.
Of course it is a question how precise the distance that you guessed is. But I think the precision can be improved with more practice.
Yes I know in the digital era DoF markings are probably not as useful as in the film era. But in my opinion they are still useful since they can give you a reference for the DoF that you will get.