scsdesphotography Loc: Southeastern Michigan

I think that it also depends on how you anticipate doing portrait photography. You may have success with MF if your eyesight is vey good, your model is very still and your camera is tripod mounted. But if your shooting free style, your moving around trying different angles of view, stick to AF. Nail the eyes, recompose and shoot. Peter Hurley, the head shot king, doesn't move, uses a tripod, AF and shoots at f8. That's his style.

anneabc

So, toast, you say you use focus on the middle all the time, no matter the subject. If you want to recompose, what's the best way to set the camera so the focal point does not change? If a subject is moving, how do you keep it locked? Does it stay locked so you can focus on a moving subject? I have a d750. Thanks

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

I agee to the statement above, even if the AF is precise, only in MF do you have complete control on where precisely you want to place your focus!

mmeador

I use strictly manual here, the subject isn't moving and you can usually do better than the auto focus on your camera.

James R. Kyle Loc: Saint Louis, Missouri (A Suburb of Ferguson)

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I agree with this with portraits.

With landscapes - particularly that with low-light, sunsets and sunrises - I take the camera off of "Auto" and use manual. Aperture Priority - and sometimes H.D.R. I usually like some foreground (branch of a tree) in the capture. I use a small f-stop (f-13 to f-18) and focus 1/3 into the area to be photographed. I use the "Live-View" feature on the camera and magnify the L.C.D. of 10X. I always get the sharpest image that I can in this manner.

Others here will have their own way of doing this - and they should. This works for me.

forjava Loc: Half Moon Bay, CA

Here are some considerations for doing portraits with manual focus or autofocus. I’m using Nikon to illustrate.

1. Some autofocus systems are better than others. Even with a superior portrait lens on a superior camera with a superior autofocus system (EXPEED 4) I am often surprised at how far the camera can move without auto refocusing. Surely this fear is absurd but I do force it to refocus when this happens or else I move to manual focus. My point is, the more control the photographer exerts, the faster the shooter comes to understand successes and failures.

2. The contrast autofocus of Nikon’s Live View is suited to focusing on faces and other fairly stationary subjects. Live View works across the frame but you can pick the focus point. Can Live View refocus in response to a sitter’s movements? Don’t know but worth investigating with a sitter.

3. If you are using a high-pixel-count camera conceived with attention to studio work like the D810, for example, Nikon recommends a tripod and Live View.
http://nps.nikonimaging.com/technical_solutions/d800_d800e_tips/shooting_techniques_static_subjects/. I would also consider a focus rail. This configuration allows for previewing the shot, possibly magnified or on a large monitor. These techniques make photographers’ efforts in manual mode more competitive with autofocus. Likewise, these three techniques work well with autofocus.
4. The Live View image comes from the sensor and so works around any viewfinder issues mentioned in the discussion here. Changes made during previewing are sent to the live view. Similarly, the need to change settings is more likely to show up. You can change the aperture of a Live View preview to manage depth of field and point of focus.

5. Some autofocus lenses have short throws – their focus rings have little travel distance. My 105mm G has an effective focus-ring rotation of no more than 90 degrees under its manual setting. In contrast, some Zeiss manual lenses have much longer throws, which allows for more manual precision.

6. Some manual-focus lenses have narrow focus rings; Nikon has been known to update lenses to wider rings and these are the norm.

Working with manual focus sets the table for more advanced focusing techniques involving depth of field and focal plane. For example, Nikon has an interesting full-body portrait taken with their PC-E 85mm lens; the shifted focal plane pushes attention to the face. Similarly, the Nikkor 58mm 1.4 G offers a progressive intensification of DoF, according to http://nikkor.com/technology/02.html; this is independent of how focus is achieved.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

LoL, toast, I really want to see that article and who wrote it.
Even if the subject could hold still, good luck with some old photographer doing that!!
We've come a long way since the last camerasaur roamed the earth and I can't believe some joker is still writing that stuff.
There will always be someone using an old manual film camera for portraits and they will have no choice, but that certainly in no way makes it even equal, let alone better!
And there are cameras that even with AF the center points are pretty unsensitve and won't work well.
But real portrait photography is often done using only modeling lights and depending on the distance it's gonna be pretty darned hard to see accurate focus on manual.
With a really good camera you can use any of the points so you NEVER have to re-compose. I pointed out in a post recently just how inacurrate re-composition actually is. I had been the victim of re-composition so many times and it was very frustrating but I was limited by my equipment.
Use the peripheral focus points with the point dead on the eye if that's what your after. The focus system on a good modern camera is way more accurate than any manual system could ever be, especially if both the subject and photographer are dynamic!!
And the shallower your DoF gets, the more critical it becomes that the camera focus at the exact instance of shutter actuation.
Now let's see how many old fart manual focusers crawl out of the woodwork!! :lol:
SS

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

Manual focus for adults Auto focus for children and babies (they don't hold still for a second). I have the Zeiss Milvus 85mm f/1.4 ZF.2 manual focus for adults and the Nikon 85mm f1.8 for children.

gsmith051 Loc: Fairfield Glade, TN

Simple answer what works best for you. I've shot roughly 200 head shots over the past four years for an organization and like manual focus best. I like zooming in on an eye and then backing out to keep focus sharp as possible. Auto focus works good too so its a matter of what makes me comfortable.

DerBiermeister Loc: North of Richmond VA

Interesting topic. Made me run my own experiment this afternoon. I did what I consider to be a fairly challenging shot of looking out through my office door, past another wall and over to a tall wicker shelf in our sunroom about 20 feet away -- the shelf showing up in about the right hand 25% of the photo. I chose a single point focus and moved it to the right hand side of the lens so that it would focus just on the shelf. I had the camera set on Aperture and set it to maximum opening wanting to put everything else out of focus, or as much as can be with the 18-55mm lens. I took at least 4 comparisons between manual focus and autofocus, and would use the digital zoom feature to assess. Zoomed in and on the shelf, my manual focuses were quite blurry. The autofocus was sharp.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Modern DSLRs are designed for AF and most don't provide various "tools" for manual focus, that vintage, manual focus cameras had. For example, MF cameras had split image and micro-diaprism spots on the focus screens, which few AF cameras have.

Now, some AF cameras have interchangeable focus screens, in some cases with various added features to assist with manual focus. But most AF cameras also have smaller and less bright viewfinders than those older MF cameras, too, making it harder to see the various manual focus assist features, even if something is fitted.

Plus, AF is a lot faster and more accurate than I ever was focusing manually... and as a sports shooter I was damned fast and pretty darned good.

The key when shooting portraits with an AF camera is to use a single AF point and select one that's going to focus right on the subject's eye. Also be sure that both eyes are in the same plane of focus, or if their not split the difference.... and maybe stop down to increase depth of field. Also beware of using focus and recompose techniques incorrectly (some focus modes can't be used when doing focus and recompose, plus when you move the camera to recompose the focus plane changes in an arc of sorts, so you have to watch out for errors you might actually cause, especially when using exceptionally shallow depth of field).

The lens being used is also quite important. Some are simple better focusing than others. For example, micro motor lenses (such as many "kit" lenses) are typically slower, noisier and not as accurate... can even be downright erratic. Canon USM lenses (and similar focus drive with other manufacturers) are the most accurate.

I think the best bet for most people most of the time is to simply learn to AF their camera properly. When I see a group of shooters at an event, if I look (or listen) closely I nearly always notice at least half are doing things that almost guarantee they won't get many well-focused shots.

Collie lover Loc: St. Louis, MO

What do you mean when referring to a camera with eye priority?

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

I had a post a few down from that one that had a link. Newer technology...gotta love it...unless you're sharpshooter...then you just mock it, cause you don't understand it. Such the old dog.

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

Nikon provides a dot at the bottom in the viewfinder that tells you when you are in focus when manually focusing a lens. When manually focusing and not in focus yet you see a directional arrow that shows the direction to turn the focus ring and when it is in focus the dot appears. For Zeiss lenses on both Canon and Nikon they are manual focusing lenses.

anneabc

I sure didn't know about that little dot that shows up when it's manually in focus. However, I just tried it, and do you move the arrow at the exact point it touches the spot area? There seems to be some leeway. Did I explain myself well enough?