Is Manual Focus Relevant in the Digital Age?

Photographers are spoiled with a wealth of “automatic” features on today’s cameras. Autoexposure, auto white balance, and autofocus make taking a photograph as easy as pressing a button–without any intervention by the photographer. Naturally, this casual form of photography is totally dependent upon “ideal” conditions. In other words, ideal lighting, ideal composition, and ideal subject all lend themselves to leaving the camera configured with automatic settings.

Manufacturers know, however, that very few photographic situations are “ideal.” Therefore, automatic settings can be quickly and easily overridden by the photographer for achieving a desired image effect. One of the more visually powerful statements that is controllable by the photographer is focus.

Selective focus is a mainstay in photography and both cameras and lenses, generally speaking, permit the disabling of autofocus. Whether via a switch or a menu setting, cameras and lenses can be toggled between autofocus and manual focus. There are some very curious outliers to this broad brushstroke characterization of focus. From the strictly manual focus camera to the widely unconventional autofocus camera, there’s something for every photographer and every photographic situation.

[Related Reading: Use These Camera Settings to Nail Your Landscape Photos, A Beginner’s Guide]

Focus on Your Composition

Nothing is more exasperating than watching the autofocus ratchet back-and-forth trying to locate the subject. While you patiently wait for the camera to automatically perform this photographer’s action for you, your subject could be gone. In situations like this, disabling the camera’s autofocus can not only put control back in your hands, but it can also ensure that the subject doesn’t escape your capture.

While it is deceptively easy to enable manual focus on today’s cameras, it only takes a little practice before you’ll develop an adept hand-eye coordination for selectively focusing on your subject. In fact, you might discover that manual focus is a more beneficial method for controlling this vital aspect of your photography. Armed with this newfound confidence in manually adjusting your camera’s focus, you’ll also discover an entire spectrum of manual-focus-only lenses that will now become viable options for outfitting your next lens purchase.

Enjoy.

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