> PS> http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2266884&size=lg > This is simply amazing. I don't understand why you used manual focus > and how could you get the water that sharp. For me that part is that > makes this photo, it feels like the surfer is 'cutting' the water.
It's not like you can't get sharp action pictures with MF--guys were doing it up until the EOS-1 came out. You normally get fewer sharp shots, and fewer really sharp shots, with MF than with AF. OTOH it only takes one good shot most of the time. > Attila > > >Thanks Attila. I used manual focus because my lens is an a 400/5.6. I >don't own a really long autofocus lens. But I've shot lots of >motorsports with long manual focus lenses. I don't consider MF to be a >disadvantage, and in many cases, it can be an advantage. >The human hand >an eye are probably faster than most autofocus mechanisms. NO! Every sports shooter I know uses AF, and they all say it is better than they are--surer, faster, better tracking, etc. I shot sports as a photojournalist with manual focus cameras for 9 years, and have been shooting AF for about 9 months. I have replaced almost everything in my sports portfolio because AF is SO MUCH BETTER. Of course in the MF days people used a lot of zone focusing and other tricks that negated the need to follow-focus at all. With a 6-8fps motor drive you can pretty much set the focus so that a human subject fills the frame and then fire off a burst as they pass the point of focus and be guaranteed a sharp shot or two. Timing with this method is of course often sub-optimal, but it beats missing focus on the only chance you get. Motorsports would seem a prime candidate for zone focusing. I still shoot some sports this way, and I still shoot some sports MF because AF has its limitations--focus speed is not one of them. And yes, my 400/5.6s are all MF. Nikon doesn't see the need to put out an AF version (?!) and my spotmatics can't handle the Pentax version. AF on the SMC Takumar 400/5.6 would sure be nice, because it's a real bear to focus that slow lens in a spottie viewfinder. DJE
