At least with manual focus you decide what to focus on. But you have heard this argument from me before. Automation your can not control is worse than no automation at all.
Ciao, Graywolf http://pages.prodigy.net/graywolfphoto ----- Original Message ----- From: "frank theriault" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2003 6:31 PM Subject: Re: On Manual and Auto Focus > Well, here's my problem with autofocus: > > http://www.pbase.com/image/18233117 > > Jeff took it with his Canon digital Elph (actually, quite a nice camera). The > first thing I noticed when I saw the photo, is that the camera bodies and such, > are fuzzy. What's in focus is the strap of my lovely little CL. > > Well, I guess the auto-focus did it's job; something's in focus. But my guess > is that Jeff would have been happier if something else (a body?) would have been > in focus. > > I'm sure someone will tell me that a teeny Elph doesn't have such a > sophisticated auto-focus system, and that some big expensive DSLR would have > figured out what's up, and focused properly. > > Still, I'd rather have the control of exactly what I choose to focus on, not > just let the camera make that decision for me, and just wait for the results to > find out if the camera was right. I mean, I'm guessing that in the little LCD > viewer, one couldn't have perceived such critical focusing issues, so it would > have been hard to edit that one on the fly, and retake it. > > Or am I way off base on this one? > > cheers, > frank > > Alan Chan wrote: > > > I can't give you any figure, but it's no BS. Really, I consistently obtain > > sharper results with my MX than my Z-1p, with tripod or not. Even manual > > focus with Z-1p doesn't seem to deliver the sharpness that the MX offers. I > > once need to adjust the focus of my LX myself and I observed the focus on > > the actual film plate using a Nikon rectangular 8X loupe which just fits the > > film guides. What I have found stocked me. The absolute focus on the film > > plate would deliver ultra sharp image while only very very very slightly off > > would be totally different. Since the AF tolerance is quite loose on the > > Z-1p (turn the lens both ways and it still confirms in focus), that loose > > margin is wide enough to take away that "absolute" sharpness. Unfortunately, > > since no 8X loupe can be used on the viewfinder, the same accuracy of focus > > cannot be achieved in practice (except those shooting large format). > > > > regards, > > Alan Chan > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* > > http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail > > -- > "I don't believe in God, but I do believe in pi" - Henri Cartier-Bresson > >
