It depends on a number of things. How close I'm actually getting, how
much light there is, what I am photographing, how much wind there is and
how may hands I happen to have free at the time.
With a macro lens that does 1:1 and where there is a lot of light but I
have to use one hand to stop myself falling into a rockpool I will use
single auto focus mode adjust the focus as I frame and then do the fine
focus by moving the camera slightly for maximum depth of field. Where
there is not enough light I prefocus, get into position, take the
picture, then adjust the focus distance to change the object's size in
the frame and reposition. This is done normally with a double headed
flash on the front of the camera.
For more than 2 times magnification I have some sort of focusing rail
and spend a lot of time poking at small animals getting them to walk in
the right direction so they end up in focus.
Each situation has it's own set of problems. Marine animals look best
in water and tend to try to crawl under the nearest rock. Fungi live in
dark damp areas. Insects try to fly away or bite you. Flowers sway in
the slightest breeze. Each one has a different way of focusing and
framing that works best.
Leon
http://www.bluering.org.au
http://www.bluering.org.au/leon
Toralf Lund wrote:
I though I might make this one look like another little survey, since
they seem to be the fashion around here these days... I was just
wondering, in relation to that other post of mine regarding macro
lenses, how exactly people here prefer do to the focusing when doing
macro work. Notably, who uses autofocus and how well does it work?
- T
