10 reasons to turn off your autofocus

[auddii]

Something I need to work on:

10 Reasons to Turn off Your Autofocus

[kenw]

some of the reasons given are a bit weak, but overall, a decent writeup. In a lot of cases there are easier alternatives, assuming you have a dSLR (bbf for one, mentioned in the comments). For that reason I suspect this is more targeted to beginners.

If you are using a pns, some are much more appropriate. But alas, there are a lot of pns that won't let you turn off AF.

[Snarfy]

I love shooting manual focus. It forces you to slow down and engage your composition more.

[auddii]

My biggest problem is that I can't "see" what's in focus with my camera. I have a couple old nikkor lenses with an adapter, and I just can't figure out what is in focus, even using live view. I do slightly better if I shoot with both eyes open, but I'm often just disappointed with my keep rate.

[Snarfy]

Originally Posted by auddii

My biggest problem is that I can't "see" what's in focus with my camera. I have a couple old nikkor lenses with an adapter, and I just can't figure out what is in focus, even using live view. I do slightly better if I shoot with both eyes open, but I'm often just disappointed with my keep rate.

Keep practicing! You eye will become accustomed the more you used them. One thing I've always found annoying with DSLRs are their lack of support of MF lenses. Split prism screens are a huuuuuge help for using them effectively! (KatzEye™ Optics - Custom Focusing Screens)

[RexGig]

Focusing screens made for MF are indeed a big help. I don't (yet) have any aftermarket focusing screens, but the split screens in my FM3A film cameras certainly do help when using MF Nikkors. At work, when my Canon 100mm 2.8L Macro sometimes makes me take over and manually focus, I will sometimes bracket my shots, tweaking focus a tiny bit between shots. This is especially important when trying photograph fair-skinned people, where there is be so little contrast.

[crazeazn]

what autofocus lol.

[james.d53]

Continuous focus on the D700 for tracking is much better than my trying to get the shot manually for fast action. Other than that, I agree with everything else.