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So before Auto Focus...


12 years 9 months ago #114651 by Hamtastic
I'm surfing around and was researching about AF and did I see this right that AF has been around since the mid seventies in mass produced cameras? How was the first AF systems? Was it just 1 point? While on that subject what did you film guys do before AF?

One more question: Does the number of AF points in today's cameras impact the speed?
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12 years 9 months ago - 12 years 9 months ago #114670 by MLKstudios
The Canon EOS-1 brought AF to pro level photographers. Nikon lagged behind in AF lenses but have since caught up (and some will say have passed Canon in AF accuracy).

And yes, we had one center point to focus with. Focus and recompose was the standard AF method.

Before AF we used MF. We actually looked for focus on the screen and turned a ring on the lens. It works. I still use AF as an assist to MF only. I fine tune any shot where AF gets it wrong. AF isn't perfect.

The lens and body affect speed. Some lenses have AF motors built in.

:)
Matthew L Kees
MLK Studios Photography School
www.MLKstudios.com
[email protected]
"Every artist, was once an amateur"
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12 years 9 months ago #114700 by cod
I didn't get my first AF lens until about 10 years ago. I always focused manually. It's not as much of a challenge as it might seem to someone who hasn't done it. I still use manual focus a lot, all close-up work, situations where AF spends too much time hunting, and to tweak the AF a little, e.g. to ensure portraits are focused on the eyes and not some other face part. AF is great. I love it, but there are still times when MF is more useful, though.
Chris O'Donoghue
Winnipeg, Canada
codonoghue.prosite.com
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12 years 9 months ago #114745 by Watson

Hamtastic wrote:
Does the number of AF points in today's cameras impact the speed?


I don't think so. If it did, we all would take notice to do and complain.
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12 years 9 months ago - 12 years 9 months ago #114757 by Henry Peach
I had one AF 35mm FSLR, but found it difficult to get used to AF when most of the cameras I was using were manual focus only. Several of the cameras I used didn't have any sort of focus assist so I zone focused. When I started using DSLRs I installed manual focus screens in them, but still found the viewfinders so small and dim that manual focusing was difficult. I started using AF, and found it worked a lot better than it had 10 years earlier. I'm very happy using AF now. My cameras do an amazing job in light where I can barely see. Although I still don't understand why my 35mm DSLRs can't have a big, bright viewfinder like my Nikon FM2n. I don't even know how many focus points my DSLR has, as I still just use the center point.

I've tried manual focus screens from Katz Eye Optics and Slrdaren.com. I put Canon's manual focus screen in my latest DSLR. I wish it had some sort of assist like a split ring. They say it "snaps into focus", but I'm not really seeing that. It's still smaller and dimmer than my old, mechanical 35mm viewfinders.
mattneedham.zenfolio.com
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12 years 9 months ago #114808 by Graflex 4x5
My first auto focus camera was a Nikon 8008s. One focus point and it was slow. Used the motor in the body for focusing and you always made sure you had plenty of spare batteries with you. Also, the more contrast in the scene, the better for focus lock.

There were plenty of screens available to help with the focusing chore .... along with diopter view finder lenes to help those with glasses. For a real experience you should have tried a view camera ... crouched behind the camera, black hood over you and the camera ... magnifying glass for the fine details .... and everything upside down and backwards.
No matter how fast I go, there's always someone slower in front of me.
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12 years 9 months ago #114812 by Shadowfixer1
Autofocus didn't really hit the markets until about 85 or 86. They weren't out there in the 70's. The best cameras out in 1980 was the Nikon F-3 and the Canon F-1. I wanted a Canon F-1 so bad but my budget only allowed for a Pentax MX. That was one fine camera. In 1986 I went to a PhotoExpo and saw a Minolta Maxxum 9000 with autofocus. I bought the whole package on the spot. Camera, lenses, film winder and flash. I still have it somewhere. It had one central focus point. The cameras back in the day didn't matter as much as they do now. They would all shoot the same film. The lenses were the most important part of the system. Today, the body makes a huge difference. Sorry for the history lesson.
www.betterphoto.com/?ramshots
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12 years 9 months ago #114946 by Rob pix4u2
I worked with a Nikon 8008s and had my MF Nikon FE as a backup/2nd body shooting hockey. The AF hunted a lot and by the time I switched to the Nikon N90s I thought I had died and gone to heaven because the AF system was so much more accurate. I bought a second N90s body and retired the FE. I still have the FE with the autowinder and one N90s body to shoot film ( I still like film ) But love my D90 DSLRs for the instant feedback when shooting anything. I don't miss the split diaprism screens on the FE though. I like all of the new lenses today brings but still have a place in my heart for my older MF lenses and the FE that was my first NIkon
Remember to engage brain before putting mouth in gear
Rob Huelsman Sr.
My Facebook www.facebook.com/ImaginACTIONPhotography
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12 years 9 months ago #114982 by icepics
I learned using all manual cameras and that's what I still mostly use. I think photography students would typically be taught using all manual cameras to understand how a camera works, learn how to focus etc.

If I'm having trouble getting something in focus I sometimes focus on the edge of the subject or another object the same distance away, then reframe the shot and adjust the focus from there. I think the more you practice the more you get the hang of it.
Sharon
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12 years 9 months ago #115021 by effron
I don't even remember what my first AF camera was, didn't get it for that. I now shoot NikonD700/D300, they are very good at auto focus, still I use that feature about 25% of the time. Old habits are hard to break........:)
Why so serious?
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