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Nikon 35mm SLR: manual focus vs. auto focus



 
 
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  #21  
Old September 20th 04, 02:05 AM
William Graham
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"S. S." wrote in message
om...
Dear Gurus,

Since an AF Nikon 35mm SLR will also have the capacity to do manual
focus, I am wondering what is the advantage in general of an MF Nikon
over an AF Nikon. I understand that an AF one probably will be bulkier
and heavier than an MF one, and the MF lense speed is faster. But in
addition to those, what are the benefits, image quality-wise, of an MF
Nikon? Are MF feature of an AF body the same as MF feature of an MF
body? Thanks in advance for help!

SS


If you are taking pictures of people in a crowd, such as people on the
street, or walking down a boardwalk, it is very easy for the Auto Focus
mechanism in your camera to become confused, and not know exactly who to
focus on. I find that manual focus is much more reliable in a situation like
this.....I can always crop out what I don't like in the photograph later,
and just get the particular individual that I had in focus for the shot, or
use the other people as a sort of, "background" for the individual that is
in focus, and is therefore, the real subject of the shot.


  #22  
Old September 20th 04, 04:32 AM
Wm Gardner
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"S. S." wrote in message
om...
Dear Gurus,

Since an AF Nikon 35mm SLR will also have the capacity to do manual
focus, I am wondering what is the advantage in general of an MF Nikon
over an AF Nikon. I understand that an AF one probably will be bulkier
and heavier than an MF one, and the MF lense speed is faster. But in
addition to those, what are the benefits, image quality-wise, of an MF
Nikon? Are MF feature of an AF body the same as MF feature of an MF
body? Thanks in advance for help!

SS


While I am certainly no guru, I'll chime in..........I carry a small
Nikon body as a spare. My FE2 (predecessor to the current FM3) has been
incredibly reliable. Traded my first one in on a F3 in the mid to late
'80s. Missed it so much I bought another shortly afterwards. Simple
functions, can always be counted on, and much smaller than an AF body
(especially the pro models).

I take it out sometimes just for the experience. A camera like that can
help you take better pictures because it makes you slow things down a
bit. You have to pay a little more attention to what you are doing. My
subjects tend to be stationary though, if you shoot things that are
moving on you (sports, wildlife, etc), I wouldn't bother with a MF
camera. You can do it of course but it is so much easier with AF.

Hope it helps,
Bill

--

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
-Theodore Roosevelt


  #23  
Old September 20th 04, 04:32 AM
Wm Gardner
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

"S. S." wrote in message
om...
Dear Gurus,

Since an AF Nikon 35mm SLR will also have the capacity to do manual
focus, I am wondering what is the advantage in general of an MF Nikon
over an AF Nikon. I understand that an AF one probably will be bulkier
and heavier than an MF one, and the MF lense speed is faster. But in
addition to those, what are the benefits, image quality-wise, of an MF
Nikon? Are MF feature of an AF body the same as MF feature of an MF
body? Thanks in advance for help!

SS


While I am certainly no guru, I'll chime in..........I carry a small
Nikon body as a spare. My FE2 (predecessor to the current FM3) has been
incredibly reliable. Traded my first one in on a F3 in the mid to late
'80s. Missed it so much I bought another shortly afterwards. Simple
functions, can always be counted on, and much smaller than an AF body
(especially the pro models).

I take it out sometimes just for the experience. A camera like that can
help you take better pictures because it makes you slow things down a
bit. You have to pay a little more attention to what you are doing. My
subjects tend to be stationary though, if you shoot things that are
moving on you (sports, wildlife, etc), I wouldn't bother with a MF
camera. You can do it of course but it is so much easier with AF.

Hope it helps,
Bill

--

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
-Theodore Roosevelt


  #24  
Old September 20th 04, 02:43 PM
S. S.
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Perhaps if you were to mention what bodies/lenses you are considering...



I am trying to decide whether to go with a Nikon F4 / F5 or an MF Nikon prior to F4.
  #25  
Old September 20th 04, 02:43 PM
S. S.
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Perhaps if you were to mention what bodies/lenses you are considering...



I am trying to decide whether to go with a Nikon F4 / F5 or an MF Nikon prior to F4.
  #26  
Old September 20th 04, 02:48 PM
S. S.
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If you have bad eyesight,
then you would probably do worse with manual focusing.


Thank you very much for the answer! I do wear a pair of prescription
glasses. Do you know whether wearing glasses has any impact on manual
focus in particular and handling 35mm (versus digital where you do not
need to look into viewfinder) in general? Thank you once again!
  #27  
Old September 20th 04, 03:41 PM
Dallas
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On Sun, 19 Sep 2004 10:29:27 -0700, S. S. wrote:

Dear Gurus,

Since an AF Nikon 35mm SLR will also have the capacity to do manual focus,
I am wondering what is the advantage in general of an MF Nikon over an AF
Nikon. I understand that an AF one probably will be bulkier and heavier
than an MF one, and the MF lense speed is faster. But in addition to
those, what are the benefits, image quality-wise, of an MF Nikon? Are MF
feature of an AF body the same as MF feature of an MF body? Thanks in
advance for help!

SS


Try manually focussing with an autofocus lens and autofocus camera. It's
not as easy to do as would be the case with a manual focus lens, using a
manual focus camera with a split prism screen.

--
Dallas www.dallasdahms.com
"Going down a dirty inner city side road I plotted
Madness passed me by, she smiled hi, I nodded"
- Sixto Rodriguez

  #28  
Old September 20th 04, 03:41 PM
Dallas
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On Sun, 19 Sep 2004 10:29:27 -0700, S. S. wrote:

Dear Gurus,

Since an AF Nikon 35mm SLR will also have the capacity to do manual focus,
I am wondering what is the advantage in general of an MF Nikon over an AF
Nikon. I understand that an AF one probably will be bulkier and heavier
than an MF one, and the MF lense speed is faster. But in addition to
those, what are the benefits, image quality-wise, of an MF Nikon? Are MF
feature of an AF body the same as MF feature of an MF body? Thanks in
advance for help!

SS


Try manually focussing with an autofocus lens and autofocus camera. It's
not as easy to do as would be the case with a manual focus lens, using a
manual focus camera with a split prism screen.

--
Dallas www.dallasdahms.com
"Going down a dirty inner city side road I plotted
Madness passed me by, she smiled hi, I nodded"
- Sixto Rodriguez

 




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