As easy as the manual and automatic focus both sound to the ears, it is quite difficult to know which one is best for you especially as a beginner. There are huge differences between these two so at some point, you need to find the one that’s best suitable for you, or better still, you can manipulate both to get what you want. If you are a beginner i.e. new to photography, I would suggest that you stick to automatic focus mode pending when you are able to learn or understand the ins and outs of your camera and work to improve your lighting and composition. At some point, you should learn how to shoot on manual mode which will help you know the strength and weakness of both shooting modes.
AUTOMATIC MODE: Automatic focus mode is quick and responsive to the subjects without any delay. shooting on automatic focus won’t allow you to manipulate to your own taste, you’re basically following what the camera tells you to do. In autofocus, the camera determines the sharpest focus using sensors devoted to measuring it. In autofocus mode, the photographer doesn’t have to do anything. It makes the work easier but then one has to know when to use it and when not to, particularly when photographing some objects like landscape.
MANUAL FOCUS: Shooting on manual mode gives you total control of what your camera is to fixate on i.e. it obeys your command, the photographer must adjust the lens focus by hand. While both can produce great results in most circumstances, there are times when it’s better to choose one over the other. Using manual mode helps you focus on the relevant subject while leaving the irrelevant and also the ability to navigate your focus mode is in your care. Many professional photographers prefer to shoot in manual mode. That’s because it gives more precise control over a shot’s focus. Manual focus is a great choice in most situations where the subject isn’t moving much. This is especially true for macro, portrait, and low-light photography.
ADVANTAGES OF MANUAL FOCUS
- Low Light Condition: If you are shooting on low light where you don’t have enough light, like shooting a star at night. manual focus is best to shoot with because you will be able to pick your focus point.
- Selective Focusing: This helps you to focus solely on the highlighted image you chose to focus on.
- Low Contrast: Shooting an object that has a lower level of contrast gives you a sharper image than using the automatic focus.
- Fast Moving Object: It is not very easy to focus on a fast moving object. In this situation you’ll want to use manual focus and go about pre-focusing your lens prior to when you’ll need to shoot. This way you’ll have your camera at the adequate focal length when the time comes to shoot.
ADVANTAGES OF AUTOMATIC FOCUS
- High Contrast: Automatic focus is good when shooting images with high contrast. Although this might less likely give you a sharp image and that depends on your composition.
- High Lighting Condition: Sounds pretty basic, but if you are having problems focusing, what is simpler than adding a few more lights or turning more lights in the room. Autofocus is better in picking focusing on an image when the environment is well lit.
- Continuous Focusing or Focusing on a Moving Subject: Autofocus allows you to focus vividly on a moving object, once you’ve clicked down on the shutter and the focus box is on the subject, it captures the image sharply.
