AF and back?

John Koehrer · Jun 4, 2014

Lifting this from garageboy's by adding two words.

Who switched to Autofocus and BACK?

Besides me?

I find 'em just too large/heavy.

shutterboy · Jun 4, 2014

I switched to AF on Canon 1V and then came back. Not because of weight, but because of the fact that Zeiss 15mm beats the daylight out of Canon 14mm.

ArtO · Jun 4, 2014

I'm AF-flexible. Sometimes I use it, sometimes I don't.

snapguy · Jun 4, 2014

no auto

I just bought a 60-year-old Rolleiflex. No autofocus, no auto exposure meter, no exposure meter. It does have a lock so when you change the shutter speed it changes the aperture, too (to keep the exposure the same.) Annoying as the devil but there is an override. I used to have the previous model Rollei and it blessedly did not have this nonsense feature. I went autofocus for my newspaper photography job in the early 1990s but I am not desperately in love with it.

Jeff Kubach · Jun 4, 2014

I also don't have auto focus and auto expourse. I like it that way!

Jeff

omaha · Jun 4, 2014

With the huge, bright WLF on my RB67, I never have wished for auto-focus.

But I have to admit it is quite handy when shooting action subjects with my DSLR.

summicron1 · Jun 5, 2014

snapguy said:
I just bought a 60-year-old Rolleiflex. No autofocus, no auto exposure meter, no exposure meter. It does have a lock so when you change the shutter speed it changes the aperture, too (to keep the exposure the same.) Annoying as the devil but there is an override. I used to have the previous model Rollei and it blessedly did not have this nonsense feature. I went autofocus for my newspaper photography job in the early 1990s but I am not desperately in love with it.

That lock is there so you keep the same EV setting if you suddenly decide you need a hazy background and high shutter speed, or vice versa....

Germans trying to make your life simpler. Show some gratitude.

OT -- the few times I've had cameras with autofocus it would focus on the wrong thing. Pain in the butt.

BetterSense · Jun 5, 2014

My N75 is lighter than any of my MF SLRs.

Xmas · Jun 5, 2014

summicron1 said:
That lock is there so you keep the same EV setting if you suddenly decide you need a hazy background and high shutter speed, or vice versa....

Germans trying to make your life simpler. Show some gratitude.

OT -- the few times I've had cameras with autofocus it would focus on the wrong thing. Pain in the butt.

Don't like shutter locks don't mind wasting a frame
Don't like the EV locks never use same EV
Don't like auto focus always wrong
like blue tack jammed into focus ring
like an off switch on meter
But the invention of the devil is a shutter button that is not blocked while the shutter is not armed I don't want a visual indicator I want a first pressure block.

snapguy · Jun 5, 2014

German

I am of German ancestry myself and I sure don't want Germans making my life easier. Besides, there must be some reason why the French call the Germans "Bosch" which I guess means "thickheads." I personally am not a stubborn person except perhaps in most normal situations, like a Monday or a Friday and the other days of the week.

winger · Jun 5, 2014

I have several cameras with AF, but tend to use it only when trying to keep up with the dogs or our son. I use manual focus even on the auto focus ones a fair amount and I still use my manual only cameras, too.
Back in the early 1990s, I made fun of the "black plastic blob" cameras that were coming out then and stuck to my old Pentax and a Minolta X-370. I now have one black plastic blob (Pentax PZ-1p), but I've come to terms with it. Sorta.

GarageBoy · Jun 5, 2014

Speaking of Germans- the most annoying interlock is on the Contarex Bullseye- just because your lousy meter can't meter that dark doesn't mean you should block out my shutter speeds (you have to adjust to ASA dial to fool the meter into thinking you it's darker than it is, so you can use slower shutter speeds)
Also, the infinity lock... - my dad lost many a shot focusing close to infinity on his old Contax IIa

Snapshot · Jun 5, 2014

I started photography using a Canon T90 with a number of FD lenses. I jumped into Nikon film systems (using such camera's as the F-801s, F90x and F100) for years. Now, I find myself using my manual focus Mamiya 645 Pro system the most. Despite the leaps made in AF technology, I get better results with manual focus.

Jesper · Jun 5, 2014

I switched to AF when I bought my first F4 and I also started to use zooms. Never a good picture until I moved back to MF primes (kept the F4 though)

miha · Jun 5, 2014

I went with the flow back then: Minolta AF, Nikon AF,...switched to Nikon MF, later to Leica R, plus MF and LF cameras. I don't miss autofocus for now.

eyesage · Jun 5, 2014

I'm more or less in that process now. I've come to love working with the RB67 I got last fall, but as anyone who has used one primarily for outdoor work will appreciate, sometimes it's too much. For such times I have a Nikon F-80 and F-801s, but after working with the RB I began to miss the F2 I used to own. At some point in years gone by I had come to the conclusion that moving to auto-focus was the thing to do. I think that was back when I still had it in my head that the funds would materialize for the fast ED telephoto that would allow me to make a decent go wildlife photography. There was probably a bit of vanity mixed in too, as I recall the lack of LCD screens on the equipment I was using made me feel a bit like the kid who showed up on the first day of school in the clothes that might have been cool last year. Well, I was younger then wasn't I.

If age and wisdom didn't cure me of all that, my foray into digital for a few years certainly did. After being caught up in that mad rush that has allowed the even the keen amateur to "improve" their images to the point they feel more like billboard illustrations than photographs, I no longer give a macaque's posterior for how up to date or with the times my equipment or practices are. (And only a little bit of that last statement is about playing to the audience, honest.)

Long story short, my "new" F2 arrived today. I'll probably keep one of the AF bodies, at least for now. The only problem I'm left with now is that the meter in the DP-1 finder doesn't couple with my collection of AF lenses. Not a huge concern since I'll probably be using an external meter with this most of the time anyway. Still, does anybody know if the pre-ai lens prongs can be added to newer lenses?

- Joe

chip j · Jun 5, 2014

Good question.

ic-racer · Jun 5, 2014

I use autofocus for stationary objects when focus is critical. Moving objects require manual focus. This has nothing to do with focus, it is because in autofocus modes on all of my cameras insert a random time delay between button press and shutter release.

barzune · Jun 6, 2014

I bought a Nikon F90x about 6 or 7 years ago, when my right eye was getting old.
Since having cataract surgery ( lens replacement), I've gone back to my FM2n, and I much prefer focussing manually.

film_man · Jun 6, 2014

If I want to shoot slow I use medium format. 35mm is for autofocus, though I do have a Voigtlander 40mm for my EOS 3 which I love. The latest AF bodies (EOS 3, 1V, F6, etc) are great to point and shoot when things happen too fast. I can focus fast manually but still, stick a USM lens on the EOS 3 and that thing just flies.

AF and back?

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