[jhb] Re: Another OT
- From: "bones" <bones@xxxxxxx>
- To: <jhb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2007 19:55:31 +0100
Yep - the Nikon lens have a switch to change from AF to Manual and I think
most DSLR's will have this function. Most compact digitals don't because the
lens is part of the casing, most retract into this and therefore cannot have
a focussing ring fitted.
AF can indeed be a pain if your subject is outside the focus area. On some
cameras - and camcorders - the AF works only within a small circle of the
cross hairs and you have to get the target dead centre. This makes it a very
hit and miss affair when panning shots as it is all to easy to stray outside
the AF cone. Luckily the D80 has variable AF Area and AF Centre Area options
and these can reduce the number of bad shots. It still is no substitute for
accurate panning though and I am still adjusting to this - which is why I
take a lot of shots of birds.
My camcorder is not so hot filming aircraft displays. In fact it's lousy
taking AF shots without a definite centre object to focus on. I found that
out the hard way trying to film a glorious sunset in Greece - the light
level was low and it was constant hunting for a lock. Bad news was that it
settled on a distance of about ten feet and by the time I'd turned AF off
and tried to focus manually (not that easy) the sunset had gone.
So, like all bright ideas, AF works great most of the time but it can be
defeated. If you can't override it you can be well and truly stuffed.
bones
-----Original Message-----
From: jhb-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jhb-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Peter Dodds
Sent: 16 July 2007 17:28
To: jhb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: pdodds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [jhb] Re: Another OT
All this talk of cameras prompts me to ask - my humble device is a Kodak
high spec fixed lens 12:1 optical zoom unit - pretty fast and good - 7 Mpix,
but not to your standard. However, I would dearly love to be able to turn
off the autofocus and have a fixed focus at infinity for some shots. Quite
a number of my Fairford shots are blurred because the AF was interfering -
shots I could have got crisply with my old Spotmatic and its humble 200mm
lens. Is there usually a way with Digital cameras to do this? I know -
you're going to tell me you can with yours but I can't with mine! Grr.
Peter
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