"Chris Buckett" <chris_buckett_no_spam@hotmail.com> wrote in

news:mP1_a.3061$5K2.1875@news-binary.blueyonder.co.uk:

> Does anyone have any tips for sharp focusing?

> I've got a manual focus camera, and I find it quite hard to get my

> subject in focus - or I'll think that my is subject in focus but when

> the pics come back from the lab the subject is a bit fuzzy (but the

> leaves behind are perfect!!!). Is it just a case of practice makes

> perfect? How long did it you guys to regularly get things in focus?

> or do you all use auto focus cameras?

> Oh, and the kind of photos I'm talking about are of the point & shoot

> variety, ie catching the kids doing somthing in the garden, rather

> than a posed + tripod kind of pics (where I've got all the time I need

> to focus etc...)

Good manual focus depends on having a sharp viewing system,

a sharp view of it, and time to accurately achieve focus (but

don't discount the ill effects of bad printing or camera-motion

during exposure...). For optimizing the second characteristic, you

must be able to see sharply at a distance of about 3' - and this

becomes more difficult with aging. If you do not have astigmatism,

a lens of the right power can be added to the camera's VF eyepiece.

For a solution with astigmatism that has worked well for me for

both camera focusing and general seeing, see my article on

4-distance glasses at

www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/articles.html#glasses.

--

David Ruether

d_ruether@hotmail.com

http://www.David-Ruether-Photography.com