n article <19970626073101.DAA08171@ladder02.news.aol.com>, mlguten@aol.com says...
>Mat wrote in his message:

>>This may seem like a bizarre question but having spent loads of money
>>on autofocus equipment most of the photographers I know never actually
>>use their cameras on autofocus.
>>I certainly havent used autofocus for at least six months!
>>What's going on? Why do we do this?
>>Are you using autofocus?
>>Am I mad?

Wow! I have been away from the NG's for a while (busy with the web page,
then digital video...:-). I used to think I was totally alone in pointing
out the serious limitations of AF (I never use it), but the responses to
the above post have amazed me...!;-) (I would like AF to work [though
I hate those flimsy-feeling plastic lens barrels that seem to have
miraculously appeared simultaneously with AF...;-], but until the
F5, claims of "well, NOW, with the "X" model, AF finally works", have
been met with a snicker from me as I aimed the new "Whatsis" model at
something and pressed the shutter release, only to be rewarded with
slight miss-focus about 1/2 the time... With moving subjects, its
worse - miss the subject, and the hunting time required to return
to [approximate ;-] focus is so long that the photo opportunity is
missed!) I shoot people (in motion), animals, architecture, landscapes,
an' lotsa other things, and only once did AF help me: when I shot a
crowd scene from above in near darkness with an AF tele zoom and an AF
flash... It always amazed me what quality-reductions and awkwardness-
increases people would put up with to use AF and believe in the
advertising hype that sold AF. The truth is, most people, given
good eye correction for a distance of about 3.5', and an SLR with
a good, contrasty matte ground-glass screen (rare these days, with
contrast-reducing attempts to brighten viewing screens to make those
slow popular AF zooms look OK in the VF...), can focus quickly, accurately,
and easily manually - especially with primes, which are generally easier
to focus (all else being equal) than zooms... (and are generally
higher-quality image-makers, too - but the alure of the
poorer-but-perceived-as-more-convenient larger/heavier/slower zooms
has drawn people away from using primes - but that leads me into
yet another rant...;-). Basically, those into producing quick-and-easy
snapshots should maybe consider sticking with the better point-'n'-shoots
and give up on bulky 35mm SLR outfits; those into high-quality image-making
should maybe consider skipping the auto stuff (that mostly gets in the way,
and actually slows picture taking if you are concerned about getting the highest-quality results). So, there! ;-) (Ranting ended, for now...;-)
Hope This Helps
(David Ruether - http://www.fcinet.com/ruether )