Autofocus dilemma

I'm truly looking for some advice here and I'm not going to waste

your time with "Canon or Nikon?" questions. I know there are those

out there with MUCH more knowlege of, and experience with, modern

technology than me.

 

Here's my current situation: I consider myself an advanced amateur.

I've been serious about photography for about 35 years (grew up on

Kodak 35 rangefinders and 120 folding cameras (hand-held exposure

meters, of course!), FTb, TL-Electro, etc) and currently own a Canon

A-1 (purchased new in 1982) with a good selection of lenses and

accessories. I also have a Canon AL-1 (purchased used this year as a

backup and to play with the "Quick Focus" function) and a Kowa Six

medium format. All three are in near-perfect condition - the A-1 was

CLA'd by a Canon tech this year and the Kowa was gone through by Ross

Yerkes this summer. I like to shoot landscapes, closeup ("quasi-

macro"), informal portraits, and snapshots of family and church

activities. In times past, I have taken these photographs accross

North America, Europe and parts of Africa and hope to travel again

some day when kids and job permit. I use a Nikon LS-4000 (with

VueScan) to scan 35mm negs, an Epson 2450 for the 2-1/4 negs, and

have about 3,800 images digitized. (My friends and I would have never

dreamed of this back in the 60's and 70's working in our bathroom-

based B&W darkrooms.) My only problem the last few years has been

obtaining the proper dioptric correction lenses as my eyes age (like

the rest of me isn't aging, too!).

 

Here's my dilemma: with reflexes and vision not what they once were

(but still better than 20/20 if objects are past arm's length!), I'm

agonizing over whether or not to delve into the modern world of

autofocus. I realize that, other than autofocus, there's not much for

me to gain over my current equipment - unless you consider a lighter

wallet an asset. With the right dioptric correction, I only have

trouble in very low light - the type of conditions where autofocus

has problems, too. Do you have any insight and wisdom you can impart

on this subject? Would there be a justifiable improvement in my

photographic life or do the oft-described qualities of excellent

manual equipment outweigh the expense of AF? I hope you find the

question interesting enough to respond.

 

Many thanks,

 

Rob

Only you can decide. Rent a decent auto-focus camera for a week and see how you like it.

 

Keep in mind, by the way, that most decent Canon EOS lenses have what's called FTM -- full-time manual focus, meaning you can always override the autofocus manually should you feel the need to.

 

Besided auto-focus, if you are shooting with flash, you are likely to find that modern bodies make it much more convenient.

I also have a comprehensive kit of manual focus Minolta gear (2 bodies, 8 lenses, various accessories) and I am aware of the progressive obsolescence of both the gear and the photographer. My feeling is that a big investment in 35mm autofocus kit is no longer a good idea, and I will jump to digital when I change. I assume I'll get autofocus and auto everything when I do that.

Autofocus on the higher end bodies is better than the lower end ones (true of Canon EOS and Nikon lines as well) both in terms of low light drop out and AF speed. Owning Nikon, the dilemma wasn't that great for me given a high end body and a few AF lenses I've acquired still work on my older bodies in manual focus.

 

I joined the bifocal crowd several years ago and I still use manual focus or override a lot of the time. If I had your setup and wasn't making a living from it, I'd delay the decision and expense as long as I could on film bodies. AF has been getting better and digital has been making huge strides.

 

AF is just a tool. You'll know when you have to have it.

What percentage of your pics lack proper focus? How many shots do you miss because you couldn't focus fast enough?

 

If the answer to this questions makes you want to spend money to fix this, ask yourself, what situations are these. If this is only for street/people/family things where you use a normal lens consider a point and shoot just for that. If you really need a bigger variety of lenses or more control, then you could be ready to spend your money on an additional system.

I too, grew up with the Kodak 35s (sans, and cum RF). They were good cameras with a fine "Tessar-type" lens. As time went on, I went to Leicas and all the good things that they offer. Still as we age, even these are not really adequate. I "bit the bullet" and secumbed to the AF technology, and sold most of my Leica equipment. First, I bought a Nikon F4S and added lenses as I could afford them. While this was not a perfect AF camera, it sure was better than my vision. Later I added the Nikon F5, which may be the best one out there. It is a lot faster, and more accurate than doing it manually. So where does my old manual focus Leica come in? Well it still fits nicely into my pocket for those occasions where I don't want the bulk and weight of the newer stuff. I have taken these cameras pretty much all over the world, and wouldn't seriously consider going back to MF for everything.

 

Alex

Just a comment on low light and AF: In Nikon (and I'm sure many others) the right camera and flash combo will AF in total darkness. This is done with the aid of a red 'grid' projected from the flash (I call it the 'terminator ray'). Without a flash, if you can handhold the exposure, the camera can AF (assuming the target has some contrast or 'features'). This last is true of the Nikon N90/N90s/F100/F5 (cameras I have some experience with); I haven't used the other AF models. AF is sensitive to transmitted light; fast glass = lower light levels for AF.

I don't like waiting for the camera to find focus. Half the time it doesn't focus where I would have focussed it. Get the right diopter for your camera's eyepiece and do it yourself. No worry about dead batteries either!

 

I find that I can still focus my M Leicas with no problem. With glasses I focus a sharp image. Without them the image looks a tad blurry but I can still align the rangfinder spot-on!