Landscape shots: MF vs AF

[wenzheng]

Hi fellow cs-ers , I have a doubt to clarify. It is regarding shooting landscape shots with a tripod, hope experienced users in this area can give me some advice.

For non-tripod work I would usually use auto focus. However I am wondering for landscapes shots on the tripod, should I use manual focus or 'wide' AF or specific point AF mode to get the optimal background/foreground focus.

Also, if MF/specific point AF is better, then where should i focus on? say for example I'm shooting sunset aiming the sea. Thanks all!

 

[dingaroo]

I leave it to MF, and focal length to infinity. That way, everything captured is sharp.

Not forgetting the Aperture, my rule of thumb is 8 and above, and depends on what you want to capture.

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

I like MF.
But I think some lenses don't have a hard stop at infinity focus. Makes it difficult.

 

[denniskee]

on canon camera there is A-DEP, can use that if not sure.

 

[giantcanopy]

i af when af can do the work. for landscapes unless somehow the af catches focus wrongly, i find af quick and easy.

as to the second query u can look up the concept of hyperfocal distance especially if ur lens supports distance scales. Else i usually place focus roughly 1/3 into the scene and shoot at smaller apertures (this is coming from a person who shoots when time for setting up a tripod can be a premium .. )

ryan

 

[night86mare]

i use af.

unless i need hyperfocal distance due to extreme depth of field needed to keep everything sharp..

alternatively, i use mf when i use a nd110, because cannot use af with that filter over the lens.

 

[Blur Shadow]

AF is adequate enough for me.

 

[wenzheng]

wow thanks for overwhelming response.. i'm really thankful for all the input! it seems that most of the users here use AF unless under difficult scenarios. :lovegrin: