Why Manual Focus is Superior for Street Photography
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- Опубліковано 22 сер 2024
- When it comes to fast-paced street photography, your best option for focusing is not focusing at all. Sony, Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm etc all have amazing autofocus systems, but nothing beats a manual focus lens for quick-fire street photography. On this street photography shoot in Paris, I spent 2 hours photographing subjects around the Eiffel Tower.
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I shoot manual on a M43 Lumix camera with the 7Artisans 35mm f1.4 lens. I can say that after some months, you will realize that you get better and better, it's like riding a bicycle. At first it was difficult to capture the focus, especially with a camera that doesn't have focus peaking. But after a while you are getting used to it and manage to shoot really fast, sometimes without even looking at the viewfinder. And honestly that's really fun. Wish I could share the pictures I took over the last years
Rather than buying an expensive large-aperture lens with auto-focus to capture every last detail of a scene, I decided to go the lo-fi route and order a cheap, manual focus 35mm f1.6 lens from Japan. I can't wait to try it out, because it's got focus fall-off from the center and constant vignetting along the edges of the frame--exactly how I see the world through my own eyes.
Very nice!
I've been shooting manual OM and M42 glass on my 5d mk1 and have been loving it. It definitely seems to make me much free-er to compose shots, and give more attention to composition. Even shooting at more wide apertures you can get quite accurate at getting fast focus on your subject. Of course, having a mindset of flowing with the imperfections helps, as missed focus is always a risk. Great videos!
Nice! And thanks!
I can't say that manual is superior but a great alternative... The upsides are slowing down and composing more of the shot, but these can also be achieved with AF. Manuals are indeed fun and make you feel more connected to your work. The only thing I say they're better at is focusing on what you want instead of fighting with AF because it focused on the wrong thing
I find manual to be the faster method of shooting, definitely autofocus for when you're shooting wide open in non-street settings
Very nice video, George! I can so relate to your experience of shooting - knowing that it's not about outcomes but more about the experience. That's a true street mentality. I too had a similar experience shooting ISO 200 on my X-T30II at F11.... please keep the great vids coming!
Thanks Juliette!
Great video…thank you!
Thanks!
I've been looking at street negatives from 1995 - taken on a manual focus GS645S and an autofocus GA645.
The manual focus pictures are more interesting - and I believe that's because manual focus forces the operator to think ahead and to zone focus.
Definitely!
I shoot with a Sony A7Riii, 35GM, 24GM & FE85mm for my landscape/sunrise/night skies/dedicated portraits/trips..... But for street, it's always my X100f in manual focus with peaking. I tend to keep it around the 2.5m zone anyway which is about average for the distance I like to frame things and then tweak if I need to.
Nice set up!
I'm not sure if they are called Brass Bands in Paris like they are in New Orleans but I think that is who the group of musicians are. That's normally how brass bands dress in New Orleans when performing on the streets. We see them on just about every corner on a daily basis. I'm guessing since New Orleans is heavily inspired by the French culture then that's who they are.
I love capturing photos on my TT Artisan 50mm manual focus lens. It helps me to slow down and see the scene versus just shooting to shoot like a mad man with an automatic lens. Manual focusing and using the evf helps you appreciate the scene and enjoy your subtle mistakes more. I never feel frustrated with myself or my gear when I'm using a manual lens because I expect some mistakes.
Thanks for the video! Nice pictures!
Ah yeah it must be the same! And thanks!
Manual focus with an ND filter.
Set your focal length, set your shutter speed, set your aperture, now walk into the shadows and set your exposure with the ND filter and make a mark, now step into the light and repeat.. Now everything is setup and all you have to do is spin your ND filter from mark to mark as you're shooting in and out of shade.
Nice set up!
I wish new lenses have focusing scaling
Me too!
2:58 why you remove skies?
I think with 35mm f/16 manual focus is super easy, just set to something like 3 meters (or 10 ft) and forget about focusing, applicable to AF lenses in MF mode too
The sky was very distracting and messy so wanted something more blown out
in low light night street photo, this manual focus is difficult for me.
Yes low light is more difficult
Just got into digital photography over the last six months from film, and I just got a Fuji Xpro 1. Just looking for manual lens recommendations?
TTartisan 23mm 1.4 is a great deal and I enjoyed it on my old X Pro 1
@@GeorgeHolden thanks! Makes a change from using 80/90 year old cameras!
Are you using adapted glass for it? The native manual focus choices are pretty limited on EF mount. I've been eyeing a 7artisan 35mm for a while now to use for zone focused street photography but I haven't pulled the trigger yet.
Yes adapted! I use a L39 Canon 35mm f/2.8, not the cheapest but many SLR mount lenses are very affordable and adaptable to any DSLR or mirrorless body
Do you copy all the images you shot that day off the camera, or only the "keepers?" How do you organize your photos so that you can do projects like "Photos of people with phones and covering their ears?"
Hey Mike! I usually back up the entire card and then I trim down the selection in lightroom. Then from the final images I choose any specific shots that work towards a project and save an extra copy in my project folders, it's always an extra copy and then I have the originals along with the other images from the same shoot
3:10 No way that photo wasn't combine with the pigeon before hand.
I can send you the raw 😂
@@GeorgeHolden That's not what I mean. Do you have proof that never met that pigeon before and you didn't asked it to pose for you?
That photo is just too perfect... 😘
I once dodged about for several minutes in an Oregon coast parking lot trying to line up a rainbow just perfectly with a scenic lighthouse. Great photo, but alas, for all the effort that went into it, it looked no different than a composite I could have done on a computer.
@@FrogCabin-in5wd An "image" is not a "photo", something capture, specially by you.
You could make that image on your computer, by you couldn't never use your computer to make that photo.
@@deathdoor So, what do we make of double exposures, where two photos are combined in the camera?
I could capture two different photos, and combine them artfully on the Kodacolor film in the camera--without using a computer. Is it still a photo, or is it now an image? It's hard to see how that's to be valued more than combining the photos on a computer.
(The stupid Internet says "photo" and 'image" can be used interchangeably, BTW)
For this kind of streetphotography you can even use a smartphone, no composing, just shooting and everything sharp.
Ah yes zero composition
@@GeorgeHolden Right? Video is full of thoughtful discussion on composition. UA-cam is getting pretty obnoxious for photography. Every video is full of these people chiming nonsense.
maybe people will just say this is just to justify buying cameras with bad autofocus
Name a camera with bad autofocus from the last 15 years 😅
Wot? No bokeh in any of the photos? That is defo not photography! 🤣
How dare my subjects be sharp 😅
Doing street photography in Paris? Good luck if you ever get a “rights of the image” claim.
Hopefully not!
@@GeorgeHolden It's the one thing that killed my desire to do it when I visited. It's ironic Henri Cartier-Bresson couldn't make his photographic work today.
At one point in the recent past whoever was in the government ministry of the arts talked about changing this but didn't happen. Keep in mind pretty much the whole EU is like this now.
I like your videos.
Unfortunately I don't care about street photography.
Probably you don't mind.
I'm genuinely interested, what is it you like about my videos?
@@GeorgeHolden it's a weird question. They're interesting and entertaining at the same time, I guess.
Plus you like m4/3 system, like I do.
My opinion is manual is never the best way, period. I’ve been doing street since 1958 and manual was my only optioned it wasn’t until I purchased a Canon EOS 650 that manual was no longer used. Now I never use manual.
just wait until that auto focus latches onto the wrong subject and ruins your shot..
@@Broken_Orbital He’s been photographing since 1958, he’s probably aware of that, LOL!
@@Joe_VanCleave I'm not saying he isn't, I'm demonstrating that manual focus certainly has it's place in photography and definitely Can be the best way to capture a particular shot.
@@Joe_VanCleave "manual is never the best way, period." is a pretty bold statement for someone who is aware that autofocus can ruin a shot that manual focus wouldn't... 🤷♂
@@Broken_Orbital it never has. I know what I’m doing, do you?