Autofocus or manual?

[machineman9]

For reasons unbeknown to me, my camera doesn't seem to like to focus quite right with either of the lenses I am using. I have the standard Canon 17-55mm and a Tamron 70-300mm. The Canon lens seems to be fairly alright, but the Tamron can sometimes just wind its way through all the available focusing space and then end up not focused at all on some ocassions. This may be down to lighting, but the range at which I am trying to autofocus is definately more than adequate.

Anyway, more to the point, what type of focusing do you use? Do you rely on the autofocus or do you try to focus the lens yourself and hope you have a keen eye for the focus on the camera?

This is a question mostly aimed at airshow photography as this is where I would be using the Tamron lens most, but I'm not sure what most people do.


What do you typically do?

Cheers

[BigTruck]

I'm no pro, but I use a Sony Alpha, and a Sony Alpha lense designed for the camera.  For motion shots I depend on auto focus, which can be slow at times depending on the lighting.  The lense is designed for use with autofocus on the alpha so it does ok, but i still miss a few shots here and there do to slow  focus time if the lighting is bad.  If you can pin down the manual focus you will be golden.  If not, you have to suffer the consequences of autofocus.

[expat]

If the F stop does stop match the range of the camera then you will have autofocus problems. I have the same problem with my Nikon D60. It is very fussy when not using Nikon/Nikor lenses.

Matt

[BAW0343]

I have basically the same lens as you. That thing is just a bit finicky in certain conditions, I really don't know why. What I generally do is leave the camera on the center focus point and it does ok most of the time. It does what it needs to do but that stupid focus problem has made me miss more then one shot 

[Hagar]

Tamron 70-300mm

You might like to read some reviews & opinions on this lens. This thread is typical. http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=254
Most reviewers agree that it's good value for money but you get what you pay for.

I don't claim to be an expert photographer but I do take a lot of photos of aircraft. I can only go by my own experience. I believe you have a Canon camera (1000D?). Generally speaking a Canon lens will give best results with it. Not much you can do about slow autofocus except to be aware of the problem & allow for it. A lot depends on the subject & which camera settings you're using. Light is also very important especially with budget lenses. For aircraft in the air I use my 400D on Autofocus with AI Servo* & Continuous Shooting modes. I use the Shutter Priority setting for prop-driven aircraft. Aperture Priority for faster jet aircraft where there is no prop blur to worry about. You will have to experiment with the other settings like Metering & White Balance to see what suits you.

*I suspect this is what causes the hunting on AF especially with different makes of lens. You might like to experiment with different AF settings.

PS. A lot of people only go to perhaps one or two air shows in a year & come home disappointed with the results of their efforts.

[machineman9]

If the F stop does stop match the range of the camera then you will have autofocus problems. I have the same problem with my Nikon D60. It is very fussy when not using Nikon/Nikor lenses.

Matt

I'm not quite sure what you mean. If I start to zoom the lens, the f/stop will automatically change to the minimum I can get at that zoom level.

I do shoot the Canon EOS 1000D, yes. The lenses I had were just the ones I bought as part of the package and I haven't had an opportunity to upgrade them. They are fairly decent, but obviously not the best.

I've hopefully got Cosford airshow to practise and then Southport to perfect my photos. In a way getting bad photos is all part of the fun (if you enjoy misery) as it helps you to improve.


The current set up is evaluative metering on AI servo continuous shooting. I will bear that in mind about particular settings for different aircraft... I do want some prop rotation in my images as I think that's kind of the point of a flying aircraft, but not too much and not blurring the wrong parts.