All language subtitles for 06 - Manual or Auto That is the Question

One question I've
been asked a lot is

when to use autofocus and
when to use manual focus.

Be honest, there's no right or

wrong or definitive
answer to this question.

Personally, I prefer
to use manual as

often as possible because
it gives me full control.

However, there are times in

certain scenarios
where autofocus

has proven to be
the better option.

Let's take a look at
some of these examples.

When doing close-ups.
I never use autofocus.

Because as this example shows,

the autofocus acts as
though it's confused.

That's because when
filming close-ups,

our depth of field is smaller.

The slightest change in

distance between the
camera and the subject,

or between two different
subjects makes a big difference.

And our camera can't decide what

should be in focus and
what should not be.

But if we switch
to manual focus,

our camera no longer has to

guess what should be in focus,

and instead, we'll focus on

whatever we decide
should be in focus.

In this example, we can maintain

focus on just the neck
of the guitar and

not worry about the
focus changing to

the hand as the hand moves
up and down the guitar.

As we pan left, we do lose
focus for a split second.

But because we
have full control,

it's easy enough to adjust and

we're able to do so
in a very smooth way.

Maintaining a nice
clean close-up.

When I'm following a subject,

also known as a tracking shot.

I usually have the cameras
setup to autofocus.

And that's because the distance
between the subject and

the camera is going to
be constantly shifting.

If I were to choose
manual focus,

then I would have to split
my attention between focus,

framing and where I'm walking,

which can be a lot
to coordinate,

especially when there's little
or no time to rehearse.

For example, weddings
and concerts.

If we keep a consistent distance

between the camera
and the subject,

the camera's autofocus
is great at making

the small adjustments that
are needed to maintain focus.

And if we're filming
with a wider lens,

then it's even easier for
the autofocus because

a wider lens gives us a
larger depth of field.

In this shot, it's
easy to see how

the focus constantly
shifts between

the foreground and
the background

as the wrestlers move in
and out of the frame.

In this particular situation,

I don't mind the focus
shifting because

the shifts are smooth and
focusing on different subjects.

However, if we want the focus

to remain on one
pair of wrestlers,

maybe because they're
the main characters.

Then we need to switch
to manual focus.

In this shot, we've
set our focus

to the wrestlers
in the background.

So even when other wrestlers
crossed the foreground,

they remain out-of-focus, which

also has a very pleasing look.

Shot like this can work in

both autofocus and manual focus.

It just depends on the
look that we want,

the story elements involved.

I hope those examples provide

clarity to some advantages and

disadvantages to both manual and

autofocus and what works
and what doesn't work.