Why Manual Focus is Better in Wildlife Photography

[@mcunner]

I have an AI-S 400mm f2.8 manual focus and when you nail the shot, the results are amazing! Af and manual focus are frustrating to use but for different reasons and nailing the shot with manual feels so much better

[@dasaen]

I do a lot of burst while I spin through the focus plane and I’m amazed on how much better than autofocus it is for wildlife, specially in low light. Autofocus seems to work better on people. The biggest benefit for me not thinking about autofocus is that suddenly my lens and camera choices are much wider, because Im not limited to the most current pro line of a brand. I kind of wish that manufacturers focused on aperture and stabilization more than autofocus.

[@officialwilder]

Glad you’ve found value in it too! I agree. There are some situations where I just can’t find autofocus to work ever, so having this skill set opens up new possibilities. And like you said, not having to worry about AF when picking a camera or lens allows for other even more important things to be the priority

[@marxiewasalittlegirl]

Very helpful, thank you. I feel like using manual focus will commpel me to spend more time observing the subject which is a good thing

[@officialwilder]

Glad it was helpful! ☺️

[@sergiushannan]

My first tele lens was incompatible with my Nikon D3200 so I was forced to learn manual focus. By a few months I was able to get acceptably sharp shots of tree swallows in flight using the pull focus method. Now that I have a Z6ii and the autofocus has made leaps, I choose to use a hybrid approach. As Ray Hennessy and others point out about the A1 and Z9, there are times when the mirrorless phase detect AF fails due to a contrasted background or foreground. It can be nearly impossible to work around this using AF, so I choose to incorporate my manual focus skills into my AF as a backup. I practice this regularly. I don't often shoot subjects with predictable behavior, and I'd rather not blame either MF or AF for my missed shots, so I use both depending on the situation. If I used any form of manual focus on a northern harrier or short eared owl in flight, I would likely miss upwards of 90% of those shots. I'd rather use the latest technology to get that number down to 25% or less, then quickly correct using MF if I ever hit one of those points where AF switches to foreground or background. Doesn't have to be one or the other, and I think everyone could benefit from honing their MF skills!

[@officialwilder]

Some great insight Sergius! I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and I can definitely agree. I definitely hold some bias towards MF, but I also recognize the usefulness of AF in certain scenarios. My hope in a video like this, is to challenge people to be able to refine their MF skills and question why it is that they rely solely on AF if that is the case... thanks for sharing!

[@craigwallace166]

This is very interesting and makes sense, I’m definitely going to check this out .

[@officialwilder]

Best of wishes with it! It's a learning process so don't expect perfection right away!

[@holyfirephotography6493]

Most certainly going to do more with manual.

[@officialwilder]

Love it! You'll have to keep me updated on your results.

[@marc5279]

hi again haha, i recently discovered your channel and i gotta say there's interesting stuff. You got me thinking here because i seldomly use only manual or only auto, so i don't quiet get why the discussion is about having just one or the other. There's times when you gotta manually help the auto get faster to where you want so you don't risk for the lens to start breathing, and there's times when auto is a better option once almost perfect focus is acquired and you can't know for sure if it's right on point (you can't see well into the viewfinder if you're in an uncomfortable position, for example). I mean, i know using just one helps you learn stuff you would'nt be able to if you didn't force yourself to do that, but in the end what works best is to keep in mind that both have it's strengths and weaknesses and to choose accordingly

[@officialwilder]

A valid point for sure! You can 100% make the argument to using both as being the most effective, and one that I would accept to be honest. However, unfortunately the high majority of wildlife photographers have a complete disregard for manual focus, which leads me to create videos like this highlighting the usefulness of it and the need for it. But you are definitely right in that pros and cons can be weighed for both.

[@KevinNordstrom]

Great insight , Jeremy. You definitely have a gift to teach.

[@officialwilder]

Thanks Kevin! Just trying to challenge and encourage others! 🙌🏻

[@bassangler73]

I agree 100%!!! I generally shoot raptors in flight but this winter I have been shooting smaller birds and as you said if they are perched in a tree with a small hole in the branches between you and the Bird sometimes using AF is way too slow..I found the best technique for me is to use AF for birds in heavy cover and the AF will usually lock on a branch but it has you very close to focus so then all I have to do is use manual focus to fine tune because the AF tends to lock on a branch very near the Bird so your close already and I find this much faster than trying to AF 3 or 4 × as you watch the Bird fly away...lol

[@officialwilder]

That’s a really good way of doing it too! I actually started my translation towards total MF by doing exactly once you mentioned. It’s a quick technique and combines the best of both world’s. Love the thoughts, thanks for sharing!

[@AndrewMacdonaldPhotography]

Great video dude. There is no way I am switching from the eye auto focus on the Sony Alpha 1 tho haha. I do sometimes use manual if there is grass etc between myself and the animal.

[@officialwilder]

Haha for sure. Thanks man! There is definitely pros and cons, hopefully, this video can just help people think about it and cost evaluate the effectiveness for themselves! I'm definitely taking the underdog approach haha.

[@AndrewMacdonaldPhotography]

@@officialwilder haha hey keep doing what you’re doing. Personal preference 🤟🏼

[@leilahijazi6313]

Thank you

[@craigwallace166]

This is very interesting, I’m definitely going to look into the technique.

[@siejacyzamet1192]

Hi Jeremy. Can you tell us what in-body settings do you use for the manual focus? The Sigma lens you use has a focus-by-wire focus ring which may seem to be a little awkward to use, but the Panasonic S1R has some interesting features to cope with that. From my experience with the Panasonic G80 and 100-300mm lens it either is too slow or too fast to focus on the subject - I have very poor hit rate using it.

[@officialwilder]

I personally keep it set to non-linear, even though it can be trickier to get used to it allows you to pull much faster when needed so that's why I've gotten used to it. The S1R can change it's MF to a linear setting as you already know it sounds like, but personally I still keep non-linear.

[@matthewward6630]

Thanks man.

[@tridentroy]

Awesome 😎

[@officialwilder]

Thank you! ☺️

[@yuhu102]

As a Sony A1 user I was interested in why I should use settings I used 30 years ago. You should started this video like this: -If You have a budget camera and a low budget telephoto lense, You should consider to use manuell focus.

[@bassangler73]

Even the A1 misses in a cluttered background

[@audiomitch7881]

Nah. Your Bluebird could have been easily focused in AF by using back button focus. Focus the bird, then recompose. Either way, take too much time and you've missed the shot.