Auto-Focus Newbie

Hello,

As I've said before, I never really used AF because I prefered my old manual lenses so I need to learn how to use it. I've just read the manual that explains the difference between AUTO - SEL - CENTRE.

I don't really see the difference between the three. As long as you find your focus point, then it keeps the focus locked as long as you have the shutter release half way down, yeah?

Which AF mode do you usually use and if you use more than one, in which case would you change?

Also, what do you use the AF button on the back of the camera for?

Focus points are different to focus modes.

Focus modes are:

AF-S Single autofocus and lock, can only shoot when locked.

AF-C Continuous autofocus makes adjustments constantly (eg. for moving targets), can only shoot when locked.

MF Manual Focus.



AF points can be:

Auto, selected automatically, generally quite good and can use two points at the same time.

Select, you select which point to use for AF. My camera stays on this most of the time.

Centre, only the centre point is used.

I only ever use centre spot focus. It avoids any confusion about which part of the scene is being used for focussing and hence, any disappointment when the camera decides to choose a point that is not where you intended/expected.

Thanks.

I guess I need time to get used to all these automatism and buttons.