Six techniques to nail manual focus every time (for photo and video)

Autofocus is great, but some situations just require manual focus. We show you six useful manual focus techniques that will help you nail focus every time, whether you're shooting photos or video.

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[PhilThach]

I love the “run the footage backwards” tip, thanks!

[Wohlverine]

I would LOVE more content like this. There are tons of good tutorials on YouTube, but if I can get them from my favorite show, I'll take it!

[DougPardee]

Technical pickiness: with focus peaking, what's highlighted isn't strictly "what's in focus." It's edges that have a certain amount of contrast. Edges that have naturally high contrast can be highlighted when somewhat out-of-focus, while edges with naturally low contrast might not be highlighted at all even when perfectly focused. It generally works well enough, but as with all automated systems, it sometimes pays to be aware of the limitations of the underlying technologies.

[marekvogel]

That´s, what youtube is all about: hacks, tips, workarounds.... Thanks for your input + keep up the work

[lattesweden]

On Sony if you are a RAW shooter, turn up sharpness to +3 (only affects JPEG and the RAW preview) and you can in many cases focus without magnify in and no need to use peaking, with +3 sharpness you get a sort of shimmer where the sharpness plane is.

[myksmith]

You keep doing you, Chris - your combo of technical expertise with practical examples combined with the right blend of dad jokes and dorkiness means that I get my information and I'm entertained. Thanks for your good videos.

[CS]

That last tip is brilliant, definitely going to remember that one. Thankfully I've been doing a lot of manual focusing lately and now I recommend it to anyone that I can. And yes, more tip videos!

[misterfung]

Reverse the video for a snap-focus effect that’s precise! Genius!

[neilfullframe]

Love the Intro 😂😂😂 no no I’m still talking !

[OlintoeRafaelaCicloturismo]

Yes, please much more of this...:)
You guys are great! The really best!
Thanks so much, from Brazil.

[thedondeluxe]

Yes, I would like to see more episodes like this.

[alverolle]

Shooting on the Panasonic s1h shows that they're serious about manual focus

[alantuttphotography]

YES! More episodes like this. Actually, I'd like to hear and see more about manual focusing for video.

[HenryPiffpaff]

Another way at least for DSLRs is to check for special focusing screens for manual focusing, like the Canon EG-S. You can replace the native focusing screen in your camera with that and will then see a much thinner depth of field, thus facilitating easier manual focus. The downside is that your viewfinder image will get a bit darker.

[jtapia]

I like how you guys write out the basic beats of your video and then set up different shots sitting in different locations to change it up. Makes it feel like the old educational shows I used to watch on PBS as a kid

[jeorgesadi]

Love the Camera Labs shirt! I'm assuming that's a nod to Gordon. I think it's pretty cool how the youtuber camera channels know each other and get a long.

[vw]

Life Saver! Thank you for the tips! The Yellow peak focus is actually more distracting while the magnifying tool helped sharpened my photos! KUDOS!

[bsmukler]

I still use the hyperfocal technique for walk-about photography with Leica M cameras and lenses. I use the rangefinder when there is more time to compose the shot and focus. Although I have autofocus cameras as well, there is something very satisfying in doing it old style. This was a fun video, and I hope you make more like it.

[MikeLindup]

Simple, useful, easy to remember. Thanks guys!

[hurleygreen]

Very useful! Just got as manual 55mm 2, 8 lens and learning to meter and figure out depth of fiield THANKS!