I have a number of shots taken by friends and relatives, waiters and fellow tourists, etc., with my AF cameras where they haven't realised that, if you AF on a space between your real subjects, you're not going to have them in focus!
Yes, very good point! Funny story about this. I was taking available light shots at a wedding before the ceremony started. I saw a man speaking with the minister, got a good shot of the two of them. Oops, the *istD was set to center focus and focused on the wall between and about 20' behind them and they were out of focus. Later I learned that the man speaking with the minister was a former husband of the bride's mother and she definitely didn't want any photos of him! She wanted the photo discarded anyway. I lucked out! All in all AF really does help in fast-moving situations, like event photography. And in dim lighting too! Plus, with my weak eyes, AF really helps me out. But when doing intentionally shallow DOF, landscapes and macro work I prefer MF. Not having any problem seeing the focus with the *istD. Oh am I glad that between the time I was young and now (just a couple of years) they put diopter adjustments right on the cameras! (They must have found that the typical buyer was getting older.) There was a time several years ago when I picked up an old Ricoh SLR and wondered why I couldn't see anything in the viewfinder any more. The suggestion that someone made to move the lens out of focus and then adjust the diopter quickly until you can see the numbers and the marks in the viewfinder clearly was a good one. John Power Racehorse in the Desert
