Should autofocus be used in wedding videography/cinematography?

FOCUS!! FOCUS!! FOCUS!! FOCUS!! FOCUS!! After a while you ask yourself, shouldn’t autofocus be used? Should autofocus be used in film? Would it make my job easier as a wedding videographer? There are a lot of things you can manipulate in postproduction after a wedding. One thing you cannot fix is focus. If the image is out of focus, than that is just it, it’s out of focus. First time wedding videographers or cinematographers always make the mistake of worrying too much about focus. To the point where he or she is obsessed with making sure they nail the focus, they mess with it so much, they wind up being out of focus. (If I had to verbally speak that long sentence, I’d be out of breath LOL). It is like a catch 22! I am telling you to make sure you get good focus without worry about getting good focus.

Wedding Photographers have the luxury of using back focus or auto focus to make sure they are in focus, but should we as filmmakers use it.

There is a pro to using it. Main pro is you will be in focus. Major con, you are risking your camera possibly jumping in and out of focus without you touching your DSLR. Who wants to see a video where your subject is moving, and your DSLR is trying to catch focus. That is a skill, I even have yet to master! One thing, I have used is, I set all my lenses to autofocus and I used the auto focus as a pre focus feature before I start recording. Than I STEP AWAY from my camera. The best way to get focus is to get it and take your hand off the camera. It is okay to stand there once you get your shot. Who cares if you look like your not doing anything? The point is to get the shot. This is cinematography; wedding cinematography, not wedding photography. We are in charge of capturing moments in the form of film/video. Get your focus and leave the camera alone. If you do that, you will not ask the question, shouldn’t auto focus be used in film? Visit www.intellect-media.com for more blogs!