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Focus vs Autofocus - What's the difference?

focus | autofocus |

As nouns the difference between focus and autofocus

is that focus is (countable|optics) a point at which reflected or refracted rays of light converge while autofocus is (electronics) a feature of some cameras and other optical systems that allows a correct focus on the subject to be obtained automatically.

As verbs the difference between focus and autofocus

is that focus is to cause (rays of light, etc) to converge at a single point while autofocus is to focus automatically.

focus

English

(wikipedia focus)

Noun

  • (countable, optics) A point at which reflected or refracted rays of light converge.
  • (countable, geometry) A point of a conic at which rays reflected from a curve or surface converge.
  • (uncountable, photography, cinematography) The fact of the convergence of light on the photographic medium.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Catherine Clabby
    • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Focus on Everything , passage=Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus'.
  • (uncountable, photography, cinematography) The quality of the convergence of light on the photographic medium.
  • (uncountable) Concentration of attention.
  • (countable, seismology) The exact point of where an earthquake occurs, in three dimensions.
  • (computing, graphical user interface) The indicator of the currently active element in a user interface.
  • (linguistics) The most important word or phrase in a sentence or passage, or the one that imparts information.

    • Verb

  • To cause (rays of light, etc) to converge at a single point.
  • To adjust (a lens, an optical instrument) in order to position an image with respect to the focal plane.
    • You'll need to focus the microscope carefully in order to capture the full detail of this surface.
  • To concentrate one's attention.
    • Focus on passing the test.
  • To concentrate one’s attention.
    • If you're going to beat your competitors, you need to focus .

    Usage notes

    The spellings focusses'', ''focussing'', ''focussed'' are more common in Commonwealth English than in American English, but in both varieties they are less common than the spellings ''focuses'', ''focusing'', ''focused .

    Derived terms

    * focus group * in focus * out of focus

    Related terms

    * focal

    autofocus

    English

    Alternative forms

    * auto-focus

    Noun

    (-)
  • (electronics) A feature of some cameras and other optical systems that allows a correct focus on the subject to be obtained automatically
    • This camera has autofocus , so it's more expensive.

    Synonyms

    * AF

    See also

    * (wikipedia "autofocus")

    Verb

  • To focus automatically.
    • My camera makes a funny sound when it autofocuses .
    The camera was autofocused before the picture was taken.
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