Are there DSLR lenses that don't allow for manual focus?

Question

I am looking into getting a Nikon soon (either a D3100 or a D5100). One of the reasons that I am upgrading from a point and shoot is because I want to have more control over the camera's functions. In particular, I want to be able to manually focus. As I shop for lenses, are there any lenses that don't allow for manual focus? Is there anything else I should look out for on this front?

Asked by Treebranch

Answer

If there are, I've never seen one.

They do not offer the same comfort for focusing. On cheap lenses, I noticed you have to turn the front element to focus which does not give much grip and also rotated the front element which is not good if you have a polarize filter.

Better lenses have a nice texture focus ring to let you easily change focus. There is also something called the throw distance which is how much you have to turn to focus. If it takes more distance to change focus than you can focus more precisely. This is often how macro lenses work.

The other nice thing is to have quick-shift focus (maybe called something not the same for different brands). This allows you to focus manually without switching to manual focus mode! You just turn the ring and it works. I find we can search for lenses with that feature for Nikon for example.

Answered by Zak

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