the.com/autofocus
the camera deciding it knows what you meant to look at.
means an automatic system that adjusts a lens to sharpen the subject without you turning anything.
from emerged in the 1970s using sonar and infrared rangefinding, and went mainstream in 1981 with the pentax me-f, the first mass-produced autofocus slr.
first systemhoneywell's visitronic used contrast detection, 1978
phase detectionsplits light into pairs to measure distance instantly
eye autofocusnow tracks pupils, not just faces, in real time
speed recordmodern mirrorless locks focus in under 0.02 seconds
for instance
pentax me-f — 1981, first mass-market autofocus slr camera
minolta maxxum 7000 — 1985, made autofocus the industry standard overnight
sony a9 eye-af — 2017, tracks a runner's eye through a crowd
iphone tap-to-focus — 2007, put manual focus control in a fingertip