Autofocus is the camera feature most photographers stopped thinking about decades ago, and it has been quietly reinvented twice since then. We walk contrast-detect versus phase-detect history, the on-sensor phase-detect revolution that mirrorless made standard, the neural-network subject and eye detection that defines 2026 flagship performance, and the honest gap between marketing claims and what actually focuses in real shoots.
Autofocus
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Autofocus Systems Explained