Zone Focusing: The Fastest Way to Never Miss a Shot

The technique that street photographers have trusted for decades. And a video that finally makes it make sense.

There is a moment every street photographer knows. You see it. You raise the camera. The autofocus hunts. By the time it locks, it is gone.

Zone focusing solves that problem completely. It is not a new idea. Cartier-Bresson used it. Every serious street photographer of the pre-autofocus era used it. A lot of the best street photographers still use it today, not because they have to, but because nothing else gives you the same speed and freedom.

The Collective has been asking about zone focusing for a while. We have seen it come up in conversations about shooting with Leicas, shooting with manual lenses, and shooting in situations where autofocus simply cannot keep up with the pace of the street.

Dave Herring makes it easy. He shoots with a Leica M11, he knows the technique inside out, and this video is one of the clearest explanations of zone focusing we have come across. Everything he covers applies whether you shoot Leica, Sony, Fujifilm, or film. The principle is the same. The results speak for themselves.

Watch it. Then go out and try it.

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