A camera feature that automatically adjusts the lens to focus on the subject; to focus automatically.
Compound of 'auto-' (self) from Greek 'autos' and 'focus' from Latin meaning 'hearth' or 'center'. The term emerged in the 1970s with the development of electronic camera systems that could focus without manual adjustment.
Autofocus technology mimics the human eye's ability to adjust focus unconsciously, but it can be fooled by the same optical illusions that confuse us. Modern cameras use contrast detection or phase detection, both methods that would make a Victorian photographer think of magic.
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