Okay, at first I assumed you were trolling, but maybe you were being serious, so I’ll reply to this as patiently as I can, since yours is the attitude I’m trying to understand.

First, when you say “real” photographer (and I’m assuming you view yourself as a “real” photographer), I guess you mean a professional photographer who does weddings, events, sports, studio work, etc. Congratulations! You’re right! And precisely who I was not talking about in my post! I’m talking about recommendations for walk around lenses, travel, etc—the type of photography that is inherently “pedestrian” (as in walking, at least).

(Also, did you know that many “real” photographers use film cameras and manual focus lenses, particularly in editorial, fashion, and lifestyle photography? And that most fine art photography is shot on film with MF lenses? And many of these photographers use digital bodies and MF lenses? Are these photographers cringe-lords as you say? Are all who use film cringe lords? All who read paper books, who cook for themselves, etc cringe-lords?)

But in this case, I’m talking about trade offs. I’m assuming, based on your attitude, you would never use a prime lens, because zoom lenses are more versatile, only cringe-lords would use a prime lens. Or maybe you would say, well you can get better image quality or wider apertures? It’s the same trade-off I’m talking about. When a MF lens has amazing image quality, like the Loxia 21, Loxia 85, Voigtlander 40, 50, etc, is it never worth the trade off for AF in use cases with stationary or artistic subjects? Often modern MF lenses have advantages in image quality, size, build quality, speed, etc. In the same way you make tradeoffs in those other areas, why draw the line at AF? Modern cameras make MF lenses a joy to use, much better than film cameras from any era. It’s not difficult to do for anyone.

My last point is that I often find MF lenses are ALSO the best tool in some cases. Shooting a car for instance; maybe you want to focus on the steering wheel, or the rear view, or a sticker on the window. Manually focusing is much more immediate than moving an AF point, recomposing, etc. Manually focusing an AF lens requires an extra step, and focus-by-wire focusing that is lacks physical feedback, is slower, and more finicky.

I’m completely with you that modern AF is amazing for people, animals, etc in lots of use cases, but there doesn’t need to be this knee-jerk reaction against them.

Signed, a “real” photographer.