Before we discuss whether or not photographers use autofocus, it is useful to know what this is. As its name suggests, autofocus is essentially when a camera will automatically focus on a subject.
Instead of giving you, the photographer, the option to change the focus of an image, the camera will use the lens to focus on what it thinks should be in the forefront of the frame.
When you are learning the basics of a camera, autofocus is a great option to consider. It allows you to become comfortable with what the camera focuses on for its sharpest focus, and it will help you to frame images correctly.
As autofocus is done automatically, it is a lot quicker, and is suited to photography where you need to take images quickly. However, sometimes, the camera can choose to focus on images that you do not want it to, which can be less than ideal.
In addition to this, the quality of the images can vary depending on the type of camera you have. The better the camera and lens are, the better the image quality will be. With cheaper cameras, autofocus is not always the best option to use.