Best menu settings for manual lens usage

[Harley Thor]

There are so many settings on the Nex 5n that pertain to manual camera usage. Even the Busch guide did not cover using legacy manual lens much

I would like some help selecting the menu settings for the camera to use with the manual Leica M, Nikon AIS and Pentax K mount lenses.

Also, what metering and modes does these lenses work with, like is aperture preferred the only way to adjust the exposure or can you use Iauto or any of the automatic exposure modes

 

[dbm]

You can use any of the PASM modes, and iAuto - They just don't quite work like they would with a regular lens since the camera can't control the aperture or focus. P and iAuto essentially work like A mode. S mode works like M mode.

People recommend A, which is essentially what you are working with. You pick the aperture, and the camera controls Shutter and ISO to adjust the exposure.

Shutter is fun. You've set the aperture and shutter, so the camera will adjust ISO to control exposure. If you're not in auto ISO, then you are essentially full manual mode.

Shutter is useful as the 5N thinks it can do 1/30 Shutter, but without IS on a long manual lens, that can be too long. So telling the camera to shoot at 1/60 or shorter, you can get rid of camera shake. In bright light, ISO doesn't seem to be a factor, so this works.

 

[Harley Thor]

Need recommendations on menu settings

Need recommendations on menu settings

Please give some advise on these menu settings for use with manual only lenses

AF/MF select which is better DMF or Manual Focus

MF Assist does this work well if enabled

Release without lens, the Busch book cautions this setting can damage the camera, but I read you must use it with manual lenses.

Peaking level High / Mid/ Low what works best most of the time?

Peaking Color White / Red / Yellow

Thanks for your help, I not only know this will help me but I am sure others will find your answers when they search Google.

 

[pvdhaar]

The only reason that when set to 'release without lens' could damage the camera, is when you poke something inside and then have the shutter go.. I guess that apart from stabbing the camera with a screwdriver or sensor swab stick, it also could include lenses that protrude very deep (e.g. Jupiter-12, or some collapsibles).

The MF assist magnification works very well in 7x magnification. Ideal if you need to pinpoint focus on a detail like a subject's eyes. 14x is just a little too much for me, and accentuates camera motion so much that I get a little motion-sick.

I see peaking as an alternative to MF assist for when you need to set focus without magnifying a portion of the frame. What colour is best depends on personal taste, I prefer yellow, as it's a color that seldom is present in the image. White doesn't always work, especially when the 'creative style' is set to B&W. Level best set to medium. Low is sometimes somewhat hard to detect on the small screen, while high makes the lines thicker than the detail you're focusing on.

The Autofocus/DMF/Manual setting shouldn't affect anything as far as I've seen for manual lenses. The DMF mode allows manual focus override of autofocus lenses after AF-lock has been achieved, while manual means autofocus lenses need to be manually focused all the way. Note, that the manual focus rings on the NEX AF-lenses don't work mechanically, the movement of the focus ring is electronically fed to the lens built in focus motors.

 

[dbm]

Really is a matter of playing with the camera when you first get it

Really is a matter of playing with the camera when you first get it

Please give some advise on these menu settings for use with manual only lenses

AF/MF select which is better DMF or Manual Focus

MF Assist does this work well if enabled

Release without lens, the Busch book cautions this setting can damage the camera, but I read you must use it with manual lenses.

Peaking level High / Mid/ Low what works best most of the time?

Peaking Color White / Red / Yellow

Thanks for your help, I not only know this will help me but I am sure others will find your answers when they search Google.

The MF/AF/DMF setting will not matter for manual lenses. They will always be in MF mode.

Release without lens tells the camera it's okay to fire the shutter without a lens. And since it doesn't know about manual lenses, the only way they can work is with this setting. The caveat is about firing the shutter with no lens attached at all - Sure, dust could get in or something else which might damage the sensor - That's why you should never change lenses with the camera on.

There are two types of MF Assist. Actually, there's only one, but it works differently with AF lenses in DMF mode versus MF lenses. If MF assist is turned on and you change the focus of an AF lens manually after the camera has set what it thinks is the focus, then the camera automatically turns on the zoom to help aid your focusing. For manual lenses, you must hit the MF Assist button to enable it - There's no way for the camera to know you are trying to focus with a manual lens. MF assist can be very useful to get focus, but you may find you need a tripod or some other way of holding the camera steady while you focus.

Peaking mode and color are a matter of taste, and the scene being shot. What works well in one situation doesn't necessarily work as well in another. Find what works best for you. If you shoot in RAW mode, you can also change the saturation, sharpness, and contrast levels to give focus assistance, then take the RAW data and change the settings once the shot is loaded onto your computer for Post Processing.

 

[sevo]

Sure, dust could get in or something else which might damage the sensor - That's why you should never change lenses with the camera on.

The 5N closes the shutter when off? The earlier ones did not.

 

[dbm]

The 5N closes the shutter when off? The earlier ones did not.

You know, I never bothered to check. I'll try and remember to do that tonight.

 

[Harley Thor]

A couple other questions

A couple other questions

Since we are talking about manual lenses, if your lens is auto wide open and stops down normally when exposed, how does sony know the aperture you set to correctly meter the exposure? Do you have to have a way to stop down the lens? Without a manual stop down button linkage how does the Sony 5n do this and depth of field?

Also, which focus method do you prefer the magnification or the Peaking setting?

 

[sevo]

Since we are talking about manual lenses, if your lens is auto wide open and stops down normally when exposed,

It does not - it permanently operates at working aperture. That's why adapting lens systems with a auto aperture that defaults to wide open or fully closed requires more complex adapters that mimic the aperture actuation.

 

[Lss]

Also, which focus method do you prefer the magnification or the Peaking setting?

Magnification is much more accurate, so I prefer it when the shot allows and accurate focus matters. I always have peaking activated, because it helps and is generally better than nothing (although it can fail miserably).

 

[Harley Thor]

I saw this post on Dpreview , the proceedure apparently works for EF Canon lenses. Its a bit of a work around but...

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1042&message=40434744

Cleaver way of tricking the lens