Adapted lens users... how fast can you focus?

[Bruin]

A few months ago I got a NEX-5, excited that I could use my 28 and 50 RF lenses on it... but honestly I use the 16mm kit lens the most because I'm too slow at manual focusing! :bang:

I've shot RF exclusively for the past few years and got used to zone focusing or estimating distance then adjusting with RF. With liveview I'm flat out slower. Maybe I need to rely less on the magnified view and go with "good enough" focus. Plus, I dunno if I can trust the distance markings and DOF scales on my lenses when they're on the NEX-5.

The other thing that slows me down is that I try to focus wide open, then stop down if I need more DOF. I don't focus stopped down because I can't tell exactly where I'm focused at.

Do I just need to get past the learning curve? Not be so uptight about nailing the focus? <sigh...> Guess I have to buy a M9 now 😀

 

[ebino]

I don't know if its at all possible to get good focus of a moving subject with a wide open lens on a manual focus camera.

The best you could do is estimate, pre focus in a place where the subject will pass, even then with such short dof its a hit and miss game.

 

[Kin Lau]

I find MF easy with the high quality EVF of the GH1, but I'm mostly using longer lens like my 50/1.4 or telephotos.

 

[Bruin]

Yeah the 50 is easier to focus than the 28... images 'pop' into focus more suddenly.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

I've used various Leica lenses on my E-P2. But, honestly, the images from the Pany 20 1.7 look so good, I don't bother with manual focus lenses on it anymore.

 

[kevinparis]

fast manual focus with any camera especially wide open is something that requires skill and practice - the evf or LCD are just other ways of looking at the same problem.

if you have static subjects then its a breeze... LCD focussing a Noctilux is easier than on a rangefinder... if you or the subject is moving well focussing anything in those circumstances is down to luck and skill

 

[JoeV]

The thing about manually focusing MF lenses is that it has limitations, but also offers some unique advantages. I use both manual and AF lenses, depending on the angle of view and maximum aperture needed.

The limitations we're mostly familiar with: reaction time, follow-focus on moving objects, shallow DOF under dim light.

The advantages are that, due to an accurate distance scale on the lens, you can prefocus without aiming the camera; and distance scale focusing is never confused by dim light or low contrast scenes.

Sometimes these manual focus management strategies work themselves out without much thinking. For instance, you've just captured an image where you carefully focused through the viewfinder, and the lens is still set at the same distance, and you have a mental "sight picture" of the previous image, and now another person enters your field of interest. By merely releasing the shutter when they're the same size in the viewfinder (close-up, medium shot or long shot, for instance), you're effectively using your sight picture as a focusing aid, judging subject distance by its relative size in the viewfinder.

There are other strategies people work out for manual focus. The thing I like about it is that you know the lens isn't hunting focus at the moment you want to trip the shutter, that it's set where you've put it. Sometimes that can be a greater confidence builder than the false confidence of over-reliance on automation. It only changes focus when you want it to, rather than it constantly hunting focus and you never really know until after the image is taken. It's a different mind set that you work into.

~Joe

 

[kxl]

I think you may need to practice a little more. I don't usually have any major problems focusing M-mount lenses on my NEX5... that includes the CV 35/1.2. Some tips:

1) I magnify to 7x
2) I pick a very specific point of focus in my composition.
3) I use various stabilizing techniques to minimize camera shake, which is magnified when composing at 7x magnification

 

[kevinparis]

well put Joe

when autofocus goes bad it is very annoying - as you said, with manual focus it will stay put until you decide you have focus not the camera

K

 

[luuca]

Adapted lens users... how fast can you focus?

fast enough for my needs 😛

nex5 and tele-elmarit thin 90 f2.8

 

[Pat Donnelly]

Practice practice practice!

Know the lens you are using. I have far too many lenses and I look forward to trying some and then selling them off. Those lenses I keep I get to know well. It also boils down to subject matter? Joe puts it well for street shooting. Birding requires different techniques but always you need to know your equipment. A test: take the lens you know best and without using a viewfinder, focus at the usual distance for your typical subjects. Try this with exposure also? You can even mark the lens with tape? The idea is to multiply the sensory aspect of manual operation. See how close you can get, especially with lens stopped down two stops for best sharpness.

The greatest boon from digital is expense as there is no reason not to shoot multiples of the same subject even if you think you nailed it first time? Adjusting focus slightly with each shot is another possibly useful technique. Increasing iso levels may be appropriate as it will enable wider zone focus.

Take pictures!

 

[former member]

I would like to see a firmware upgrade to provide a zoomed-image for Center spot, and the rest of the frame left "normal view". this would allow for critical focus and somposing without switching back and forth.

But- the EP2 is not too difficult to focus viewing full-frame, magnified is required for critical work only.

 

[Bruin]

Thanks for the tips and inspiration, guys. When I started shooting RF it felt a lot more natural... live view is harder for me.

Brian, that's an awesome idea! I think some Canon compacts do it like that.