Nikon Manual Focus on DSLR?

mgeary

mgeary

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There is a twice a year camera flea market coming up this weekend and I've heard it's all about older film gear. I have an OM-1, which I'm content with (though the meter is shot), but I think I would like a good manual focus prime for my D90. I feel as though it might be a nice change when shooting the DSLR.

I have been considering both the 35mm f2 and the 24mm 2.8, both in AI/AI-S

Does anyone here have experience which manual focus lenses on a DSLR? Is it tricky? Is it a nice change?

Also, does anyone have any suggestions for any other affordable lens options I should be on the lookout for?

Thanks.
 
It is tricky. VF is much darker than your old film camera. It is doable though and lots of folks do it. Works better on a full frame like a D700. I would think either lens would work fine considering.
 
I used to manual focus on a dslr, I enjoyed it far more than autofocus. It's pretty easy but you don't have the some confirmation assets, as a MF camera will have matte's and split-rangefinder's etc to use. But it's digital so you can just retake things if you miss focus really...
Personally I never had a problem nailing focus first time round though.

There's the good old 50mm 1.4 too.

If you enjoy manual focus you may want to put some money into Zeiss ZF lenses.
 
Depends what DSLR you have some have a built in electronic RF system with this kind of symbol > o < (My D1 does)
Not sure but I think the D200 does too
 
I could never understand why people bought state of the art DSLR cameras and chose to use manual focus prime lenses on them ... it made no sense to me. I saw the DSLR and auto focus zoom as being made for each other.

I was wrong ... most of the pleasure in photography is gained from being in total control of your output and it's hard to do that when you're being led around by the nose with autofocus.

Good decision!
 
It's doable - it's something I used to do with my Pentax dSLRs. If you intend to go ahead then a Katz Eye focussing screen or similar would be a worthwhile investment - the one that comes with your camera just isn't up to the task.
 
My personal experience with a D700 Nikon is a mixed bag when it comes to MF lenses. The AF screen is bright enough but I can't get focus unless I use the green in focus indicator. I tried swapping out the AF screen for one with a split image focusing aid and it too was out compared to what the green indicator said. In both cases the green indicator was correct. The focus screens on the D700 have shims installed to get them in the right position and I am guessing the they are not shimmed as critically as for a manual focus camera. The focusing screen on an AF camera has little to do with how accurate the AF is so I guess the standards are relaxed a little on the shimming, ie close is close enough since the camera is an primarily AF camera. As for the lenses you are looking at, the 35/2 AFD is supposed to be a better lens than the MF ai/ais version. In general the Nikkor MF lenses that I have tried on the D700 work very well. Because I have a focusing issue with MF and am too lazy to play with the shimming I have been using AF lenses. Short answer is that they do work but there may or may not be a glitch or two along the way.

Bob
 
All but one of my Nikkor lenses are AIS manual focus lenses. As long as you have one of the pro bodies (D2/200/300/700/3) you can meter (TTL) and shoot in aperture priority mode. The lesser bodies have to be shot completely in manual mode.

What helped the most was upgrading the focus screen on my D700 with a split prism from www.katzeyeoptics.com, as ruby.monkey suggested.
 
mgeary said:
I have been considering both the 35mm f2 and the 24mm 2.8, both in AI/AI-S

Also, does anyone have any suggestions for any other affordable lens options I should be on the lookout for?

.
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I agree with the comment made about putting money into Zeiss lenses. Although not particularly cheap, I found that the Zeiss 25mm 2.8 lens is far better than the Nikkor 24mm 2.8. My friend and I did some tests on subjects we photographed and then compared using both the Nikkor 24mm lens and the Zeiss 25mm lens. The result was that the Zeiss outperformed the Nikkor, especially when it came to corner sharpness. My friend promptly put his Nikkor up for sale after we did comparison testing.

Ellen
 
Thank you all for the replies, they are much appreciated.

I think at this point in time, the Zeiss F mount lenses are far out of my price range, though they do sound like the nicest option.

The D90 does have the green focus confirming dot which will surely come in handy, but it won't meter. I'm not worried about lacking metering.

Nikon Bob, that was a very informative post. I had never thought of the focusing screens that way. That makes a lot of sense that the entire camera is geared towards AF and the screens are really very close estimations as opposed to perfect focus.

Neare suggested the 50 1.4, but I'll be going wider since I have the 50 1.8 AF-D. There is a 28mm f2 in the classifieds which is very tempting, I'd really love to try one out and see if that's the lens for me.
 
I use both the lenses the OP mentions on a D300 (DX) and D700 - no problems with either and I have "old" eyes
 
I've heard great things about using manual glass on Nikon DSLRs. I've also heard a lot of mixed stories about folks putting in their own aftermarket focusing screens. I would spend the extra money if you want one to have it put in by the manufacturer of the screen put it in.

I was thinking of a D40X or D60 a while back. Figured my glass would be a 24/2.8 and 50/1.4 and then something long. I was even happy with the manual exposure, especially with the histogram and a hand held meter.

B2 (;->
 
Don't forget the CV line, the 40mm f2 and 58mm f1.4 are both superb and affordable, plus are chipped to meter on your D90.
 
mgeary said:
There is a twice a year camera flea market coming up this weekend and I've heard it's all about older film gear. I have an OM-1, which I'm content with (though the meter is shot), but I think I would like a good manual focus prime for my D90. I feel as though it might be a nice change when shooting the DSLR.

I have been considering both the 35mm f2 and the 24mm 2.8, both in AI/AI-S

Does anyone here have experience which manual focus lenses on a DSLR? Is it tricky? Is it a nice change?

Also, does anyone have any suggestions for any other affordable lens options I should be on the lookout for?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I'll be at that flea market (I'm guessing it's the same one) and I've done quite well there, picked up a lot of nice stuff (darkroom items, lenses, a Kodak Retina, etc). It is mostly film stuff, but some digital stuff is starting to show up.

Cheers
Steven
 
I had never even considered the Cosina Voigtlander lenses. That 40mm is quite appealing even though the FL is a bit tight on a DX sensor.

Yes, we are in fact talking about the same flea market. I've never been before so I hope it's worth the trip.
 
I'd love a screen in my D700 like the one that's in an OM-2 I bought recently. It has a microprism circle in the centre but with no split image and the screen itself seems to be a very fine matt and has excellent contrast. It's not the hard to get screen all the OM nuts want but I'm impressed with how much better it is than my other OM's with the original fitment screens.

Manual focusing DSLR's is pretty good but I have noticed that my eyes struggle with it at times ... age related of course!
 
mgeary said:
I had never even considered the Cosina Voigtlander lenses. That 40mm is quite appealing even though the FL is a bit tight on a DX sensor.

Yes, we are in fact talking about the same flea market. I've never been before so I hope it's worth the trip.
Click to expand...

I don't think you'll be disappointed.
 
JSU said:
Keith--
The screens on the OM-1,2,3 & 4 are accessible through the lens mount. Replacement OM screens come with a tool to open the screen retaining frame and replace the screen. The OM screens have a tab on the front of the screen with a number marking which screen it is. It sounds like your screen could be the 1-13 screen which I consider to be the Olympus equivalent to the Nikon "J" screen which I fit into my Nikon DSLR's.
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I've had the screen out and checked it and also swapped it around with my other OM's occasionally ... damned if I can remember what the number was on it and I did look at the time.

First it's the eyes ... then the memory! :p
 
I got a D40, my only dSLR, precisely because I wanted to put a digital sensor behind old manual-focus Nikkors :). I was lucky, because this camera's previous owner had already installed a $27 Katzeye clone, and it works well despite a split-rangefinder that is slightly off center. But then, I've used nothing but manual focus lenses for a long time, and I've got pretty good eyesight. It's surprising how much fun it is to try old glass on this high-tech gadget thing of a camera! At the same time, it's somehow similar to shooting with a meterless F or F2 - I carry a Sekonic, but, most of the time, the sunny-16 rule and the instant feedback of the LCD screen will work. Some of the old lenses made for film are great in the digital medium, others won't be so good, but there are lots of old Nikkors going for very reasonable prices, so you can always try some, and just sell the ones you don't like. Sounds like win-win to me!

All that said, I must confess that I recently got a good craigslist deal on a newfangled 35mm F1.8 AF-S DX lens, and it's become a nearly permanent fixture on my D40. This is a cheap, light, compact, fast, humble-looking, go anywhere, "normal" field of view, and very capable combo, and I can't help but think that maybe it comes really close to the ideal of the original 35mm camera.
 
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