Old locks lead to new beginnings.

[iAstonish]

Today was my first day toying around with manual focusing. I got this shot while walking around campus, thought it could be interesting and I liked the turn out.

C&C on the picture and how the focus turned out would be appreciated.

 

[iAstonish]

bump for feedback

 

[khallene]

Focus looks pretty good to me. Small picture on my screen, so I can't really tell totally. Personally, the picture itself doesn't really do too much for me.

 

[iAstonish]

Focus looks pretty good to me. Small picture on my screen, so I can't really tell totally. Personally, the picture itself doesn't really do too much for me.

Just worrying about the focus on this picture mainly. I'm trying to learn manual focus, so that I could get the 50mm 1.8

 

[PhotoXopher]

Looks like you nailed the focus... did you eye it or did you use the focus meter or range finder on your D5000?

If you haven't yet, try the range finder feature - pretty slick and it'll help you when you get that 50mm.

 

[iAstonish]

Looks like you nailed the focus... did you eye it or did you use the focus meter or range finder on your D5000?

If you haven't yet, try the range finder feature - pretty slick and it'll help you when you get that 50mm.

Just eyed it. Where is the range finder feature on the camera?

 

[PhotoXopher]

Been a while, I know it's in the manual though - it's an enable/disable thing that shows up in the viewfinder:
http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/manuals/dslr/D5000_en.pdf

Custom Settings:
A4

The Electronic Rangefinder
Choose On to use the exposure indicator to determine whether the camera is
correctly focused in manual focus mode (054; note that this function is not available
in shooting mode M, when the exposure indicator instead shows whether the subject
is correctly exposed).

The rangefinder requires a lens with a maximum aperture of f/5.6 or faster and is not
available in live view. The desired results may not be achieved in situations in which the
camera would be unable to focus using autofocus.

 

[iAstonish]

Been a while, I know it's in the manual though - it's an enable/disable thing that shows up in the viewfinder:
http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/manuals/dslr/D5000_en.pdf

Custom Settings:
A4

The Electronic Rangefinder
Choose On to use the exposure indicator to determine whether the camera is
correctly focused in manual focus mode (054; note that this function is not available
in shooting mode M, when the exposure indicator instead shows whether the subject
is correctly exposed).

The rangefinder requires a lens with a maximum aperture of f/5.6 or faster and is not
available in live view. The desired results may not be achieved in situations in which the
camera would be unable to focus using autofocus.

Ah, good looks bro. I didn't even know about that feature, but it seems very useful. Still don't really know what I'm doing in terms of manual focusing, I'm just twisting the lens and eyeballing it. Are there any real secrets to getting good at manually focusing or is it something that just comes natural with experience?

 

[PhotoXopher]

I think you just get used to it and better with experience. From what I've read some of the cameras these days aren't meant for manual focusing by eye like they used to be (or like some higher end models are) so it's a little more difficult to eyeball it so to speak.

 

[iAstonish]

I think you just get used to it and better with experience. From what I've read some of the cameras these days aren't meant for manual focusing by eye like they used to be (or like some higher end models are) so it's a little more difficult to eyeball it so to speak.

That 50mm f1.8 is just too sweet to pass up for the cheap price though. So I'm using that as motivation to learn quickly right now.

 

[PhotoXopher]

Yeah, hard to beat it for quality/price ratio!