help manually focus

[Kofman13]

So in the near future im going to sell my oly setup and switch,,,..

until then i want the best out of my gear. looking through the tiny view finder, i can never get perfect focus. is there a method to focusing where you look at the numbers on the dial on the body of the 50 mm 1.8 OM lens in relation to distance of subject?

 

[Big Mike]

Any particular reason why you don't use Auto focus?

 

[Kofman13]

i cant afford auto auto focus 50 mm lens for oly,,,,, so i got OM,,, is the reason im switching to canon

 

[Big Mike]

Sorry, I didn't realize it was a manual focus lens.

Hyperfocal Distance

 

[Dao]

This one may help. I believe some forum members use it in their camera.

Olympus DSLRs - Katz Eye Optics

 

[Kofman13]

Katz is awesome but If um gonna spend 100$.. I'm not gonna use manual...

 

[eccs19]

I've heard of a number of people have decent luck with the cheap off shore versions of the split focusing screens. May not be a good as the Katzeye, but definitely a lot cheaper. (if they make one for your brand of camera)

 

[PatrickCheung]

my nikon gives me a green dot when my subject's in focus. its not always accurate but i found that if i focus to the closest distance that still gives me the green dot, 95% of the time, its the focus i want.

 

[Kofman13]

Well i don't have your camera Patrick on manual lens it doesn't give me green dot. I'll look around for cheaper focus screens

 

[Kofman13]

Hmm should I try one I found for $21.... Money i could put towards an XSi

 

[Dao]

You may also want to learn more about Depth of Field (how to calculate) and Hyperfocal Distance. If your manual focus lens has a DoF scale, you can use that too.

 

[Big Mike]

How about this...
Olympus ME-1 Magnifier Eyecup review (Four Thirds User)

 

[Kofman13]

That seems helpful but in the review it says it's good for people with bad eyesight. I have good eye sight so difference wouldn't be big

 

[Big Mike]

I think it might help. After all, you started this thread saying "looking through the tiny view finder, i can never get perfect focus".

 

[PatrickCheung]

if you're dead bent on getting than XSi then i'd save the money, or get something that can be used on both cameras... :] but in general... just try taking more than one shot when using manual focus. manual focus isn't all that bad once you get used to it. AF misses focus more than you think!