Manual focusing on a 50mm 1.4

[Ernicus]

So I got ahold of an oldie, a nikkor 50mm 1.4D. I have to manual focus, which is ok as I need to learn how to do it anyway. I took some shots earlier, and just reviewed them, man I missed a lot.

anyone have any tips or guidance on getting dead on focus with this baby?

Thanks.

 

[MTVision]

So I got ahold of an oldie, a nikkor 50mm 1.4D. I have to manual focus, which is ok as I need to learn how to do it anyway. I took some shots earlier, and just reviewed them, man I missed a lot.

anyone have any tips or guidance on getting dead on focus with this baby?

Thanks.

Pay attention to your in focus indicator (or whatever it's called) in the viewfinder. Green dot shows up when you achieve focus. Also if your shooting wide open or close to its just going to take some practice. Nailing focus with a shallow depth of field can be tricky in the beginning. Slightest movements can cause OOF pictures.

 

[Ernicus]

quick addition, I noticed I am doing much much better in aperture priority, things are coming out clearer and nailing focus more.

 

[Ernicus]

So I got ahold of an oldie, a nikkor 50mm 1.4D. I have to manual focus, which is ok as I need to learn how to do it anyway. I took some shots earlier, and just reviewed them, man I missed a lot.

anyone have any tips or guidance on getting dead on focus with this baby?

Thanks.

Pay attention to your in focus indicator (or whatever it's called) in the viewfinder. Green dot shows up when you achieve focus. Also if your shooting wide open or close to its just going to take some practice. Nailing focus with a shallow depth of field can be tricky in the beginning. Slightest movements can cause OOF pictures.

Yeah, I've noticed the super shallow depth of field, I am sooo not used to that. I love this thing so far though. Most of my issue is indeed motion blur currently.

Glad you mentioned the green dot, I was going to ask if I can trust that. I notice there is still a bit of play in some shots while the dot stays full...but on some, there isn't. Guessing that's the shallower dof where there is not much play.

thanks.

 

[Ernicus]

That didn't take long. My lady finally sat down to do her homework online and I shot some of her. After I was done being retarded and realizing I need flash as this light is horrendous, I nailed focus each time, on both eyes even. I love this lens....wooohoo

 

[christop]

DSLR viewfinders aren't really designed for manual focusing lenses. Older SLR viewfinders usually had a split prism or other types of focus assistants which really do help with focusing manual lenses. I have an old Pentax with a 50mm/1.7 lens, and it's a breeze to focus on something with the split prism viewfinder. When the subject is out of focus, the top half and bottom half are split along a horizontal line in the center of my viewfinder; I just turn the focus ring until the two halves line up. The rest of the viewfinder is ground glass which is bright and pretty clearly shows what is in focus and what isn't.

If you are interested you can buy after-market focusing screens. The only two I know of are KatzEye and Haoda. I haven't used either, but I've been tempted to buy one for my DSLR so I can use old manual lenses more easily.

 

[MTVision]

Yeah, I've noticed the super shallow depth of field, I am sooo not used to that. I love this thing so far though. Most of my issue is indeed motion blur currently.

Glad you mentioned the green dot, I was going to ask if I can trust that. I notice there is still a bit of play in some shots while the dot stays full...but on some, there isn't. Guessing that's the shallower dof where there is not much play.

thanks.

The green dot thing works in manual focus as it does in auto focus - needs contrast. So it may not be that reliable in low light situations.

I don't think the shallow depth of field is the issue when there isn't much play. I don't know for sure. But when you focus your lens is wide open regardless of what aperture it's set at - it doesn't stop down until you hit the shutter button I believe. Also I'm assuming it works the same way with manual focus lenses.

Like the above person said - modern DSLR's aren't meant for manual focus so it can be hard (not impossible) to see when your in focus. I only have 1 manual focus lens and it did take a while to get good at focusing with it. It's a macro lens so it's much easier to focus at macro distances then it is at normal focusing distances. If you do plan on using manual focus lenses I recommend getting one of those viewfinder screens mentioned above. I have an older film camera and it's super easy to manual focus on because of the focusing screen!! It'll make it easier on you, faster and more accurate focusing.

 

[Ernicus]

The green dot thing works in manual focus as it does in auto focus - needs contrast. So it may not be that reliable in low light situations.

That explains why I nailed it each time using my flash...lol. 'cause I was in very low light before. Good call on that one.

I don't think the shallow depth of field is the issue when there isn't much play. I don't know for sure. But when you focus your lens is wide open regardless of what aperture it's set at - it doesn't stop down until you hit the shutter button I believe. Also I'm assuming it works the same way with manual focus lenses.

Now that you mention that, and I did that earlier too, I recall my boss telling me to half hold shutter, then focus, then take, not try to focus first, then half hold etc. So I believe you are correct in it stopping down in the latter part of the process. I think anyway. lol.

Thanks for the discussion and education.

 

[Ernicus]

...and I'm only using this one until I can afford to buy the 50mm 1.4G. It's good practice for me and will make me appreciate the upgrade once I can get it.

 

[unpopular]

Is there any possibility you can get a split image focus screen? Otherwise, pay close attention to the focus assist.

 

[Ernicus]

Is there any possibility you can get a split image focus screen? Otherwise, pay close attention to the focus assist.

I'll ask monday if we have any. I have used those before...back when I knew nothing, so I am familiar with them.

I am going to practice more tomorrow. I think my initial fail was that I was in too low light here in the kitchen. So tomorrow I'll do outside shots and then set up my umbrella with ocf inside and see. The fact that I got it nailed using my on camera flash tells me I just was not in best conditions earlier.

 

[jaggedlens]

So I got ahold of an oldie, a nikkor 50mm 1.4D. I have to manual focus, which is ok as I need to learn how to do it anyway. I took some shots earlier, and just reviewed them, man I missed a lot.

anyone have any tips or guidance on getting dead on focus with this baby?

Thanks.

Ya like one of the posters already mentioned there should be some sort of indicator in your viewfinder that shows you whether or not you have achieved focus on your target. In my D7000 viewfinder there are arrows that point left and right to tell me to keep focusing and a dot shows up when I am in focus. Hope this helps. Cheers

 

[unpopular]

On the nikon or canon is the focus indicator on the screen, or is it in the data field below? I really wish that Sony used the red AF indicator in the middle of the screen as the focus indicator, rather than the green dot in the data field as the MF indicator on my camera.

 

[snowbear117 48]

Nikon's rangefinder is in the data field - bottom left on the D40. I have learned to use it religiously since currently I can only manual focus.

 

[TCampbell]

If you don't happen to have 20/20 vision, then when YOU think something is in focus is not necessarily when it'll be properly focused on the sensor. Even if you wear glasses or contacts... if your prescription lenses are no longer giving you perfect 20/20 then you can end of with focus that is just a touch soft. This is because the lens can compensate for your eyes no longer being able to focus sharply -- basically the lens is compensating for myopia and that means everything you shoot will be out of focus by the amount of error in your eyes.

To compensate, most DLSRs have a diopter adjustment wheel -- and it's usually in the upper-right corner of the viewer finder.

To adjust, it helps to massively DE-FOCUS the lens, point the camera at something nice & bright... a white sheet of paper, a white wall, etc. just make sure it's brightly lit. Ignore whatever the camera is pointing at -- look at the guide marks & focus aids that you see on the viewfinder. In fact the viewfinder has a frosted texture and if you really adjust the diopter nice & sharp you can usually see the frosted texture. What you want is for any guide marks, focus point marks, etc. that you see in the viewfinder to be tack-sharp (even though the lens itself is not focused.) At this point, the viewfinder is now adjusted for YOUR eyes.

That means when the image YOU see in the viewfinder is sharp, then the image on the sensor will also be sharp.

It's a lot easier to manually focus with a 35mm or full-frame DSLR because the viewfinder image is much bigger and brighter (remember... the sensor is bigger, so the mirror is bigger, the pentaprism is bigger, etc.)