manual focus

nicholasgn

nicholasgn

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hi all,I was just thinking back to my old film camera,a minolta x300 and the focusing spot/circle in the middle of the view finder,which would split the image until it was in focus.Now with my canon 650d i bought some manual focus samyang lenses,i really wished my new camera had this same feature.Do some modern dslrs have this old manual focusing aid?
 
Generally not but there are a few replacement screens available for some cameras. Have a look at http://www.katzeyeoptics.com/
Does the 650D confirm focus with the Samyang lenses?
 
I asked the same recently for my 650d. General consensus was you could get screens to do this but due to DSLR auto focus design which robs a fair bit of light to work, that the result is generally too dark to be of much user compared to film SLR days. A shame really! I think the nearest you get to it these days is via cameras with an EVF like the xpro-1 which has a virtual rangefinder style prism focus.
 
Yep. I still shoot manual focus film cameras and there's a large degree of compromise involved with bodies designed for auto-focus.

Full frame (Canon 5D in my case) is barely tolerable even with an AF confirm adapter and the idea of attempting it with a crop body viewfinder fills me with dread.

I gave up on DSLRs for digital manual focus a few weeks ago and bought a Sony A7 instead. I am much happier.
 
Manual focus on a DSLR is more difficult than it was with a 35mm SLR but I've found it far from impossible. Everyone is different and manual focus lenses may not be best suited to moving subjects (though I sure there must have been good shots of moving subjects before auto focus) but for the cost of some manual lenses I reckon its worth a go.
 
thanks for all replies,i will check to see if my 650d gives a focus confirmed beep
 
I don't use a Samyang lens BUT I do use a manual focus Zeiss Distagon lens on a Canon 5D Mk 3. I would think the focus problems would be similar. The two ways I use it are
1) for landscapes - so the lens fitted to the DSLR but on a rigid tripod. Use live view to get focus, the 5x view to sharpen it up, then 10x view to confirm its spot on. Take shot.
2) hand held for street shots etc - set lens to large f number (eg f 8 or bigger) , set focus point to approx distance of target subject and then pop of shots
Hope this helps
James
 
Live view and magic lantern focus peaking is the best I've found on my 650d. Oh, and zoom in on live view...
 
nicholasgn said:
hi all,I was just thinking back to my old film camera,a minolta x300 and the focusing spot/circle in the middle of the view finder,which would split the image until it was in focus.Now with my canon 650d i bought some manual focus samyang lenses,i really wished my new camera had this same feature.Do some modern dslrs have this old manual focusing aid?
Click to expand...
I have been all through this business of DSLR's having poor manual focusing on other threads on this forum.The results are that Canon do have some alternative split screens for some of there cameras.You would just have to check their site.The other alternatives are Katseye and another manufacturer(can't remember name) do split screens BUT there are issues with metering and darkening of viewfinders.I am using Nikon so there was never a solution found.If I was on Canon I would have tried one of there screens as they where designed to do the job without problems.
 
The real problem is the very small/dim viewfinders on crop bodies, compared with a 35mm film camera, exacerbated by the auto focus light loss. I don't know if replacing the screen will help very much, but it probably depends on your eyesight. Manual focus with FF bodies is easier.

The other thing to bear in mind is that the old lenses were designed for manual focus, and their focus rings generally had longer and smoother throws than auto focus lenses.
 
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