Manual focusing

in as simple terms as possible...

your aperture number (f number) being higher results in a higher proportion of the pic in 'focus', however you as the operator can twist the lens to adjust the focal length, so if you have a subject 10 metres away you'l need to focus on something that same distance away in order for that portion to be crisp

its all to do with focal planes which sound scary but really its quite simple- get you subject as crisp as poss and let the camera do the work with the rest of the pic- you'l only need to adjust shutter speed and iso to get the correct exposure if the camera isnt on a mode to help already....
 
It's not April 1st already, is it?
And there's me thinking you need only look through the viewfinder whilst moving the focus ring left or right until the blurry image becomes more defined, to figure out how a manual lens works.
I thought it was a man's prerogative to fiddle with things they don't know what does what, and learn that way as opposed to lesser, but imminently more practical approach of reading the manual.
Of course having some understanding of what you've bought beforehand generally reduces the learning phase timescale - well it does for me!
 
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"Junior Member"?
 
gramps said:
"Junior Member"?
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Not one copyright on the images in the linked website.
EXIF stripped or incomplete.
What's the relationship with Nick Axtell's site? (nickaxtell.co.uk)

:thinking:
 
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Nevertheless, the question was posed by a Junior Member how does a belittling response encourage others to come and seek help and advice?
 
Junior member is a title granted by Admin, implemented through the forum software - its reference to an actual person's knowledge is unrelated.

Whilst we know there are people out there (in here?) with all the gear, but no idea - I find the question strange given the images on the site linked.
I further notice, in blocking access to Nick's site, I can't reach the linked site - hence asking the relationship to see what basis a link-through is running.

If I'm wrong in my suspicions, then I'm big enough to stand up and be counted for them, and apologise, but the premise of this thread seems off, for me.
 
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I must admit i find it a little strange as well looking through his site.:shrug:
 
Nick axwell and his name is olix?

Could it be his son?

Do we really need a witch hunt?
 
PJ S said:
What's the relationship with Nick Axtell's site? (nickaxtell.co.uk)

:thinking:
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I have no idea, however if there is a devious answer then maybe RTM the thread pointing it out :shrug:
 
gramps said:
"Junior Member"?
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If you look at Ollie's posting history, you'll see 'junior member' is an oddly apt description.

Despite what some might see as some good work on the website, careful examination of that and his other posts gives you a better insight. I can understand how he'd be confused by a manually focussed lens, however he'll soon realise that manually focussed fisheye is something of an oxymoron.
 
PJ S said:
Not one copyright on the images in the linked website.
EXIF stripped or incomplete.
What's the relationship with Nick Axtell's site? (nickaxtell.co.uk)

:thinking:
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I'm nick....... The OP's site has the same host as mine but I'm not sure where I come into this? I don't know the OP. his signature goes to his site, I can't see any cross over?
 
Can everyone apologise to the OP? Admit you made a mistake?


As said earlier focussing a fisheye might be completely different, no idea, but it was hinted at.
 
junior member title is given to youngsters on the forum.

friendliest forum, remember?
 
Apologies Oli, I use software which can limit which links load on a web page, and Nick's site came up for approval or denial, so it appeared there was some sort of piggybacking.
 
Dale_tem said:
As said earlier focussing a fisheye might be completely different, no idea, but it was hinted at.
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what phill was getting at is that with the samyang 8mm (and most other fishe eyes) the dof is enormous so on most fstops nearly everything is in focus all the time anyway so manual focussing isnt really required.

what you do have to do with the samyang is set the apperture manually on the lens barrel to whatever you've selected on the camera
 
never having used one, I was under the impression you could, due to the nature of the lens, set it to infinity and virtually everything will be in focus anyway :shrug:

EDIT....and what Pete said :)
 
antihero said:
never having used one, I was under the impression you could, due to the nature of the lens, set it to infinity and virtually everything will be in focus anyway :shrug:

EDIT....and what Pete said :)
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btw - you get more in focus if you focus on the hyperfocal distance (usually a third into the scene) than you do on infinity- this is because on most cameras the Dof is 2/3 behind the focal point an 1/3 in front of it

however as per the above dof on fisheyes is huge anyway so if you select about f8-f11 or higher the chances are everything will be in focus regardless of where the focal point is
 
Olix23 said:
Ok so a high f stop is the way forward then. thanks for the help
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Hello Oli, first let me say I dont have a fisheye so I cant comment specifically on that but I do have a manual focus lens which I favor over all but my kit lens. What I did is take a shot and make a note of the settings and do it again and do it again and so on and so on when you get back to your PC you will be able to see what works best for you. If your taking a scenic shot put your camera on a tripod and shoot you'll soon see what works and doesnt :thumb:

Mark
 
markyboy1 said:
Hello Oli, first let me say I dont have a fisheye so I cant comment specifically on that but I do have a manual focus lens which I favor over all but my kit lens. What I did is take a shot and make a note of the settings and do it again and do it again and so on and so on when you get back to your PC you will be able to see what works best for you. If your taking a scenic shot put your camera on a tripod and shoot you'll soon see what works and doesnt :thumb:

Mark
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Or use the exif data to see the settings :)
 
An 8mm fisheye will be pretty hard to focus manually as more or less everything will look in focus anyway, I'd suggest focus on infinity, back it off slightly and stay around F11 or above (light permitting) that should more or less do the job.
 
Olix23 said:
Ok so a high f stop is the way forward then. thanks for the help
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a high f stop is the way forward for maximum dof if there is sufficient light it can't be a hard and fast rule for every situation because of the relation between fstop/shutter speed/and iso.
 
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Olix23 said:
Ok so a high f stop is the way forward then. thanks for the help
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The DoF with a fisheye is massive at medium apertures. Does the lens have a DoF scale?
 
Looking at the DoF marks on my 8mm fisheye (Sigma), at f/8, DoF goes from about 8" to infinity when the distance focus is set at is 1' (12", 30cm). Go much smaller than f/8 and you could run into diffraction softness. A peer though the 'finder and a press of the DoF button shows that to be about right.
 
Phil V said:
The DoF with a fisheye is massive at medium apertures. Does the lens have a DoF scale?
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yeah i meant comparatively high as is maybe f8 - f13
 
If there's a focus scale, set that to just over 1' (0.3m) and the aperture to f/8 or f/11. If there's no focus scale, set it to half way through the range. If the results aren't good enough, bracket the focus - nudge the focus a few degrees either side of the central point and shoot again.
 
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