A good article on MF, AF and precise focusing - Printable Version +- Opticallimits (https://forum.opticallimits.com) +-- Forum: Forums (https://forum.opticallimits.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=4) +--- Forum: Just Talk (https://forum.opticallimits.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=17) +--- Thread: A good article on MF, AF and precise focusing (/showthread.php?tid=2422) |
A good article on MF, AF and precise focusing - frank - 05-16-2012 I find this article quite interesting and informative: http://lenses.zeiss.com/photo/en_DE/other/products/what_makes_the_difference/manual_focusing_with_af_camera_systems.html A good article on MF, AF and precise focusing - Studor13 - 05-16-2012 "When your aim is to take photographs with wide apertures and extremely accurate focusing, high-precision manual lenses can make your work easier." Interesting isn't it that Zeiss just happen to make manual focusing lenses and no AF ones? But nice read, Frank. Thanks! I wish I could afford a few Zeiss glass tough. A good article on MF, AF and precise focusing - popo - 05-16-2012 Zeiss make many nice AF DSLR lenses - as long as you don't mind a Sony body to stick them on! A good article on MF, AF and precise focusing - frank - 05-17-2012 [quote name='Studor13' timestamp='1337179673' post='18247'] "When your aim is to take photographs with wide apertures and extremely accurate focusing, high-precision manual lenses can make your work easier." Interesting isn't it that Zeiss just happen to make manual focusing lenses and no AF ones? But nice read, Frank. Thanks! I wish I could afford a few Zeiss glass tough. [/quote] Yes, that is true. But overall I feel the article is very objective and informative. A good article on MF, AF and precise focusing - PuxaVida - 05-17-2012 [quote name='Studor13' timestamp='1337179673' post='18247'] "When your aim is to take photographs with wide apertures and extremely accurate focusing, high-precision manual lenses can make your work easier." ... [/quote] ... as long as you have a decent focus screen or the focus confirmation dot on your DSLR works well. And if I remember correctly from my last visit on that site (months ago), this was already mentioned in the article. The turning angle of a MF ring and the flaws of focus confirmation in modern DSLRs with that regard might give a headache. E.g. 24mm - 35mm MF lenses at close focus used at widest aperture (e.g. f/1.4) with the focus confirmation, might show unexpected results. OTOH, I believe MF has obvious strengths over AF when it comes to some application areas... And vice versa... Serkan A good article on MF, AF and precise focusing - frank - 05-17-2012 [quote name='PuxaVida' timestamp='1337237492' post='18261'] ... as long as you have a decent focus screen or the focus confirmation dot on your DSLR works well. And if I remember correctly from my last visit on that site (months ago), this was already mentioned in the article. The turning angle of a MF ring and the flaws of focus confirmation in modern DSLRs with that regard might give a headache. E.g. 24mm - 35mm MF lenses at close focus used at widest aperture (e.g. f/1.4) with the focus confirmation, might show unexpected results. OTOH, I believe MF has obvious strengths over AF when it comes to some application areas... And vice versa... Serkan [/quote] While for "extremely accurate focusing", I guess whether a lens is MF or AF is not much relevant any more. With good LV and an AF lens (with a focus ring of course) and sufficient patient, accurate focusing can also be reached. Frank A good article on MF, AF and precise focusing - PuxaVida - 05-17-2012 [quote name='Frank' timestamp='1337251030' post='18264'] While for "extremely accurate focusing", I guess whether a lens is MF or AF is not much relevant any more. With good LV and an AF lens (with a focus ring of course) and sufficient patient, accurate focusing can also be reached. Frank [/quote] By all means the (magified) LV helps quite a lot. But without a longer focus ring turn, it would be still tricky (especially for macro / close-up usage) to nail the focus on the desired point withing the DoF. Even the AF-S micro 105mm suffers from that issue in some cases... I don't say "one cannot focus", but I believe it's harder than using a Zeiss 100mm for the same purpose. But of course, there's the "focus stacking"... If you have no problems with the required computer power... Serkan A good article on MF, AF and precise focusing - frank - 05-17-2012 [quote name='PuxaVida' timestamp='1337251777' post='18265'] By all means the (magified) LV helps quite a lot. But without a longer focus ring turn, it would be still tricky (especially for macro / close-up usage) to nail the focus on the desired point withing the DoF. Even the AF-S micro 105mm suffers from that issue in some cases... I don't say "one cannot focus", but I believe it's harder than using a Zeiss 100mm for the same purpose. But of course, there's the "focus stacking"... If you have no problems with the required computer power... Serkan [/quote] Yes, with a good MF lens I bieleve it will be a lot easier... Frank A good article on MF, AF and precise focusing - frank - 05-17-2012 Probbaly since AF Nikon does not take much effort on MF design any more. I find that the focus distance scale on my PC-E 24mm f3.5 lens is ridiculously incorrect (which is unforgivable for a MF lens I think). While for the older AF lens 28-105mm f3.5-4.5, the focus distance scale is much better, very accurate. Frank |