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Manual focus on FF dslr

Anonymous Sun 13 Dec 2015 17:13:34 No.2720915 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>2721036 >>2721045 >>2721138

Are long lenses with fast apertures considered a dead end on FF dslr's?

I'm currently drooling over the Samyang 135 f/2 as a dedicated portrait lens, but I'm having doubts regarding the expected focus "hit rate", even with the focus assist/range finder on my Nikon employed.

Anyone here with relevant experience, maybe even with this lens in particular?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 13 Dec 2015 17:37:20 No.2720931 Report

Quoted By: >>2721111

Use a tripod and zoomed liveview if it's an option.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sun 13 Dec 2015 20:23:28 No.2721036 Report

Quoted By: >>2721141

>>2720915
>Are long lenses with fast apertures considered a dead end on FF dslr's?
No.
>I'm currently drooling over the Samyang 135 f/2 as a dedicated portrait lens
It's a nice lens.
>but I'm having doubts regarding the expected focus "hit rate"
You should be worried.
>Anyone here with relevant experience
Yeah, I have a shitton of manual lenses, and you need either a mirrorless camera or stick to the viewfinder. Start with a 70-200mm and shoot it at ƒ8-11 with fill-flash. Don't bother bokeh whoring at your level.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 13 Dec 2015 20:24:39 No.2721037 Report

Quoted By:

>stick to the viewfinder
*stick to the live-view, my bad.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 13 Dec 2015 20:34:24 No.2721045 Report

Quoted By: >>2721216

>>2720915
Your DSLR viewfinder isn't designed for manually focusing. Swap your focusing screen for a high accuracy screen, or use live-view for help. You'll want to be on a tripod, since even a half-inch of moving front or back will ruin your focal plane.

Also, you could come to the understanding that not all portraits need to have razor thin dof, and that the only reason to blur the background is if you are unable to find a pleasing background and compose accordingly. The best photographers shoot portraits and fashion/beauty work at f/5.6-f/16.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 13 Dec 2015 21:58:22 No.2721099 Report

Quoted By:

well there's always the 200/2 if you have a hole burning in your pocket, and Nikon has seemingly no intention to replace the 105/135/2 DC.

good luck focusing anything wider than f4 with a telephoto and no MF guides. you're going to need to rely on prefocusing.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 13 Dec 2015 22:15:11 No.2721111 Report

Quoted By:

>>2720931
>zoomed liveview
this so much
but you'll need a tripod for that to work good

you can definitely use a manual glass on a reflex but you need to have working eyes and a good viewfinder
I find it hard to get shit in focus with a nifty nifty 50mm with a decent viewfinder but my father, who's done this stuff for a living between 35 and 20 years ago or so told me he didn't find it hard to get the focus right with old reflex's and pretty long lenses (shooting races), just use a narrower aperture if you don't have a tripod

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 13 Dec 2015 22:35:35 No.2721121 Report

Quoted By:

use magic lantern with focus peaking or magnification

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 13 Dec 2015 22:47:56 No.2721130 Report

Quoted By: >>2721141

Just stop bokeh whoring you talentless hack.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sun 13 Dec 2015 22:58:58 No.2721138 Report

Quoted By:

>>2720915
If you use Canon:
Liveview, then
Magic Lantern + LV DIGIC PEAKING (Edge detection with Chroma)

It's amazingly easy to focus once set up, composing the image might be more difficult though.

pic slightly related

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 13 Dec 2015 23:04:31 No.2721141 Report

Quoted By: >>2721159

>>2721036
>>2721130
>stop bokeh whoring hurr durr
Ah, that being a bokeh-phobe because I wanna seem like an experienced oldfag phase!

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 13 Dec 2015 23:33:59 No.2721159 Report

Quoted By: >>2721166

>>2721141
Or it's because they don't know what it is and think that somethings wrong with your camera, because they've only had experience with taking pics with their phone

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 13 Dec 2015 23:48:19 No.2721166 Report

Quoted By: >>2721168

>>2721159
lol what a fucking ridiculous statement

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 13 Dec 2015 23:50:22 No.2721168 Report

Quoted By: >>2721172

>>2721166
It's a very accurate statement. Photographers are drawn to new techniques when they don't actually have any content to express. bigger sensors, more bokeh, "creative processing", false miniature, tone mapping, it all goes into "This seems new and different than what I could make before! This looks awesome!"

Look through magazines and high level examples of the art you're trying to make and spot all the f/1 photos. I'll wait.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 13 Dec 2015 23:54:16 No.2721172 Report

Quoted By: >>2721174

>>2721168
i have no clue what you're trying to argue but if you want to shoot portraits in busy outdoor backgrounds at f/11 then i hope that works out for you

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 13 Dec 2015 23:57:17 No.2721174 Report

Quoted By: >>2721178 >>2721220

>>2721172
here's the real question: Why are you trying to shoot portraits in busy outdoor backgrounds, in stead of being an artist and taking control of your photos? Bokeh does not cure or hide laziness.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 13 Dec 2015 23:59:24 No.2721178 Report

Quoted By: >>2721220 >>2721228

>>2721174
a bokeh'd outdoor background can look fantastic

this board is so terrible

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 14 Dec 2015 00:32:54 No.2721216 Report

Quoted By: >>2721230

>>2721045
What type of viewfinder would you recommend for a Canon EOS 50D? I see on eBay they have Canon branded ones like the Ef-S and Ef-D. Then some random split focusing ones.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 14 Dec 2015 00:40:14 No.2721220 Report

Quoted By: >>2721228

>>2721178
>>2721174
bokeh tends to give a sens that your photos can be more professional looking and less like a snapshit, they give a sense that whoever is taking the shot is in control of their gear and doesn't let their camera create just another lifeless full auto piece of gray snapshit glop.

Bokeh is not used to cure or hide laziness, a shallow DoF is used to draw the viewer's eye to a certain subject in the frame. with a smaller aperture you need either a really long lens or a plain background where there are no distractions in order to draw the attention of the viewer to the subject. Using framing alone to draw a subject to the viewer's eye can only go so far .

Also, let me guess, you shoot at f/8 indoors and keep wondering why all the blacks in your shots are crushed to hell and back and why everything looks so dark and noisy

Anonymous

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Anonymous Mon 14 Dec 2015 00:50:55 No.2721228 Report

Quoted By:

>>2721178
It can certainly look lazy.

>>2721220
>the sense that whoever is taking the shot is in control of their gear
Really? that's your selling point?
There are tons of ways to isolate a subject in the frame. Light, color, texture, size, pattern, negative space, etc. Relying on bokeh is, again, boring, and the sign of a photographer who would rather move his finger than his model. Who would rather shoot where he is than find a location, etc. I'm not here to change your mind. That will either happen on its own, or it won't, and either way, it's fine. But there's a reason that shooting wide open all the time is a sign of being a new photographer, and I didn't make that up.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 14 Dec 2015 00:53:17 No.2721230 Report

Quoted By:

>>2721216
The EF-S screen is the one designed for manual focusing. It's a matte screen that sacrifices a bit of brightness for a lot more accuracy. The split screen focusing screens are also very very good, but they are third party, and while that's completely fine, some people shy away.

For manual focusing, however, you will see a dramatic improvement with either an EG-S or split focus screen.

It won't affect autofocus on modern lenses, either, which is a nice fact.

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