BP IS RIGHT

[FUJI]

Picking up on on BP's Vintage Glass thread, and hopefully to encourage other members to have a go, I fitted two of my favourite Vintage lenses today.

Th e first one a Street Photograph ( Zone Focusing)  and the shop mannequin ( Manual Spot Focus)  shot through my COSINON 35 mm -2.8  at f 8.

The rest were all shot through my favourite, a CHINON 55 mm .1.7 at  f 4.

All edited from my original RAW files, to add a little contrast and sharpness where required.

N.B. The dusty shelf items,  I keep in a veranda, because I like them....old Bottle Dump Finds, and a jar of seaside pebbles; plus much more hat you cannot see.

You can see just how creative you can get, by going fully manual with Vintage lenses.

I thoroughly recommend it.....comments and observations welcome.

 

FUJI

 

[Phil]

I don't doubt their capabilities but I honestly couldn't be bothered manual focusing, I'm a lazy git really.

[Korky]

Shot number 3 is a little belter - I really like that one, Fooj.

Makes me wanna get out my 50mm Zeiss Jena and give it a wazz.

Korky

[FUJI]

7 minutes ago, Korky said:

Shot number 3 is a little belter - I really like that one, Fooj.

Makes me wanna get out my 50mm Zeiss Jena and give it a wazz.

Korky

Ecky Thump! Korks,

That was a quick response....... Yes, #3 is my favourite too, I do like my rather noisy mannequine though.

FUJI

[Black Pearl]

Lovely smooth rendering of the backgrounds, something I'm enjoying with of late.

[ChrisLumix]

1 hour ago, Phil said:

I don't doubt their capabilities but I honestly couldn't be bothered manual focusing, I'm a lazy git really.

I honestly think it took me less time to focus manually than use AF then  check it's focused on the right thing then move the point of focus if it isn't or lock focus. AF is good for quick grabs but I think I'll start using MF more, especially as once you've selected it you just use the camera's control ring just like the focus ring of old.

[Black Pearl]

From someone who switches between AF and MF on a daily basis I can say 100% that a modern AF system is far, far, far faster. 

[FUJI]

I agree totally.......I have become very fast at manual focusing just lately, but I would miss most of my animated, not-posed street portraits without the lighting fast AF system on my GX7.

For, formal, or posed portraits manual focus is probably best, becuase you have any amount of time to focus exactly where and how you want, but that kills spontenaety.

Street aphotography is different, in that, If Zone-Focusing is set in properly, you can literally Point and Shoot, without bothering......... an occasional check on your settings is all you need. I do this by taking my time to focus on prominent subject at a known distance, then, I check the zone of focus, this depends upon aperture settings.

F 8 works really well on my 35 mm and my 50 and 55 vintage lenses, after checking, that area in focus......... usually it is from around 7 ft to up to 100 yards.

The alternative, is to Pre-Focus on an area, then wait for a subject to enter it.....these are skills which were essential in film camera days.

I'm a bit frustrated just now, I left my lovely vintage 1.7-55 mm on, but freezing fog has descended with a vengeance....I will give it a go later when in town.

FUJI

[ChrisLumix]

13 hours ago, Black Pearl said:

From someone who switches between AF and MF on a daily basis I can say 100% that a modern AF system is far, far, far faster. 

It is true - even Panasonic's DFD system is extremely fast ... but what I meant was ensuring it was focused on the right thing.

[Black Pearl]

10 hours ago, ChrisLumix said:

It is true - even Panasonic's DFD system is extremely fast ... but what I meant was ensuring it was focused on the right thing.

I'm not convinced.

To get accurate focus manually required use of either the split-screen or microprism which was at the centre of your screen so you needed to aim, focus, reframe and shoot. We do the same now - or - we move the AF point to where we want it and just shoot. 

[ChrisLumix]

12 hours ago, Black Pearl said:

I'm not convinced.

To get accurate focus manually required use of either the split-screen or microprism which was at the centre of your screen so you needed to aim, focus, reframe and shoot. We do the same now - or - we move the AF point to where we want it and just shoot. 

I guess it's 6 of one... But I will say that once you'd used the central split image/microprism, it was half a second's work to shift the camera back to recompose and you knew the focus wasn't going to budge again. Well, I guess I'm speaking from my own experience here, though I do admit that AF is peerless for quick grab shots.

[FUJI]

No split prisms or other optical jigery-pokery focusing manually with my GX7, a quick twist of the focus ring, then a final fine adjustment until the....Focus-Assist........very bright fluorescent  halo's confirm focus, on a single point if the lens is wide open, or over a chosen zone or distance at other apertures.

It is very quick, and very accurate, not as fast as AF on fairly close things.....but, set a fairly broad zone, and it's just a case if point and shoot within those distances in a circle around you.

FUJI

[Black Pearl]

9 minutes ago, FUJI said:

No split prisms or other optical jigery-pokery focusing manually with my GX7, a quick twist of the focus ring, then a final fine adjustment until the....Focus-Assist........very bright fluorescent  halo's confirm focus, on a single point if the lens is wide open, or over a chosen zone or distance at other apertures.

It is very quick, and very accurate, not as fast as AF on fairly close things.....but, set a fairly broad zone, and it's just a case if point and shoot within those distances in a circle around you.

FUJI

To be fair we're taking about manual focus cameras not modern EVF cameras. That said mine offers focus peaking like your GX7 but it also has a digital split prism so I can mimic the days of MF a little more closely. 
I still maintain I would rather have my super fast AF for all my day-to-day shooting and have MF for when I fancy a play.

[ChrisLumix]

4 minutes ago, Black Pearl said:

To be fair we're taking about manual focus cameras not modern EVF cameras. That said mine offers focus peaking like your GX7 but it also has a digital split prism so I can mimic the days of MF a little more closely. 
I still maintain I would rather have my super fast AF for all my day-to-day shooting and have MF for when I fancy a play.

Can't argue with that. Having said that, I'd like a split prism too, as I'd find that even more effective than focus peaky blinders when I choose MF - I found there was nothing quicker or more accurate than making a broken line straight again.

[Black Pearl]

6 minutes ago, ChrisLumix said:

Can't argue with that. Having said that, I'd like a split prism too, as I'd find that even more effective than focus peaky blinders when I choose MF - I found there was nothing quicker or more accurate than making a broken line straight again.

Its very good - you need a Fuji mate...