OF INTEREST TO KORKY and OLYMPUSPAUL

[FUJI]

Since my ex-pro shooting mate acquired his Leica, I have become increasingly drawn towards using Vintage M42 Thread lenses on my GX7.

At first, I just couldn't see any advantage.............but, then as the magic and skill of Zone Focusing and Hyperfocal Distanse sunk in to my numberless head, I suddenly saw the light.

For the past week or so, I have experimented with a variety of vintage glass for my Street Photography......My favourite being an AUTO REFLEKTOR 1.8-55 ......after a little practice, I moved from  the recommended f16 up to f8 giving me sharp focus zone of circa 12 feet to say 100 feet, the M4/3 sensor I guess makes the lens nearer a 100 mm?

This means I can be reasonable well back from my subjects, but still shoot sharp subjects on the other side of the road.....once you have it sussed, it is just a matter of point, compose then shoot.....shutter speed and ISO depend upon ambient light......I never go below a S 60.

I must admit, it does inhibit my Street Portraiure because I would need to ask my subject to wait, whilst I refocus and alter to a wider aperture...........this is something I intend to practice further.

Yesterday, I opened the lens right out to 1.8 ......at this, it produces the most beautiful soft backgrounds and sharp Centre focus......I will be posting examples later today.

Vintage Lenses are becoming increasingly popular so prices of the best are climbing.......but bargains are still out there.

The whole excercise is making me appreciate what BP is always banging on about........going fully manual.....it slows things down a little and forces you to THINK!

If you have a GX7 or similar, then I thoroughly recommend giving Vintage Glass a try.

FUJI

 

[Craftysnapper]

If only I could see well enough to manually focus Fuji bluurry spots on my eyes due to chemo and af is now my best friend, luckily it is spot on and reliable on the E-M5 mk2 and GX7 and I have some bright modern prime lenses all f/1.8 which also helps.

Olympus 12 mm f/2 Panasonic 25 mm f/1.7 Olympus 45 mm f/1.8 Olympus 75 mm f/1.8.

Edited August 11, 2016 by OlympusPaul

[FUJI]

Hi, Paul,

I did realise about your current vision restrictions......I went through something very similar as you know........ I can appreciate your going fully automatic.

I just thought that you might like to venture into the Zone-Focussing world of Vintage Glass......but it seems as if you have Olympus lenses that are far beyond my pocket.

Lets see what Korky thinks?

FUJI

[FUJI]

Here you go, just examples to show what this vintage 1.8-55 will do.

The first demonstrates what it can do wide open.......

The second, closed down to f 8 to Zone Focus within my chosen limits.....this was shot from the opposite pavement in town:

Converted in CS6 then twiddled in NIK SILVER EFEX.

Fully manual except that ...Focus Peaking ...is on for focus confirmation.

FUJI

[Phil]

Just a quick observation.

I stand to be corrected as always, and I may be getting the wrong end of the stick, but I was under the impression that at f/8 you can set your focus to around 6' then everything will be sharp, or as near as damn it, to infinity? Handy, particularly for street work, just lift your camera and click.
I completely understand that this is useless for macro and close-up portraits, but in your mono example above no focusing would be necessary.

[fuzzyedges]

hyperfocal man 

[FUJI]

13 minutes ago, Phil said:

Just a quick observation.

I stand to be corrected as always, and I may be getting the wrong end of the stick, but I was under the impression that at f/8 you can set your focus to around 6' then everything will be sharp, or as near as damn it, to infinity? Handy, particularly for street work, just lift your camera and click.
I completely understand that this is useless for macro and close-up portraits, but in your mono example above no focusing would be necessary.

Correct Phil,

That was exactly my point......with an Auto Lens we rely on that little beep of focus confirmation, but, the auto focus point may be off what we intend, I would think all of us have cursed Auto for missing what was intended.

Since I posted this, I have begun to experimenting more with the ....Zone Focus....system, which means I have to ....Pre-Focus....upon a point that my subject will walk in to, this means I can use the lens as wide open as I choose to get good or interesting DOF.

As BP said ......going fully manual......can be a very real challenge, it forces thinking time.

But, get the f8 - f16 zone in your mind and shooting Street can be as quick as....Point and Shoot ...as in the second example here.

The first shot relied on the Bee entering my area of pre-focus.

Going fully manual with Vintage Lenses can backfire, as yesterday when I met a friend with her infant....I offered to take portraits.....but using the JUPITER 9 threw me completely .....my focus was off, so the results were deleted.

During the recent Brighton trip, I amazed my Leica shooting mate by only using, a Vintage Cosinon 35-2.8 lens all day, no Auto whatsoever.....the results are there to see, in my recent posts.

If you use Micro Four Thirds gear.....it is well worth investing in a few decent Vintage M42 or M39 lenses and adapters.

FUJI