How to use manual focus lenses - aperture, focus, depth of field, zone focusing ...!
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- čas přidán 3. 07. 2024
- As I got some questions and requests from my fellow viewers, I made this video: It's about how to use your manual focus lens and to show you some tricks and infos!
1. What are all those numbers and markings for?
2. What's the depth of field scale?
3. And how does zone focusing work?
All this is, of course, valid for manual lenses on both analog or digital cameras!
0:00 Intro
1:05 Aperture
1:30 Focusing
2:04 Distance scale
2:34 Zone focusing
4:13 Depth-of-field scale
5:12 A word of caution when using the depth-of-field scale
7:03 Another example using zone focusing
7:28 Selecting your aperture for zone focusing
8:14 Outro
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If you like all things photography, also visit my blog at:
tomscameras.wordpress.com
My instagram:
/
Many thanks for Takahiro Oda for filming! Visit his channel here:
/ @takahirooda
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Score:
Cielo - Huma-Huma
(available via CZcams Audio Library) - Zábava
Love the easy laid back teaching. Nobody else explain the dam marking as good as you do in this one.
Hey, many thanks, I really appreciate it! :)
Thank you Thomas. I love your videos and style. Very appreciated. I am experimenting with manual focus lenses and also with film cameras. Your videos are so helpful.
Hello David, many thanks for your feedback! I hope you have a lot of fun trying out MF lenses and analog cameras! If you have any questions ... just let me know! :)
Love this episode Thomas. Keep up the great work mate!
Thanks Jason! I really have to catch up with your latest videos!
Great, easy to understand, informative tutorial. Bravo 👏
Many thanks! :)
I just bought that same lens ..this is the master class I needed! thank you
Many thanks for your feedback! I’m glad it was of use to you!
Very helpful, I finally got a lens that also has indicators for manual focusing, and this has been very informative for getting up-and-running with it. Thank you!
Many thanks for your feedback, and I am glad the video was of help to you!
Thank you for the explanation, it was very clear and easy to follow. Much easier to understand the markings on my manual focus lens.
Thank you, I'm glad it was a help for you!
VERY helpful - thank you!
You're welcome! I'm glad the video was useful for you. Many thanks for your feedback!
GREAT INFORMATIONAL VIDEO! I have a used 55mm manual Nikkor Macro lens and I was having troubke with focusing manually: your video is REALLY helpful...THANKS!
Many thanks, I'm glad if this video was helpful for you!
Youre the best Tom!!👌
Well, many thanks M M! 😀
Good Morning from New Zealand, Great manual focus Video, I enjoyed it very much, Have a great weekend
Many thanks Tony!!
Nice explanation thank you.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the video!
Super Tom! This is a really helpful video. I already knew how but this is better and learned more:)
Many thanks! :)
@@tomscameras btw the ttartisan 35mm 1.4,, tried it yesterday and it is a super lens. Very sharp, easy to focus with and beautiful bokeh. Love it!
That sounds great! Wish you a lot of fun with the lens!
Awesome video!
Thanks a lot!
Thanks Tom....
You’re welcome! 😀
Thank you
thanks!
You're welcome, thanks for your feedback!
Enjoying photography with many camera dials (no menu diving!) and manual focusing like back in the good old Kodachrome days.
Oh yes, I agree … especially about no menu diving :)
I came here hoping to learn how to use focus assist with manual lens, but was told that just dial and practice 😅. But thanks regardless!
I feel a bit sorry that i created some confusion 😊
I never knew about the centre plane sign on my camera bodies...
( It looks like a "diametre" symbol...?! )
I feel really stupid! 🤣
THANK YOU. 👍🏻
There's no stupid questions - only stupid answers :) but I'm really happy that my nerd knowledge sometimes can be useful!
Thanks Tom, very clear and pleasant video
Thanks a lot for your feedback!
Is there away to zone focus on canon m50 lenses?
I don’t know the Csnon M cameras in detail. Maybe there is a menu option that it will display the focus distance in the viewfinder or on the screen.
Hi, This is very interesting. I tried it on my Z5 with an old 24 mm 2.8 Ais lens using a Nikon FTZ adapter. Could you please explain where I am wrong?
1. I measured my subject at 5 ft
2. put f stop at 5.6
3. Distance on the lens shows 5ft to infinity should be on focus.
4. But actually subject appears quite blurry when I click the shot.
5. Is the lens faulty or it is supposed to be like this on a modern camera with an adapter.
Hey! There are two possible reasons for this: your lens is not properly calibrated. If it is a genuine old Nikkor lens, that’s unlikely though in my experience. Especially at f/5.6!
Second cause: the adapter! Most likely it’s designed in a way that it will allow the lenses to be focused past infinity to make sure that you can reach real infinity under all possible circumstances (even in case a lens isn’t properly calibrated in itself etc.)
To verify that you could try to focus your lens to infinity using the viewfinder and magnifier, and then have a look at what distance your focus ring indicates!
Hi Tom. Thanks for the video. I have an old Soviet Industar 61 that I am trying to mount to my Olympus OM-D-E-10 Mark iV. I bought a good adapter L39 to Micro 4/3. The problem is that when I attach the lens to my camera, it mounts upside down!! Would you know what I should do to fix this??
Normally that's an issue that can be solved in the adapter. There should be three very small set screws somewhere on the side of the adapter. Those you can loosen a bit (don't take them out completely, just maybe 1-2 turns should be enough !!) and then you should be able to rotate the mount within the adapter until it aligns properly. Once done, tighten the three small screws again.
@@tomscameras thanks for the great advice.
I'm trying to use zone focusing like you explained in the video but my images are blurry when focusing out to infinity. I'm using the Ttartisan 23mm f1.4 for reference. If I put aperture to f8 and infinity on the f8 zone marking the image is blurry but if I put infinity at the hard stop in the middle it's sharp. Can you explain why the zone isn't working out to infinity like you explained in the video and putting infinity on the same aperture setting?
Hello! The correct setting is always in the middle. In other words, you focus to infinity - put it on the marking in the middle! Your infinity setting is exactly the same for f/1.4, f/2, f/8 and all other apertures. When you change the aperture, the focus point does not change!
The markings for f/8 etc. are only to have some (vague ...) information about the depth of field. So you focus to infinity, and then have a look at what distance you see at the f/8 mark: it says 1 meter. So, in theory, you focus to infinity and everything from 1 meter to infinity is now in focus.
BUT - these depth-of-field markings that are printed on those lenses (all brands!) are all wayyy to optimistic if you ask me. That has already been a problem in analog photography. And if you are looking at your photos on a big screen today, there's certainly no room for big focus errors not even at f/8.
So my advice is simple: - Always focus on the marking in the middle. Don't trust the depth-of-filed markings!
@@tomscameras Thank you so much for the quick response. I've been beating me head seeing numerous videos all saying how to zone focus to infinity but I kept thinking I got a bad copy. I'm glad you cleared this up. Thank you for all your great videos.
@@jasonyoung1999 The problem with the zone focusing and those depth-of-field markings is really that they come from a distant past where the resolution you would ask for in your photo was much slower. If you printed just on 3x4 inch, or a professional photographer would take photos for newspapers that were printed with coarse halftone back in the day, then you easily get away using those markings.
But today, we are used to high-resolution screens and 100% pixel peeping and they never changed those depth-of-field markings, so they're today kind of useless ...
@@tomscameras That makes sense. I'm glad you cleared it up and now I can enjoy using all my other manual lenses. I kept thinking I got duds 😂
@@jasonyoung1999 Haha, no I'm sure your lenses are not all duds! I hope you'll have a lot of fun now with manual focusing! 😃
This video was superb!
But when i use my old camera and look through the viewfinder the picture sharp on marking that seems way ”off” from the real distance? How can that be? Are some lenses not suitable for a camera even if the mount is correct?
Or can a exposure be out of focus in the viewfinder and still be in focus on the final negative and paper print?
Or another thought is it my eyes?
Best regards from Sweden
Alfons
Hi Alfons, what camera and lens are you using?
@@tomscameras I use a old slr from the late 50’s brand edixa. With a 28mm wide lens f2.8.
Heard something that slr is trickier to use zonefocusing and depth of field scale on. Anything you heard or expierenced aswell?
Best regards
Alfons
@@alfonsgustafsson4301 That's another real classic, the Edixa! They were basically the only ever truly successful West German SLR back in the day ...
However, there are manifold possibilities why you're getting non-perfect results:
(1) You should always make sure you focus at open aperture, and only after focusing you stop down the lens! Some very old Edixa models and/or old M42 lenses do not have an automatic stop-down aperture.
(2) Maybe your focusing screen in the viewfinder does not have a spilt-image and/or microprism ring. Either of these GREATLY helps with precise focusing and thus they became standard in the 60s/70s.
(3) Are you wearing glasses and/or contact lenses? You need to wear these also when using the camera.
(4) It can be that the camera is out of adjustment. Basically both the film plane and the focusing screen have to be exactly the same distance from the lens mount, and tolerances are super small here. It could for example be that the mirror is not 100% perfectly adjusted and this will lead to wrong focus on the image.
My personal guess is that if you are experience out-of-focus images only at very bright apertures (f1/.8, f/2, f/2.8 ...) then it's more likely (1) or (2).
If you get unsharp images also at f/5.6 or f/8, it can be (3) or (4).
@@tomscameras first of all thanks for the great answer and feedback! I love my edixa even if its not cooperating with me haha.
1. I do focus on the most open apeture. And then step down. And i think mine has auto step down but dong know how to operate it. Haha. Yes I am new at film camera...
2 it just has a plane view Finder no lines or pattern to help with focusing..
3 no glasses. But maybe i should need them.
4 I am no expert in this so might have to lend my camera to the local camera store and they can Take a look on the adjustment if my next roll comes back the same way.
It weird my issue but i will keep trying. Thanks for all support and i will shoot a roll soon again.
Best regards
Alfons
What if I don't shoot landscapes or streets but I want to apply the infinity scale to portraits? please answer me, thank u.
If you shoot portraits, you always have to focus on the person. Most likely you're also using open aperture for portraits ...
So this means you have to be very precise with your focusing and you can't just use the distance markings that are printed on the lens. Instead, use the camera screen or the viewfinder to manually focus!
@@tomscameras thanks u
how to manual focus on fixed apeature lenses??
What do you mean by fixed aperture - a zoom lens?
It depends on how your zoom lens is optically designed. With some zooms, focus doesn't change when you zoom through the range. In that case, you can zoom to maximum telephoto setting (e.g. a 28-70 you zoom to 70) and focus ... this will be most precise. (Of course only if your subject doesn't move ...)
With many zoom lenses, the focusing is affected when you zoom though. So it's best to first set the zoom to the desired setting and then focus.
Was mach ich wenn meine Objektive keine Skala für die Fokuszone haben? (Dept of field )
Hat es denn die Angaben für die Entfernung? Danach stellst Du die genaue Entfernung ein. Die Depth-of-Field Skala ist leider sowieso meistens sehr, sehr ungenau. Aber einfach mal ausprobieren, man entwickelt irgendwann ja auch selbst ein Gefühl dafür, wie präzise die Schärfe eingestellt werden muß.
@@tomscameras Hab ich gestern auf meiner Tour 18000 Schritte durch Köln auch so gemacht😅👍
Yor zerman azenkt ist sehr hard
I hope your accent is better 😄
@@tomscameras lovely answer mein Führerschein
I think I'm the only one that finds these explanations incredibly confusing.
Don’t worry I’m in the same boat as you 😂
@@nancyamadorhernandez88 I found this one which to me seems clearer: czcams.com/video/bLKJEbWvI0s/video.html
Oh no! That was not my intention! 😅 But maybe follow the link that Zone07 provided! Or if you have any specific question, just share it, maybe we can help you!
@@tomscameras trust me I'm 99% sure it's me; I'm very new to this stuff. 😆
Where is this fukin whistle?) ohhhh your teeth…
Erm. What whistle?