Larry, I may have missed this, but do you use "spot" focus? Do you use "S" mode wherein you can hold focus and re-compose? For that matter, I don't even know what you were shooting with. :-C
Jack --- On Mon, 7/19/10, P N Stenquist <pnstenqu...@comcast.net> wrote: > From: P N Stenquist <pnstenqu...@comcast.net> > Subject: Re: Manually focusing on the wrong "sharp edge"? > To: "Pentax-Discuss Mail List" <pdml@pdml.net> > Date: Monday, July 19, 2010, 1:20 PM > > On Jul 19, 2010, at 3:24 PM, Larry Colen wrote: > > > I was photographing a friend playing in a small club > in Capitola the other night. When I reviewed my photos, I > found that an awful lot of them were focused on sharp edges > in front of the musician: > > The tip jar, drum kit, microphone etc. > > > > I understand how this happens with autofocus. The > camera is too stupid to know what to focus on and focuses on > the sharp edge. What I don't understand is why this > happens on manual focus. *I* should know better. > > > > One challenge that I have in low light is actually > seeing the line of the split prism to try and line that up > on the musician. Especially musicians that tend to move > around a lot. As such, I may rely a lot more on the > microprism ring, and wonder if I just focus until I see > whatever is in that ring come into focus, and not notice > that it's not actually the subject that I'm trying to > photograph. More a case of my brain saying "something > is sharp, press the shutter". > > > > I'm curious if other people have this problem when > manually focusing, and what they do to fix it. > > > > I simply use a plain matte screen and pick the spot on > which I want to focus -- frequently an eye. I find that > split prisms are a distraction for people pics. On my Leica > rangefinder, I'm forced to align split images, but I still > target my spot, and judge the alignment as best I can. > Targeting the point of focus is the most important step. > Paul > > > > I got what I thought was an amusing compliment on my > dancing that night. I had a rather nice slow blues > dance with an attractive young lady. Afterwards, she said in > a rather husky voice "I need a cigarette". Unfortunately, > she was married. Even worse, her husband doesn't share. > > > > I did get a couple shots of the lead singer which > turned out pretty well: > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellarsee/4807504309/in/set-72157624409188927/ > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellarsee/4808124360/in/set-72157624409188927/ > > In the second one Amy Lou isn't as sharp as I'd > like, but I do like the way the composition worked out > with Gary (the bass player) in the background. > > > > > > -- > > Larry Colen l...@red4est.com > sent from i4est > > > > > > > > > > > > --PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > > PDML@pdml.net > > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link > directly above and follow the directions. > > > --PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link > directly above and follow the directions. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
