Re: Manually focusing on the wrong sharp edge?
On 7/19/2010 10:24 PM, Larry Colen wrote: I'm curious if other people have this problem when manually focusing, and what they do to fix it. Larry, unlike others in this thread, I use Katz Eye screen with focusing aids (split screen, etc). If opportunity presents itself I might try the KE screen without any aids, but stock screen of Pentax cameras, my eyes and A 50/1.2 don't work together at all. I think that practice may help. Also apparently, sometimes it helps if shoot with the other eye wide open... Boris -- 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.
Re: Manually focusing on the wrong sharp edge?
On Jul 21, 2010, at 4:54 AM, Boris Liberman wrote: On 7/19/2010 10:24 PM, Larry Colen wrote: I'm curious if other people have this problem when manually focusing, and what they do to fix it. Larry, unlike others in this thread, I use Katz Eye screen with focusing aids (split screen, etc). If opportunity presents itself I might try the KE screen without any aids, but stock screen of Pentax cameras, my eyes and A 50/1.2 don't work together at all. I found that the stock screens did not work at all well for me for manual focusing, and that the katzeye screens really help. I think that the stock screens are optimized for autofocus. Unfortunately the Pentax autofocus system seems to be optimized for manual focus. Autofocus on the K-x is especially troublesome in this situation because without the light up dots, I can't tell what it's focusing on. That and the fact that in the light I need it, by the time the camera focuses, whatever I wanted to take a picture of is 3 seconds in the past. There is an aspect of the split screen that it allows your eye to focus on what is in the center of the screen, no matter how out of focus it is. I think that practice may help. Also apparently, sometimes it helps if shoot with the other eye wide open... Boris -- 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. -- 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.
Re: Manually focusing on the wrong sharp edge?
On 2010-07-21 13:13, Larry Colen wrote: Unfortunately the Pentax autofocus system seems to be optimized for manual focus. MARK! :-) -- Thanks, DougF (KG4LMZ) -- 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.
Re: Manually focusing on the wrong sharp edge?
On 21/07/2010, Boris Liberman bori...@gmail.com wrote: Larry, unlike others in this thread, I use Katz Eye screen with focusing aids (split screen, etc). If opportunity presents itself I might try the KE screen without any aids, but stock screen of Pentax cameras, my eyes and A 50/1.2 don't work together at all. I've got to agree here, the stock screens are useless when used with a lens like the A50/1.2. When I use this lens on the K-x with the stock focus screen I have to shoot and test to confirm focus or else use LV to get any kind of an acceptable result when the lens is used at large apertures. -- Rob Studdert (Digital Image Studio) Tel: +61-418-166-870 UTC +10 Hours Gmail, eBay, Skype, Twitter, Facebook, Picasa: distudio -- 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.
Re: Manually focusing on the wrong sharp edge?
On Jul 19, 2010, at 6:36 PM, Doug Brewer wrote: 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 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 Never understood the fascination with split prisms. They're clunky and self-limiting. Give me a plain matte any day for manual focus. When I got my K100 I couldn't manually focus with it to save my soul. When I got the katzeye, it was like growing back a missing limb. I suspect you're shooting yourself in the foot here, Larry, by trying to use the split prism and recomposing at f/1.4. You don't have any wiggle room shooting with such a narrow DOF, and I think this could go a long way toward explaining why your focus is off too often. Stop the lens down a couple clicks. This will help with the focus and will also make the photos look like they were taken at night in a club, instead of afternoon in the park. At ISO 6400, and missing more photos due to subject motion blur than bad focus, I'd end up with photos with depth of field, but so much noise, or motion blur, you wouldn't see anything. Most of the screen is matte anyways, so I can try using that section more anyways. The focus of my interest is rarely dead center anyways. Most of the situations where I shoot the split prism gets me a lot closer than I could with a matte screen. I know this because I'll focus using the matte portion of the screen, and check it with the split prism. Since most of my photography seems to be with fast lenses 77mm or shorter, I rarely have any problem with the dark center syndrome with the split prism. Also: Relax. It's only photography. That it is, but I'm still trying to learn techniques to get better at it. -- 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. -- 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.
RE: Manually focusing on the wrong sharp edge?
[...] I'm curious if other people have this problem when manually focusing, and what they do to fix it. I always found it easier to use a plain matte screen, depending on which focal length I was using. -- 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.
Re: Manually focusing on the wrong sharp edge?
On Jul 19, 2010, at 12:41 PM, Bob W wrote: [...] I'm curious if other people have this problem when manually focusing, and what they do to fix it. I always found it easier to use a plain matte screen, depending on which focal length I was using. Please explain how focal length affects it. Do you find the difference between in focus and out of focus too subtle on a wider lens? -- 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.
Re: Manually focusing on the wrong sharp edge?
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.
Re: Manually focusing on the wrong sharp edge?
More reason to hate split-image and micro-prism focusing aids. I use the plain matte screen when manually focusing. -- Christian - http://404notfound.blogspot.com http://birdofthemoment.blogspot.com On Mon, Jul 19, 2010 at 12:24:11PM -0700, 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 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. -- Christian - http://404notfound.blogspot.com http://birdofthemoment.blogspot.com -- 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.
Re: Manually focusing on the wrong sharp edge?
On Mon, Jul 19, 2010 at 12:43:44PM -0700, Larry Colen wrote: On Jul 19, 2010, at 12:41 PM, Bob W wrote: [...] I'm curious if other people have this problem when manually focusing, and what they do to fix it. I always found it easier to use a plain matte screen, depending on which focal length I was using. Please explain how focal length affects it. Do you find the difference between in focus and out of focus too subtle on a wider lens? I think he might mean that for longer focal lengths you are generally using smaller maximum apertures and from what i understand and have observed, the split-image thingies tend to black out at anything above f4. Really, a plain matte screen is the best tool for manually focusing in my opinion especially in low-light situations. -- Christian - http://404notfound.blogspot.com http://birdofthemoment.blogspot.com -- 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.
Re: Manually focusing on the wrong sharp edge?
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.
RE: Manually focusing on the wrong sharp edge?
[...] I'm curious if other people have this problem when manually focusing, and what they do to fix it. I always found it easier to use a plain matte screen, depending on which focal length I was using. Please explain how focal length affects it. Do you find the difference between in focus and out of focus too subtle on a wider lens? I think he might mean that for longer focal lengths you are generally using smaller maximum apertures and from what i understand and have observed, the split-image thingies tend to black out at anything above f4. Really, a plain matte screen is the best tool for manually focusing in my opinion especially in low-light situations. exactly so -- 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.
Re: Manually focusing on the wrong sharp edge?
Looked at your photos ... My one advice: get closer, frame tighter. :-) ... I'm curious if other people have this problem when manually focusing, and what they do to fix it. .. I see I'm not alone in my preference for plain matte fresnel focusing screens. ;-) Microprism and split prism focusing aids are usually distractions in SLR viewfinders, for me. I always changed my focusing screen to a simple, matte fresnel screen (with horizontal/vertical reference lines preferably) when possible. Longer lenses are easier to focus because when wide open the in-focus zone is shallow; short lenses are where focusing aids can help most. With any lens, good crisp contrast when wide open is the biggest aid to manual focusing, regardless of focusing screen, lens speed or focal length. Beyond that, it's a matter of skill through lots of practice. I find today that I still prefer manual focusing over any autofocus system on any SLR camera I've tried, and I've found that when I manual focus my hit it on the nose rate is always much better than when I allow the AF system to do its thing. Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus, Panasonic doesn't matter what the brand. Give me a good, contrasty lens and a clean focusing screen: it will do better than most AF systems. The EVF in the G1 is no exception, except that it makes nailing critical manual focus even easier than any of the optical reflex focusing systems I've used. -- Godfrey godfreydigiorgi.posterous.com -- 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.
Re: Manually focusing on the wrong sharp edge?
On Jul 19, 2010, at 3:05 PM, Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote: Looked at your photos ... My one advice: get closer, frame tighter. :-) I couldn't exactly get up on stage with the band. Though I could drop some of them tighter. ... I'm curious if other people have this problem when manually focusing, and what they do to fix it. .. I see I'm not alone in my preference for plain matte fresnel focusing screens. ;-) Interesting, because I found the screens that came with my Pentaxes nearly useless for manual focusing. Microprism and split prism focusing aids are usually distractions in SLR viewfinders, for me. I always changed my focusing screen to a simple, matte fresnel screen (with horizontal/vertical reference lines preferably) when possible. Longer lenses are easier to focus because when wide open the in-focus zone is shallow; short lenses are where focusing aids can help most. With any lens, good crisp contrast when wide open is the biggest aid to manual focusing, regardless of focusing screen, lens speed or focal length. That may be one reason I like my FA77 so much. Beyond that, it's a matter of skill through lots of practice. I do try to practice, and to practice different techniques. The EVF in the G1 is no exception, except that it makes nailing critical manual focus even easier than any of the optical reflex focusing systems I've used. Interestingly I found that manual focus on my FZ-50 to be nearly impossible to get right. -- 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.
Re: Manually focusing on the wrong sharp edge?
On 20/07/2010, Larry Colen l...@red4est.com wrote: Interesting, because I found the screens that came with my Pentaxes nearly useless for manual focusing. The stock screens in the K-x and K10/20D I find nearly useless for manual focusing, it's pure guesswork. I spent the week shooting with a guy who has an A850 (and a load of great glass), it's got a butt ugly prism hump but the finder view is superb compared to anything from Pentax currently (and I do truly hate the P645 family finders). I have a hard drive full of A850 images and I must say give that I was shooting at the same locations I am just a little jealous of his results (technically). -- Rob Studdert (Digital Image Studio) Tel: +61-418-166-870 UTC +10 Hours Gmail, eBay, Skype, Twitter, Facebook, Picasa: distudio -- 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.
Re: Manually focusing on the wrong sharp edge?
On Jul 19, 2010, at 6:28 PM, Larry Colen wrote: On Jul 19, 2010, at 3:05 PM, Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote: Looked at your photos ... My one advice: get closer, frame tighter. :-) I couldn't exactly get up on stage with the band. Though I could drop some of them tighter. ... I'm curious if other people have this problem when manually focusing, and what they do to fix it. .. I see I'm not alone in my preference for plain matte fresnel focusing screens. ;-) Interesting, because I found the screens that came with my Pentaxes nearly useless for manual focusing. Microprism and split prism focusing aids are usually distractions in SLR viewfinders, for me. I always changed my focusing screen to a simple, matte fresnel screen (with horizontal/vertical reference lines preferably) when possible. Longer lenses are easier to focus because when wide open the in-focus zone is shallow; short lenses are where focusing aids can help most. With any lens, good crisp contrast when wide open is the biggest aid to manual focusing, regardless of focusing screen, lens speed or focal length. That may be one reason I like my FA77 so much. Beyond that, it's a matter of skill through lots of practice. I do try to practice, and to practice different techniques. When I first decided to get serious about photography, some forty years ago, a local pro told me to practice focusing on various things in the room while I was watching television. In a dim room, that was good practice. Even today, when I get a new camera, I'll spend some time getting used to the focusing screen. As I said earlier, I prefer a plain matte screen, although I do like the horizontal and vertical lines that Godders mentioned. I'm using the standard screens in my K20 and K7 now. No problem. I realize there are better options, but they're expensive. If I started missing focus, I'd invest in an ultra bright screen, but so far that hasn't been a problem. Paul The EVF in the G1 is no exception, except that it makes nailing critical manual focus even easier than any of the optical reflex focusing systems I've used. Interestingly I found that manual focus on my FZ-50 to be nearly impossible to get right. -- 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.
Re: Manually focusing on the wrong sharp edge?
On Mon, Jul 19, 2010 at 3:28 PM, Larry Colen l...@red4est.com wrote: Interesting, because I found the screens that came with my Pentaxes nearly useless for manual focusing. The standard Pentax DSLR screens are optimized for brightness, not manual focusing contrast. I fitted my *ist DS with a customized Katz Eye screen (no focusing aids) and it was much easier to focus with. The EVF in the G1 is no exception, except that it makes nailing critical manual focus even easier than any of the optical reflex focusing systems I've used. Interestingly I found that manual focus on my FZ-50 to be nearly impossible to get right. Comparing the FZ50 EVF to that of the G1 is like comparing a 9-inch color television tube screen from 1976 with a modern 42 LCD flat panel television display. Never mind that the FZ50's teensy little chip makes for massive amounts of DoF anywhere but at pretty long telephoto settings ... ]'-) And with that said, I used to use the FZ10 with it's even lower resolution EVF using manual focus quite a lot, and was pretty successful at it. EG: http://homepage.mac.com/ramarren/IoM-4/PoA-lighthouse-0730usFR.jpg Point of Ayre Lighthouse, Isle of Man © 2004 by Godfrey DiGiorgi Captured with Panasonic FZ10, tripod mounted ISO 50 @ f/5.7 @ 1/800sec, f=24.8mm (4.1x, 145mm equiv 135) AE-Program: compensation -0.3EV Of course, I couldn't photograph birds in flight with it very well ... the FZ10 EVF's refresh was so slow that most birds in flight simply disappeared! -- Godfrey godfreydigiorgi.posterous.com -- 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.
Re: Manually focusing on the wrong sharp edge?
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 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 Never understood the fascination with split prisms. They're clunky and self-limiting. Give me a plain matte any day for manual focus. I suspect you're shooting yourself in the foot here, Larry, by trying to use the split prism and recomposing at f/1.4. You don't have any wiggle room shooting with such a narrow DOF, and I think this could go a long way toward explaining why your focus is off too often. Stop the lens down a couple clicks. This will help with the focus and will also make the photos look like they were taken at night in a club, instead of afternoon in the park. Also: Relax. It's only photography. -- 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.
