Manual Focus Lenses

[clubbyr8]

Does anyone use manual focus lenses with their digital SLR. If so, what sort of results are you getting.

I have a reasonably large collection of lenses made by Pentax, Soligor, Tamron, Helios, Focal, Hanimex, Samyang, Kimunor, Takumar (Pentax), Osawa. All these lenses have either M42 (screw) mount or Pentax K mount. All the Tamron lenses are Adaptall mounts which means you can change the mount to suit the camera you are using. I then mount these lenses on an EOS adaptor so they can fit my Canon 350D.

As the 350D doesn't have a split focusing screen focusing correctly can be an issue. I have bought the EOS adaptors that have "chips" installed on them so the AF confirmation led will work on the camera, but I find this to be a bit hit and miss.

The reason I've collected these lenses is that there is some superb "old" glass out there at fairly low prices compared to the modern lenses, it seems a shame to let them go to waste.

Anyone with any experiences?

Bob

[wheelinround]

great collection of lenses Bob

No sorry although I have a number of old screw on lenses for other cameras Praktica, Olympus, I have never ventured into crossing them over with fittings but from what I have read people have varying results. A woman I know has a 350D with a non Canon think its Tameron or Sigma lens and it caused her nothing but trouble so ended up buying a canon lens.

[Coldamus]

Bob, I intend to do a similar thing. I now have a Pentax 100D Super and a Pentax Z-80 fim camera. Prior to that, I used a Spotmatic for about 30 years.

When the Spotmatic was stolen, I sold off my other M42 lenses. I have been kicking myself ever since because I have yet to take a photo that compares with those taken with the Spotmatic.

In particular, I had an SMC Takumar 20mm wide angle. Focusing wasn't an issue with it because it could be left on infinity and everything was always pin sharp. When I sold it on eBay, I was shocked that it went for over $300. I would not hesitate to buy it back now for more than that.

The standard 50mm F1.4 on the Spotmatic was also a great lens and also the 135mm. Prices on these are starting to creep up. There are plenty of them around but it is getting harder to find them in top condition.

I usually focus manually on the K100D and have no difficulty except in low light. In that case, the auto-focus also suffers. The camera strobes the flash to help the autofocus in low light. I detest that because it often results in missing the shot.

I want the shutter to fire when i press the button, not after a couple of seconds of messing around. The answer has been to turn off the flash and the autofocus. In fact the only reason for buying the digital SLR was to have manual focus. Otherwise I would have been quite happy with my Olympus compact ultra-zoom.

regards
Coldamus

[kevjed]

Bob,
I use my old Contax manual focus lenses on my Canon 20D and love the results. Stop down metering is a bit of pain but the images make it worth while. Low light focusing can be a bit of an issue from time to time so I just stop down and hit it with the flash if appropriate and let the hyperfocal thing do its stuff.
All the best
Kevjed

[rhizome]

I have used my Nikon D80 in manual mode. It seems to work just fine if you have a good eye. Have been reading up on the new Nikon D3 and with their full size 35mm sensor all the old (Nikon/compatible) lens should work fine. So if you have old wide angle Nikon lenses they'd be going up in value again.

[MrFixIt]

Hi
Does anyone use manual focus lenses with their digital SLR. If so, what sort of results are you getting.
Bob
Unles you have the lens wide open and/or are focusing really close up then the depth of field should cater for almost every photo's needs.

If you can guesstimate the distance between you and your subject, then you could use the values on the focus ring to set the lens.

Set the lens so that the subject distance approx midway between the focus ring settings at the apperture you have chosen.

[woodbe]

I often use an Olympus 21mm on my 5D optioned with the split focus screen:

Focus set at 3 metres, Aperture at F8.

Just about any landscape apart form something very close is in good focus. If I am dealing with close objects, I start focusing by eye or bracket focussing.

Manual lenses can be painful if you are in a hurry. I'm not sure I would bother with longer lenses, but wide angle are definitely usable with little trouble.

woodbe.

[clubbyr8]

Woodbe,

Where did you get the OM adaptor from? Do you have any problem with focusing to infinity. I have a M42 and a PK adaptor (non AF confirm) and they both have problems with focusing to affinity. Split screen focusing is a bit of a problem with the 350D. It is doable, but it's not something that is changed easily.

Bob

[woodbe]

Hi Bob,

I've had a few adapters that would not allow infinity focus - this was in the early days of availability, and they were all cheap chinese ebay jobs. It's a bit of a luck of the draw thing, some work, and some don't work so well. The ones I kept were also from ebay, but made in Japan by a company called Kindai. I suspect they would be quite expensive to buy new. There are other brands like cameraquest that are well regarded too, but you can buy a lot of ebay adapters for the price of one of those.

My understanding is that the faulty adapters are usually a little too thick. I've heard of people grinding down adapters until they get infinity... A too thin adapter would allow focus past infinity.

The focus confirm adapters are a recent innovation, I've not tried one yet, but it sounds like a good idea.

woodbe.

[clubbyr8]

Hi Woodbe,

Just did a search on Kindai, man these buggers are expensive :C:C

This is the link to a M42 adapter http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Japan-Kindai-Store-New-M42-EOS-adapter_W0QQitemZ190167652038QQihZ009QQcategoryZ30059QQcmdZViewItem

[woodbe]

Wow. $100 US each. ouch.

Mine are second hand, didn't pay anything like that... That makes tinkering with a too-thick cheapie to get the focus sorted worthwhile.

woodbe

[clubbyr8]

Even used, they are expensive :?:?

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Kindai-Nikon-Lens-Canon-EOS-Mount-Adapter-THE-BEST_W0QQitemZ110190626954QQihZ001QQcategoryZ29971QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD2VQQcmdZViewItem

[woodbe]

Yes, and they don't come up very often either. If you search for completed listings, you will see that Japan Kindai had a Nikon adapter up for buy it now at $150, so $100 is <cough> "cheap" :)

woodbe.

[wheelinround]

Clubby maybe you should approach on of the metal workers to make you one if its cost effective

[clubbyr8]

Just bought an angle finder like this http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130173713650&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=003

Hopefully with the 2.5 viewfinder magnification, things will improve.