[Antonio Marques]

Hello, good people of the lens forum.
I realise this is a lazy question, I could scoop all the lens reviews for someone mentioning this point. So I feel a bit guilty, but hey.
I'd like to know which primes with autofocus capability are best for focusing manually. My experience is that AF lenses often don't offer a stellar MF experience, but there should be exceptions. I'm mostly thinking of use with cameras that can't drive the AF, such as when using adapters, but I suppose the question applies mostly the same in both cases. I don't much care for MF on zooms, hence the mention of primes.

So, for a concrete example. Which one would you rather focus manually, a DA50, the FA50, the F50 or the A50?
Thank you.

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Tentative ranking so far, from best to reasonable:

D FA 100 WR f2.8 macro
DA* 300 Tamron 90 macro
FA31 DA15
FA35 DA*55
FA43 FA77
DA Limited except the 21
DA50 f1.8

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Last edited by Antonio Marques; 12-23-2014 at 11:51 AM. Reason: Results

[Docrwm]

Hello, good people of the lens forum.
I realise this is a lazy question, I could scoop all the lens reviews for someone mentioning this point. So I feel a bit guilty, but hey.
I'd like to know which primes with autofocus capability are best for focusing manually. My experience is that AF lenses often don't offer a stellar MF experience, but there should be exceptions. I'm mostly thinking of use with cameras that can't drive the AF, such as when using adapters, but I suppose the question applies mostly the same in both cases. I don't much care for MF on zooms, hence the mention of primes.

So, for a concrete example. Which one would you rather focus manually, a DA50, the FA50, the F50 or the A50?
Thank you.

I'd rather manually focus an M50 but the A50 is next IMHO. The "F" series primes were plasticy and had rather narrow focus rings that are difficult to manipulate. The "FA" series, I have the 50/1.4, are even worse for MF IMHO. The DA50/1.8 isn't much better.

The Limited DA lenses are generally better for MF than other models in my experience. But the older lenses, the K and M series, are much easier to MF because they have better grips, better dampening, and longer throws generally.

[Antonio Marques]

Thanks. My example is possibly incomplete without including aperture. I was thinking of the f1.7 models, except for the DA (I know next to nothing about post-FA models).

[crewl1]

Is this limited to 50's?
The A50 is not auto focus so should not be on your first list.
Other focal length AF primes I have that are a joy to focus manually are DA*300 and DFA 100 WR.

[DSims]

I noticed both the FA31 and DA15 are nice when shooting video, which of course is a MF situation.

I'd rather have an A50 than an F or FA (I've had all) when it comes to manually focusing.

And like crewl1 suggested, the D FA 100 WR macro is good at everything it does, including MF.

[Antonio Marques]

No, the 50s were just as an example of what I understand was basically the same lens in at least 4 incarnations. The A, like the M, is there for comparison with the AFs.
It's nice to know about the others, the more since they're long.

[EarlVonTapia]

The Tamron 90mm macro is a pleasure to focus manually. It has a nice, fat, grippy focus ring, and it has a long focus throw, so nailing a precise focus is quite easy.

I used a Tamron 90 a lot with a Q-K adapter for my Pentax Q to make it into a super 500mm telephoto prime.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/136-pentax-q/209474-adapted-lenses-tested...ml#post2664641

[hjoseph7]

DFA 100mm f2.8 Macro. You can go crazy trying to focus on a small bug using AF.

[osv]

the fa35 on the a7r really "pops" the focus peaking in the evf... the throw is pretty much undampened, but it works better than expected.

[manntax]

The manual focusing is just as much a feature of the lens as anything else... as AF is for that matter, so I personally think the best tool for the job is the tool that gets the job done best. IF my intent would be to manually focus with top precision then no AF lens can come even close to what a true manual focus lens can do. I have some SMC-F and FA primes which I keep for auto focus jobs , but when I want to manual focus I simple pick one of lenses that was designed and fully equipped to aid that. You obviously can substitute a manual focusing with an AF lens used manually but don't expect the experience or the accuracy to be that good. For manual focusing the most important things are long throw - most MF lenses will give you much longer thrown and that directly translates on the accuracy you can achieve. And second - equally important feature - is way the MF focusing ring will be dampened. IF the lens is well maintained and fully working, the dampening on MF lens will always be helpful in achieving that most critical fine tuning - especially with : a) fast glass - no way you can be as precise with AF lens as with MF; b) telephoto lenses - no way you can fine tune at longer distances with AF long glass as good as with MF one; and c) - MACRO - in macro mode any AF lens is simple a joke and I don't consider AF for macro to be helpful at all. So the bottom line and my advice is this: get the right tool for the job and do not play cheap - want a good manual focusing experience ? - go for what was designed for it.

[filoxophy]

In my experience, the Limiteds will be lightly damped but smooth. Distance scales help with prefocusing. The throw will not be as long as MF lenses of course, but on the 43 and 77 for instance, its long enough IMHO. The 21's throw is very short, unsurprisingly.

My DA50/1.8 actually has a decent feel and throw, especially for being cheap and plastic. Can't say the same for the DA35/2.4. No distance or DOF scales though.

[drypenn]

For AF lenses that I have had, I think that the best is the DFA100WR, FA31, FA77, DA*55, then FA43, in that order.

Of all the lenses I've tried manually focusing, the K50/1.2 is probably my personal favorite- perfectly dampened, good long throw, and premium feel.

[Antonio Marques]

Thanks, all!