[edom31]

K1000 - M50 f1.7 on Superia Xtra 400 @ EI 80

This is awesome - very cinematographic mood.

[shadowjester]

This is awesome - very cinematographic mood.

I thought it also looked very old school cool, although the groom being a RCAF airman helps a lot with that too.

[rooklv]

Been learning my way around the SMC Pentax-M 50mm F1.4. It's a really awesome lens. I'm not quite confident enough to just live the manual focus life full time when it counts. But, either way, this lens is so fun to use and has gotten some great shots. All of these were just candid shots with the 50mm on a k5II. Some mild editing but nothing outrageous. If you nail the focus it's a beautiful lens!

[iheiramo]

Been learning my way around the SMC Pentax-M 50mm F1.4. It's a really awesome lens. I'm not quite confident enough to just live the manual focus life full time when it counts.

That's how it's started with a lot of us. Classic fifties have an incredible value.

I use Catch In Focus a lot. When you turn camera to burst mode it's like semi-automatic in guns. AF of K5 is a bit unreliable and especially the sensitivity in low light is poor, already K30 works quite nicely, so K5II should be OK.

Yeaterday I was shooting windsurf regatta with 2 cameras, a set of manual primes + 21ltd. Most of the shots with CIF. These are with M100/4:

[southlander]

How's you aperture mechanism, is it smooth? My copy is sluggish; I've posted about my failed attempt at cleaning it... lens still works and I do love it!

My M35/2 had oil on the aperture blades that made them sluggish but some of the oil also evaporated and deposited on the lens elements. Together the result was soft and dreamy images at all apparent apertures. I suspect I was getting little effective stop down using the green button to meter so the softness was partly oil deposits and partly that the lens was being used wide open or close to it despite what I set using the aperture ring.

My local bricks and mortar camera store did a full clean and service and all is now good.

It seems nearly all the M35's used a grease that softened in hot conditions and oozed into unwanted places.

[pres589]

I tried Catch In Focus on my K-5 II with a couple manual primes and I think I got about 50% shots, max, that were actually in focus. I think if a person is gentle with the focusing and starts pretty close to in-focus before activating the AF/shutter, it can work okay, but not great. In My Experience. Your mileage may vary.

M 50 f1.4 can be pretty fun for portraits, and on a camera like the K-5 II with decent high-ISO performance, can make light appear out of nowhere. I'm going to start looking for an M 85 f2 in a few months or so to round out my film kit.

[Canada_Rockies]

I tried Catch In Focus on my K-5 II with a couple manual primes and I think I got about 50% shots, max, that were actually in focus. I think if a person is gentle with the focusing and starts pretty close to in-focus before activating the AF/shutter, it can work okay, but not great. In My Experience. Your mileage may vary.

The only time I really tried CIF was with my SF1, on a tripod, focused on a hummingbird feeder perch then aimed slightly higher where I expected the birds to be. I got 3 good shots, in focus, using an A 70-210 at f/8 while eating supper -- this was in the early 1980's sometime.

[LensBeginner]

I think CiF makes sense when the subject is a known quantity away, the background is much farther than the sujbect, and DoF is enough to encompass the whole subject and not the background. The hummingbird example by @Canada_Rockies fits this category perfectly.

OTOH, moving the focus ring while keeping the shutter depressed, eh... not so sure about it.

[pres589]

I think CiF makes sense when the subject is a known quantity away, the background is much farther than the sujbect, and DoF is enough to encompass the whole subject and not the background. The hummingbird example by @Canada_Rockies fits this category perfectly.

OTOH, moving the focus ring while keeping the shutter depressed, eh... not so sure about it.

Yes, I was trying to use that function outside of its intended purpose. Namely trying to use my M 50 1.4 in a bar photographing a band which is additional challenges to the camera. In that situation it isn't reliable. On a tripod catching birds at a feeder sounds much more inline with how this is intended to be used. This can work but it's not a great way to get shots.

Parent's have a couple hummingbird feeders at their house. Might have to try this out again for myself.

[edom31]

My M35/2 had oil on the aperture blades that made them sluggish but some of the oil also evaporated and deposited on the lens elements. Together the result was soft and dreamy images at all apparent apertures. I suspect I was getting little effective stop down using the green button to meter so the softness was partly oil deposits and partly that the lens was being used wide open or close to it despite what I set using the aperture ring.

My local bricks and mortar camera store did a full clean and service and all is now good.

It seems nearly all the M35's used a grease that softened in hot conditions and oozed into unwanted places.

On mine, the elements are not affected, nor are the blades.

I could lube and clean it myself (I've done so with other M Series - lithium grease)... however, I had a lot of trouble opening the back end of my 35/2.8 - Dumb thing I just did to my M 35/2.8 - PentaxForums.com

[iheiramo]

I tried Catch In Focus on my K-5 II with a couple manual primes and I think I got about 50% shots, max, that were actually in focus. I think if a person is gentle with the focusing and starts pretty close to in-focus before activating the AF/shutter, it can work okay, but not great. In My Experience. Your mileage may vary.

M 50 f1.4 can be pretty fun for portraits, and on a camera like the K-5 II with decent high-ISO performance, can make light appear out of nowhere. I'm going to start looking for an M 85 f2 in a few months or so to round out my film kit.

85 is a nice lens. Hope you can find one.

I believe that CIF is as good as AF in that camera, as it uses the same system. Just a different solution. Therefore newer the body the better it should work. I can definitely see the difference between K5 and K30 and it's the reason why I use M*300 on K30 only. But I think what and how you shoot also matters. I use it especially for moving subjects and usually you don't use narrow DOF in those shots, which makes it easiet for focus to hit. Also in bright light focus is much more accurate. When shooting macro in dim light CIF simply doesn't work.

Shots from yesterday with M*300, K30 and CIF. Standing in a small boat swinging on the waves didn't make focusing any easier. You simply couldn't keep camera still.

[pres589]

That M*300 seems like a very nice lens, as I would expect of a star lens from Pentax.

No, I soon abandoned the CIF-in-the-bar tactic, and went back to normal manual focusing with AF indication of when I was in-focus, although that still wasn't always so reliable. Honestly I'm quite surprised at how well you seem to do with manual focus lenses on cameras like the K-30. My success rate was not nearly so high.

[repaap]

M 75-150/4 + K-1

[Canada_Rockies]

That M*300 seems like a very nice lens, as I would expect of a star lens from Pentax.

No, I soon abandoned the CIF-in-the-bar tactic, and went back to normal manual focusing with AF indication of when I was in-focus, although that still wasn't always so reliable. Honestly I'm quite surprised at how well you seem to do with manual focus lenses on cameras like the K-30. My success rate was not nearly so high.

Those of us who grew up on cameras without anything other than a matte screen for focusing (In my case 1961 - 1984) got used to the idea. Practice is the key to focusing manual lenses. As you keep trying your keeper rate will climb steadily. Don't give up hope.

M 75-150/4 + K-1

Nice shooting repaap

[repaap]

Those of us who grew up on cameras without anything other than a matte screen for focusing (In my case 1961 - 1984) got used to the idea. Practice is the key to focusing manual lenses. As you keep trying your keeper rate will climb steadily. Don't give up hope.


Nice shooting repaap

Thank you !