Manual Focus Lens Use Question

Excalibor · 08-01-2018, 10:53 PM

Originally posted by mroeder75

I practiced on two guinea pigs, mom and dad. And, either they, or I did fairly good. Not great. But, fairly good. A bit overexposed but considering I had it on camera setting "M" it was good for me.

---------- Post added 08-02-18 at 12:29 AM ----------

Is the lens serviceable?

That looks pretty good to me! If anything, a suggestion for a new test: the Pentax-May 50mm f/1.7 is a bit soft at maximum aperture, so to be sure, you will want to shoot again in live view and using amplified view (the ok button after you set the scene), use focus peaking to manually focus, with the lens stopped down to 2.8, for example, or ever better, 4. That way you get the right depth of field and just make sure the eyes are in perfect focus.
You should get really sharp images from this test. Good luck!

**mroeder75** · 08-01-2018, 11:10 PM

Originally posted by Excalibor

That looks pretty good to me! If anything, a suggestion for a new test: the Pentax-May 50mm f/1.7 is a bit soft at maximum aperture, so to be sure, you will want to shoot again in live view and using amplified view (the ok button after you set the scene), use focus peaking to manually focus, with the lens stopped down to 2.8, for example, or ever better, 4. That way you get the right depth of field and just make sure the eyes are in perfect focus.
You should get really sharp images from this test. Good luck!

I think you are about right, but my subjects have a lot of patience, but not infinite patience. I decreased the ISO rather than the aperture on later efforts. I should have decreased the aperture and left ISO alone. This was taken at about 2.4. The EXIF will be more accurate.

Oops! The lens aperture is manual so the EXIF does not display the aperture. I think it was between 1.7 and 2.8, so I estimate 2.4.

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08-01-2018, 10:53 PM	#16
Excalibor Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2018 Posts: 353	Originally posted by mroeder75 I practiced on two guinea pigs, mom and dad. And, either they, or I did fairly good. Not great. But, fairly good. A bit overexposed but considering I had it on camera setting "M" it was good for me. ---------- Post added 08-02-18 at 12:29 AM ---------- Is the lens serviceable? That looks pretty good to me! If anything, a suggestion for a new test: the Pentax-May 50mm f/1.7 is a bit soft at maximum aperture, so to be sure, you will want to shoot again in live view and using amplified view (the ok button after you set the scene), use focus peaking to manually focus, with the lens stopped down to 2.8, for example, or ever better, 4. That way you get the right depth of field and just make sure the eyes are in perfect focus. You should get really sharp images from this test. Good luck!

08-01-2018, 11:10 PM	#17
mroeder75 Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Iowa Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,597 Original Poster	Originally posted by Excalibor That looks pretty good to me! If anything, a suggestion for a new test: the Pentax-May 50mm f/1.7 is a bit soft at maximum aperture, so to be sure, you will want to shoot again in live view and using amplified view (the ok button after you set the scene), use focus peaking to manually focus, with the lens stopped down to 2.8, for example, or ever better, 4. That way you get the right depth of field and just make sure the eyes are in perfect focus. You should get really sharp images from this test. Good luck! I think you are about right, but my subjects have a lot of patience, but not infinite patience. I decreased the ISO rather than the aperture on later efforts. I should have decreased the aperture and left ISO alone. This was taken at about 2.4. The EXIF will be more accurate. Oops! The lens aperture is manual so the EXIF does not display the aperture. I think it was between 1.7 and 2.8, so I estimate 2.4.