Manual prime lenses?

[shaggy1969]

Hi everyone

Well folks,My anniversary is approaching,my first year in the wonderful world of photography is approaching an end. What a great,if not

sometimes bumpy year of learning it has been for me.A few times it has brought a smile to my face,but quite often a frown.....and a lot of

head scratching!

I am on the hunt for some new lenses,but money is not in abundance and priority goes to the Wife,kids and farms,so I have to try and make

the best of things with what I have........which so happens to be two very nice old Carl Zeiss prime lenses (1.8/50 & 3.5/135 Jena's).

To tell you the truth I have not had much experience with them,and if the truth was know I am a little intimidated by them,especially the 135mm

because it is a bugger to get in focus.So this is why I have come to ask you good people,do you have any helpful tips for me,so I can get the

best use out of them? especially for street shots........thanks in advance for any help offered.

[Tywais]

Just a comment on your focus issue and manual focus lenses. The A6000 does have focus peaking (manual focus assist) and magnify and would think that would work fine with the Zeiss.

[shaggy1969]

Yeah,good point Tywais,I use the focus peaking on high,but no manual focus assist unfortunately,that's why they are so challenging!

[shaggy1969]

I was having a play around with the 50mm today at home.

Early morning,only natural lighting from a nearby window.(weather a bit overcast).

Straight out of camera,only second image cropped @ 100%

[rhythmworx]

I'm glad you mentioned this Shaggy I was going to PM you. It was just 3 days ago I was looking at the CZJ 135 MCS, looked at the flickr pool and your yellow tulip pic was the 1st to come up, I wasn't aware you owned it although I did notice a sudden shift in IQ sometime after you bought the A6000, which I guess was due to this lens and of course your skills.

-------

Sorry I got a bit ahead of myself there and misread your post, have you got a monopod?

You can get a manfrotto 679 on ebay for £20 it would help in terms of stabilization if that's a problem.

Edited June 28, 2015 by rhythmworx

[SoiBiker]

Thing is with manual focus, you have to decide which part of the scene should actually be on focus, rather than let the camera decide for you.

[shaggy1969]

Thing is with manual focus, you have to decide which part of the scene should actually be on focus, rather than let the camera decide for you.

and that's the thing that I like about them the most.....just got to learn how to use them now

[shaggy1969]

I'm glad you mentioned this Shaggy I was going to PM you. It was just 3 days ago I was looking at the CZJ 135 MCS, looked at the flickr pool and your yellow tulip pic was the 1st to come up, I wasn't aware you owned it although I did notice a sudden shift in IQ sometime after you bought the A6000, which I guess was due to this lens and of course your skills.

-------

Sorry I got a bit ahead of myself there and misread your post, have you got a monopod?

You can get a manfrotto 679 on ebay for £20 it would help in terms of stabilization if that's a problem.

Cheers RX

Not too sure about the 'skills' part of it yet though!

Yeah,getting the Sony opened up a totally new world for me,but have only been using the two kits lenses 99.9% of the time.I did take the two primes

out with me a while back (when I took the tulip pics),tell you the truth mate,they scared me back them....still do now,but I want to conquer my fear

because they are sh@t hot!...trying to get that much DOF with my kit lenses was neigh on impossible,can you tell I'm excited about them?

Have already got a tripod thanks mate (Manfrotto Compact Action),not the best I know,but it is light and easy to carry.

What I was really after was tips for using the primes handheld,I want to get out into the streets and markets with them,usually dark or shady in those

areas,places where my kit lenses couldn't handle.I imagine that a higher shutter speed to compensate for lack of stabilization,but what else should

I take into account?

If I ever become a rich man,then I would like the Sony Vario-Tessar T* E 16-70mm f/4 mid zoomlens,but it's still the same price I paid for my brand new

Honda Wave

[fimgirl]

I don't know much about the A6000 but I believe it's an 1.5 cropped sensor? As such, the focal ranges equate to 75mm and 200mm. The later is not really a street lens. At this FL the scene will be compressed and isolated just too much, which is indeed the intent on tele lenses, but not what one is looking for to convey "street". Great lens for portrait, flora, product etc, but not street and it's movement where manual focusing is more than a challenge. The 50mm (75mm equiv) is ideal. In fact, my favourite street lens when I want to step back from it all and centre attention on a given situation as opposed to "getting in there" with a 35mm.

Tips for focusing - practice. It'll come in time. Using the 50mm keep it set at (say) 5 metres. Then learn how much "twist" is needed to bring it quickly into focus from 3metres to 10metres, a range where I guess most of your shots will be. This pre-set will prevent you coming back from infinity to close or vice versa which takes too long. Learn to establish which twist direction is close and distance.

I could rattle on about zone focusing but that's another story!

p.s. f8 and be there!

Edited June 29, 2015 by fimgirl

[fimgirl]

Here's an example of manual focus succeeding where AF would surely have failed. The hanging chains would definitely have fooled AF from the target which was the girls behind it reading the menu.

At full resolution I can read the menu.

Leica M240 50mm @f2

[Tywais]

After reading fimgirl's informative post I see where part of the issue is. That is camera shake where it can be difficult to see focus due to the motion. I take it the A6000 doesn't have IBIS and as such you need to follow the guideline of setting a shutter speed no slower than 1/focal length. In the case of the 135 it would be 1/135s or 1/200s, not sure which when applying crop factors though.

[FracturedRabbit]

The rule's the same. Focal length is focal length, irrespective of the field of view dictated by the sensor size.

[shaggy1969]

Hey fimgirl.....thanks mate.

I did see your post this morning but was in rush and had no time to thank you!

Have got the 50mm mounted now and it's staying there,been out with it this evening pointing it at everything!

Quite a forgiving little lens actually,and in f8 it nails just about everything

Kept the shutter speed at 200 and only altered the ISO as needed (checking the histogram in my EVF)

Also had a go with the 135mm tonight (hanging out the bathroom window),that's actually not too bad either for blur (handheld),

just had to step the shutter speed up more.

I don't know what it is about these lenses,but I love them....especially the greens!,weird as that sounds.

Any more help tips gratefully received!!

[sunshine51]

Shaggy...a good 50mm equivalent lens on an APS-C sensor camera is a 35mm.

Many to chose from....have a look.

[vaultdweller0013]

The rule's the same. Focal length is focal length, irrespective of the field of view dictated by the sensor size.

Is the rule the same?

Yes, focal length is a property of each lens that is not changed by sensor size. But I would think that it is angle of view that is the determining factor in what shutter speed you need to avoid blur, which would mean that you would need to apply the crop factor to get the 35mm equivalent before determining the shutter speed.

Honestly not sure, since I've really only used cameras with IBIS, so I really haven't had to use the rule.

[FracturedRabbit]

I have seen it argued both ways; ultimately it is just a guideline and easier to remember if you just use the focal length. Pixel density of the sensor will make a distance, your own technique and the steadiness of your hands will make a difference, and indeed having image stabilisation throws the whole lot out of the window!

[shaggy1969]

Have tried to decrease the shutter speed as much as possible with both lenses.

The 50mm seems to be quite stable at 1/100th but the 135mm is more challenging,sometimes can get away with 1/250th but more often

than not I seem to go for 1/400th.Is that too high?

This is the 50mm at 1/100th

[fimgirl]

If you want to freeze the shot and eliminate camera shake then the higher the shutter speed the better. The "guidelines" of 1x focal length are in respect of the MINIMUM shutter speed you should use.

Hope this helps.

Good shot. Nice draw and OOF rendition. Looks a good lens.

[shaggy1969]

Just a comment on your focus issue and manual focus lenses. The A6000 does have focus peaking (manual focus assist) and magnify and would think that would work fine with the Zeiss.

Tywais,I stand corrected,found the Focus Magnifier in the menu today,and it works fine with the manual lenses

Thank you!