Author Topic: Manual Focus techniques? (Read 2330 times)

infusedtech · « **on:** July 31, 2010, 04:44:26 AM »

Recently I bought my first prime lens. Its a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II. I have to use an adapter to make the lens fit on my E-P1, which makes it a manual focus lens. I love the lens and it takes fabulous photos!
My question is how the heck do you pros fine focus? I feel like I'm in focus, then when looking at my photo on the computer it's not. So to all you pros, especially with a live view e-P1....what are your techniques or tips on getting a good focus? Thanks so much in advance!

adash · « **Reply #1 on:** July 31, 2010, 05:02:15 AM »

When in Live View, press Info several times, until you reach a screen with a small green rectangle in the middle. This is the area that will be magnified when you press OK. Press OK again to exit the magnified mode, or use arrows to move it. Use the dial to switch between 7x and 10x magnification.
Press INFO several times again to get to the normal screen.
Use Menu -> Gears -> D -> Info setting -> LV INFO to control the types of screens you pass by when you press INFO in Live View.

infusedtech · « **Reply #2 on:** July 31, 2010, 07:20:25 AM »

Wow Thanks so much!
I will try this and let you know my results. I love this forum!

adash · « **Reply #3 on:** July 31, 2010, 07:25:20 AM »

Do post some samples!

infusedtech · « **Reply #4 on:** July 31, 2010, 05:42:24 PM »

Yes I will absolutely post some samples. I'm hoping to do some shooting tomorrow!

One last quick question. Will this feature work when shooting video on the e-p1 as well? if not, is there a work around to fine focus before recording?

Thanks again!

adash · « **Reply #5 on:** July 31, 2010, 09:56:27 PM »

Not sure if it will work in video. You can focus this way in any of the Photo modes, and then switch to Video and start recording without further touching the lens' focusing ring.
Video should be able to tolerate some defocus, since resolution is lower. Shoot a sample and see how much defocus it can tolerate afterwards.

Centauri27 · « **Reply #6 on:** August 04, 2010, 03:58:08 PM »

You've got to be very careful with focus in video mode. I've been dabbling with my E-P1 video and have been disappointed with the amount of out-of-focus footage I've gotten. It definitely is not the same as shooting video with a standard P&S with their extreme depth of field keeping everything in focus. I find my E-P1 video going out of focus very easily when using S-AF or MF. But using C-AF mode causes very annoying "focus hunt", with the noise being recorded onto the sound track. The alternative is to use S-AF, then press the AEL/AFL button to manually trigger a refocus. Also, using 11-point AF instead of single point for video may help.

@voyager: You really should create a separate board for us PEN-wielding videographers...

voyager · « **Reply #7 on:** August 04, 2010, 04:02:48 PM »

Oh fine, you video people can have your own board. Happy?

Centauri27 · « **Reply #8 on:** August 05, 2010, 09:03:22 AM »

Quote from: voyager on August 04, 2010, 04:02:48 PM

Oh fine, you video people can have your own board. Happy?

Thank you. Yes, all three of us will be overjoyed!

Now, if that board is filled with posts like "I don't shoot video with my E-P1.", I'm gonna scream.....

dznr · « **Reply #9 on:** October 27, 2010, 02:53:56 PM »

I'm also learning to use adapted lens. thanks for the info guys!

Brianetta · « **Reply #10 on:** February 21, 2011, 05:51:14 AM »

I don't like faffing about with the info button to use the focus assist. I only have one manual lens, and it's a fast one. When it's open wide, the depth of field is very narrow, making it really easy to see where the focus is falling even on a full-screen preview. One of the last things I do before squeezing the release is stop back down and check the shutter time.

Manual Focus techniques?