What cameras and lenses do you use? *merged*

[rockophoria]

what I have right now is an old full manual Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 and a recently acquired (from a trade) Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Zoom Lens with Optical Stabilizer but with a broken AF motor (so full manual pa rin which I prefer)

iba pa rin kasi para sakin ang all manual, tingin ko nga mas mabilis pa ako mag focus kesa sa AF ng mga lente  (20-20 vision) and syempre mas matagal ang battery life (so no need for heavy grips for me) 

my next purchase will either be a Macro or UWA lens

[ruruoni]

minolta 28-135mm


minolta 70-210mm


minolta 50mm

[ruruoni]

@rockophoria

manual focus ako kung macro at kung nahihirapan AF nung camera like low light etc., pero AF na ako sa other situations. Manual focus ka pa rin kahit moving subject?

[rockophoria]

@rockophoria

manual focus ako kung macro at kung nahihirapan AF nung camera like low light etc., pero AF na ako sa other situations. Manual focus ka pa rin kahit moving subject?

oddly YES

I find it easy kasi to judge clarity lalo na when im using my prime lens.. (I rarely use my zoom lens when taking moving objects at mabigat kasi).. call it weird pero im always close to the action.. 

here's one example:


what I do is naka half press na ako tsaka naghihintay nalang ng exact moment to capture a nice shot.. in this case a basketball game sa office namin.. prime lens ang gamit ko dito, kada galaw ng subjects na kukunan ko sinusundan ko na ng focus.. its really easy for me rather than rely sa AF na kapag yung gusto ko ng scene eh dumating na (like a looming block shot) eh di pa pala nakapagmeter/focus yung lens.. obviously di magfa-fire yung shutter or kung magcapture man.. BLURRED sya.. sayang lang, maaasar lang ako..

when using naman my zoom lens eh mas nagrerely ako sa VR/IS or OS kesa sa AF, so I traded my non-os Sigma 28-200 AF sa isang Sigma 18-200mm with OS kahit na sira yung AF.. as I really dont use AF anymore

[kawal]

^hindi ka ba nahihirapan mag-focus nyan? kasi kahit 20/20 naman ang mata (gaya ko), hindi pa rin reliable ang manual focusing; unless merong split-screen focusing yung camera mo, parang sa mga 35mm's.

ganito,


you can actually have you camera modified for a split-screen to help you focus better manually. check this out, http://www.pinoyphotography.org/forum/index.php?topic=58122.0

[rockophoria]

^hindi ka ba nahihirapan mag-focus nyan? kasi kahit 20/20 naman ang mata (gaya ko), hindi pa rin reliable ang manual focusing; unless merong split-screen focusing yung camera mo, parang sa mga 35mm's.

ganito,

nope..

nung naka film ako nung college (using my Canon EOS 1000f) madami akong na-miss na magagandang moving shots dahil sa AF na yan.. nauubos pa ang battery at nasasayang ang films ko..

nauunahan ko pa nga magshoot yung mga katabi kong naka AF eh..  and since I got my D90 right now nasa 1800 palang ang actuations nya.. meaning I rarely repeat my shot.. hehehe 

[ruruoni]

kanya kanyang preferences nga talaga  . ako nman mas marami out of focus pag manual focus. ginagawa ko nman pag action shots eh continuous AF at enabled yung start-eye focus. pagsilip ko pa lang sa viewfinder eh nagfofocus na yung camera at hindi yun bibitaw kaya laging magcliclick yung shutter pag gusto ko.

[rockophoria]

kanya kanyang preferences nga talaga  . ako nman mas marami out of focus pag manual focus. ginagawa ko nman pag action shots eh continuous AF at enabled yung start-eye focus. pagsilip ko pa lang sa viewfinder eh nagfofocus na yung camera at hindi yun bibitaw kaya laging magcliclick yung shutter pag gusto ko.

yep! ginawa ang autofocus para magamit at mapadali ang trabaho ng mga photographers so gamitin nyo lang ng gamitin, there's no "astig-label" on using manual focus and "lazy-@ss noob" on using AF tagged on us.. walang ganun, its no big-of-a-deal.

my camera will still need an AF-Lens soon.. lalo na pag madalas hinihiram ng ermats ko.

[kawal]

nope..

nung naka film ako nung college (using my Canon EOS 1000f) madami akong na-miss na magagandang moving shots dahil sa AF na yan.. nauubos pa ang battery at nasasayang ang films ko..

nauunahan ko pa nga magshoot yung mga katabi kong naka AF eh..  and since I got my D90 right now nasa 1800 palang ang actuations nya.. meaning I rarely repeat my shot.. hehehe 

i was referring to the split-screen focusing on 35mm SLR's, not the autofocus on the newer film cameras like the EOS 100F. i shoot film too using an '83 yashica FX3, and it has been my camera for more than a decade after acquiring it from my dad who also used it for a while. EVERYTHING is manual on that camera. what i was suggesting on my previous post is to install a split-focusing screen on your camera TO HELP YOU FOCUS MANUALLY.

[rockophoria]

i was referring to the split-screen focusing on 35mm SLR's, not the autofocus on the newer film cameras like the EOS 100F. i shoot film too using an '83 yashica FX3, and it has been my camera for more than a decade after acquiring it from my dad who also used it for a while. EVERYTHING is manual on that camera. what i was suggesting on my previous post is to install a split-focusing screen on your camera TO HELP YOU FOCUS MANUALLY.

I think hindi ko pa kailangan split-focusing screen.. (kung ano man yun na I dont have an idea)
and pasensya ka na dude at hindi ko kasi alam yung sinasabi mo eh kaya akala ko iba ang nirerefer mo 

di naman ako nahihirapan mag focus manually.. at nakikita ko pa rin naman kung ano yung malabo sa malinaw at kung ano yung pwede na.. anyways thanks pa rin sa suggestion, I believe I need to go back to school for that one! 

[kawal]

not a problem sir.
yung picture na pinakita ko sa taas,



yung screen na may bilog then may line sa gitna nung bilog - yan yung split focus screen kung tawagin. yan yung actual mong makikita sa viewfinder. so kapag out-of-focus ka, naka-split yung object mo, then as you re-focus, darating yung point na hindi na split yung image na makikita mo sa viewfinder mo. that's the time na naka-focus ka na sa object mo ng maayos.
before maimbento ang AF ng mga SLR's, photographers have used this for a very long time. actually, ngayon may kilala akong naka D300 tapos pinalagyan nya ng split-screen yung camera nya, dahil mas accurate talaga mag-focus manually, sabi nya.

[rockophoria]

not a problem sir.
yung picture na pinakita ko sa taas,



yung screen na may bilog then may line sa gitna nung bilog - yan yung split focus screen kung tawagin. yan yung actual mong makikita sa viewfinder. so kapag out-of-focus ka, naka-split yung object mo, then as you re-focus, darating yung point na hindi na split yung image na makikita mo sa viewfinder mo. that's the time na naka-focus ka na sa object mo ng maayos.
before maimbento ang AF ng mga SLR's, photographers have used this for a very long time. actually, ngayon may kilala akong naka D300 tapos pinalagyan nya ng split-screen yung camera nya, dahil mas accurate talaga mag-focus manually, sabi nya.

ahh now I remember!

eto siguro yung sinasabi ng uncle kong photographer sakin dati.. na meron akong susundan na sharp line sa viewfinder at yun ang pagbabasehan ko ng clarity/sharpness before taking the photograph..

hindi ko kasi pinapansin yung sinasabi nya na yun dati.. baka yan yung sinasabi nya 

[kawal]

that's exactly what it is. kung halimbawa ang subject mo ay mga buildings, out-of-focus yung shot kapag hindi collinear or connected yung mga contour lines nung building sa split-screen. as you focus, magkokone-konekta yung mga lines na yun, then you'll know na naka-focus ka na ng maayos.
i also use manual focusing dahil walang motor yung camera ko and nikon's 50mm doesnt have one as well. that was the time i realized na mas ok sana kung may split-screen yung D40x ko. 

[rockophoria]

that's exactly what it is. kung halimbawa ang subject mo ay mga buildings, out-of-focus yung shot kapag hindi collinear or connected yung mga contour lines nung building sa split-screen. as you focus, magkokone-konekta yung mga lines na yun, then you'll know na naka-focus ka na ng maayos.
i also use manual focusing dahil walang motor yung camera ko and nikon's 50mm doesnt have one as well. that was the time i realized na mas ok sana kung may split-screen yung D40x ko. 

daymn! now im interested! 

[andrew_O_O]

hmmmm. im using an AFS 35mm f1.8g on my d90.

pansin ko lang na if i compare images taken with AF, and images manually focused by me (perfect 20/20),

the Manually focused images are sharper at 100% zoom/crop.

pero pag unzoomed naman both pics di pansin.

no biggie naman, but considering how much these things cost, i would have expected more.  : /

[rockophoria]

hmmmm. im using an AFS 35mm f1.8g on my d90.

pansin ko lang na if i compare images taken with AF, and images manually focused by me (perfect 20/20),

the Manually focused images are sharper at 100% zoom/crop.

pero pag unzoomed naman both pics di pansin.

no biggie naman, but considering how much these things cost, i would have expected more.  : /

thats one expensive prime! 

anyways about the AF thingie, yes we people become somewhat dependent on it like kahit na pansin natin hindi pa gaanong focus yung kukunan mo pagka-half press eh basta narining mo na yung focus "go signal beep" eh idederetso mo na.. just to find out in the end (pag tinitingnan mo na sya sa PC) na yung background pala ng subject mo ang nafocus ng husto.

madalas nahihirapan pa nga yung lens mo to focus kaya matagal kang naka half press.. by the time nag meter na eh wala na yung precious moment na gusto mong kunan.. but it works both ways.. I love AF... yung fact lang na may AF ang gusto ko.. hehehe but using it is another story 

[kawal]

when using a zoom lens, what i tend to do is push it to the longest focal length. then i let the camera AF to that specific portion that i prefer; turn of the AF motor; zoom out for composition then shoot.