CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Great! Then I'll add the comment that 'manual exposure mode' being a waste of time in this configuration. I spent about 6-months developing the exposure in manual, include manual ISO. I spent way more time futzing with the exposure before ever futzing with the focus. The suggestion to change to shutter priority and AUTO ISO was a real game changer for me. Changing to aperture priority to leverage the camera's desire to stay at ISO 100 took everything another step toward Nirvana.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

This is a good idea. I hadn't thought of setting the sharpness (and contrast) in Creative Styles. So I went out now and gave it a try. On my Sony A6300, I went into Creative Styles, and I chose B&W and set contrast and sharpness to +3.

Once set, I looked through the EVF and saw a massive amount of peaking at no magnification, and it was impossible to determine where the correct focus point was. I then hit the focus magnifier button (I have it assigned to C1 which is right next to the shutter button so that it is easily available any time I want it) and I noticed that I had a reasonable amount of focus peaking available in the magnified view. Snapping a picture and then looking at the result, I had a good focus.

Then went back and set contrast and sharpness to -3, and tried again. Now it was very difficult to see focus peaking in magnified view. This confirmed for me that setting these levels had impact on my ability to detect proper focus.

And of course, these settings would only affect a JPEG image, but have zero effect on a RAW. And since I only shoot RAW, there is no downside to over sharpening.

Thanks for pointing this out.

ballsafire Loc: Lafayette, Louisiana

This advice is not going to change your mind about manual lenses but I bought a Korean Opteka lens (85 mm - 1:1.8) Aug. 21, 2015. It's cost was $100, much better than Canon's much higher price for Auto focus. I use the lens for stationary shots such as portraits but it usually stays in the bag. It's easy to use on my Canon Rebel T1i/500D and the Classic 5D full frame camera. It makes me appreciate the modern method of auto focus which is much faster and convenient to focus! Cheers for Auto Focus!!! Using a manual lens is very easy except that you have to waist time focusing your subject….your equipment seems very complicated for nothing (adapters, not knowing how the lens works, etc.). Been there done that!

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

You're correct about AF being superior in all ways, but especially on DSLRs vs manual focus lenses on DSLRs. The EVF of mirrorless changes the usefulness of manual focus lenses for everyday work, excluding high-action like sports and BIF.

Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore

I have adaptor ring so I can use my old olympus 50mm f 1.4 with canon 77d
and with this adaptor when I change the F stop the lens closes down. Wondering if this is normal or I'm missing something. I'll have to manual focus wide open then set F stop which obviously makes view finder very dark. Am I doing something wrong. The adaptor was inexpensive so wanted to see how a new lens worked.
In the day this was an excellent lens.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Use the lens on a mirrorless at whatever aperture your composition desires. The mirrorless EVF adjusts to the exposure settings. Try EC at say +0.7, your RAW exposure will be better anyways. If still struggling to 'see', just up the EC to the +2 to +3 range, focus, and drop the EC back down. No more of the DSLR nonsense of compose at one aperture and then shoot at another.

HiFromSusan

I know you have a PenF but Robin Wong just did a video on manual lenses on Olympus OM-D.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmFkWuR07Rs&feature=youtu.be

Harry0 Loc: Gardena, Cal

Hey- it works!
I'm basically shooting aperture priority, with auto iso.
The OP states familiarity of film cameras, so maybe a familiarity with "Sunny 16" also?
I choose aperture, and make a guess for shutter (@ 1/500, usually). Auto iso fixes mine.
My eyes are old-er, also. Dim is too dark, light is too bright, and my Sunny16 needle wobbles.
Sometimes I'm taking a picture of someone in between, and my AF will work it's way.

bleirer

I tried it on my Canon, not sure if it made focus peaking better, but it doesn't do any harm.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Canon what?

bleirer

RP. I'll keep checking it out in more challenging focus situations. I love on close ups being able to rock slightly and see the red wash over the subject with just a little motion.

How did you learn about the sharpening trick?

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I've been working on manual focus technique for MILC bodies for about 4 years now. I'm not sure all my sources over the years. I might have seen the sharpening idea here at UHH, but I forget specifically.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Hi Gerry,

Yes, you'll need an adapter to fit that older, manual focus lens to your camera.

Focal length is focal length, regardless of format so a 50mm lens will act like a short telephoto, just like a 50mm lens made to fit your camera would.

You can use...

- Manual mode.... BUT only if the adapted lens has a means of setting the aperture on the lens itself. Most vintage, manual focus lenses have that. But a few don't. You set the ISO and shutter speed in the camera, the aperture on the lens. No, you don't set the aperture using the camera. There's no connectivity between camera and lens to allow that.

- Manual plus Auto ISO... will give you a form auto exposure. You set the shutter with the camera and the aperture on the lens. The camera will then select an ISO that will make for what it thinks is a "correct" exposure.

- Aperture Priority Auto Exposure.... Here you set the aperture on the lens and the ISO in the camera, then the camera will choose a shutter speed that it thinks will make a "correct" exposure.

You CANNOT use Shutter Priority AE.... in order for that to work, the camera must be able to adjust the lens aperture and there is no way for it to do that with an adapted lens. (Note: The only reasons some other responders have been able to do this is because they were using Auto ISO in conjunction with Shutter Priority AE. First, I don't recommend ever combining two different AE modes. It is usually not a good idea, though in this case it probably saved their shots because there is no way that Shutter Priority AE can work with a manual aperture lens. To provide AE in that mode, the camera MUST be able to adjust the aperture, which it cannot do.)

You CANNOT use Program AE... for the same reason you can't use Shutter Priority.

You CANNOT use any "full AUTO" mode or any "SCENE" modes the camera might have.

In order to use the adapted lens, most digital cameras require you to set something in the menu that "allow shutter release without lens on camera". Because there is no electronic communication between the lens and camera, the camera won't know there's a lens installed and might refuse to release the shutter unless you override it with this setting.

Hopefully your camera has "focus peaking" or other manual focus assist feature. Otherwise it can be difficult to achieve focus accurately with a fully manual lens. Check if your camera has means of magnifying the view to help with focusing, too. Many have that and it helps, although it's slower to work that way.

GerryER Loc: Virginia USA

Thank you for your detailed response. I do have a "Shutter Release On" which allows the release even if not in focus. No focus peaking but does have 7X, 10X and 14X magnification to aid focusing. I have two Minolta lenses to experiment with, a 50 mm 1.8 and a 100-200 mm 5.6, plus an MD to M4/3 adapter. Let the games begin!

CatMarley Loc: North Carolina

Look at it this way, Gerry. The aperture is in the lens, so the lens is in control of that feature. And if it is a manual lens that means YOU are in control of that - the camera has no control of the aperture. The shutter is in the camera, so you can take advantage of the automatic control of the shutter and ISO. If you use shutter priority and set the shutter yourself, the only auto function the camera has to control exposure is the ISO. If you, as you must do with a non auto lens, set the aperture manually, the camera has two auto functions at its disposal: the ISO and the shutter speed.