lenses with distance scale

[barondla]

Are the 2 kit lenses the only DZ lenses that don\'t have distance scales on them? Do any of the DZ lenses have a mechanical stop on the focus ring to let you know when you have focused the lens to its closest or farthest setting?
thanks
barondla

[robh3]

Hello.

Budget lenses - no distance scale.
Semi-pro - distance scale and weather proofing
Pro - distance scale and even rougher build (if possible)

There is no mechanical stop. I\'d thought the servo-focus of Olympus would become a pain after moving from Nikon beeing an Manual-focus user for years. It was a breeze, -no problems at all. I now prefer servo-focus over mechanical focus.

The budget-lenses has extremly smooth manual focus compared to Nikon and Canon offerings. True solid construction for sutch cheap lenses.



-r-

[OzRay]

As Rob said. Talking about focussing, if one wants to compare fly-by-wire to mechanical, the fly-by-wire on the 50-200mm feels much more precise, firm smooth and \'mechanical\' than that on my Nikkor 300mm lens.

In many cases, the Nikkor is a real pain to get into fine focus, because it almost works as if it\'s a very coarse stepping motor, ie not a smooth, precise progression.

But that may not be typical with all Nikkor lenses and certainly my antique Sigma zoom on my Pentax MX is very smooth. Then again, maybe AF lenses mostly work like the Nikkor, as they either need a stepping motor or a different gearing mechanism for AF to work.

Cheers

Ray

[Stuttaton]

My impression is that AF lenses (non Olympus) have a much shorter focusing travel that old non-AF lenses. That makes it more difficult to manually focus them, compared to old manual focus lenses. Olympus has avoided this problem, with their fucus-by-wire system.

/Jörgen

[Den]

Very impressed with fly-by-wire focusing, both on my 14-54mm and my budget 40-150mm. I particularly like how I can turn the focusing ring with the middle finger of my right hand - just like rangefinders! If there\'s one criticism I\'d have about the latter is that I\'m sometimes unsure whether manually focussed, dimly lit subjects are are in focus with the 40-150mm, even when they\'re at infinity...

Post edited by: Den, at: 2005/09/14 07:11

[First Light]

I\'m not sure if the E-300 does this, but the E-1 allows you to choose which direction to rotate the focus ring for near verses far focus (see page 127 of the E-1 Reference Manual). They obviously couldn\'t allow this feature if the focus ring position was absolute rather than relative. It would have to be absolute in order to add distance markings to it.

Having a focus ring that is relative, and being able to select clockwise verses counterclockwise rotation for near focus is a great feature. I love it. It works very smoothly and makes focusing a breeze.

Another great feature which is slightly off-topic is the combination AF+MF mode. In this mode, half-pressing the shutter button immediately auto-focuses the lens and activates the manual focus ring. Then you can use the manual focus ring to fine-tune the focus as long as the shutter button is still half-pressed. I have one of the Katz Optics custom split prism focusing screenings in my E-1 (highly recommended) and this AF+MF mode is a dream for tweaking the focus point with a wide-open aperture and shallow DOF!!!

[mikefellh]

First Light wrote:
I\'m not sure if the E-300 does this, but the E-1 allows you to choose which direction to rotate the focus ring for near verses far focus (see page 127 of the E-1 Reference Manual). They obviously couldn\'t allow this feature if the focus ring position was absolute rather than relative. It would have to be absolute in order to add distance markings to it.

Well, you don\'t have distance markings on the ring itself...you have it in a window on the barrel with the better Zuiko lenses.

Anyone here use the Sigma 4/3 lenses? They have distance marks right on the barrel...are their lenses relative or absolute? Or do they just do what the better Zuikos do except on the exterior of the barrel rather than inside where the mechanism can be weather-sealed?

[laingjd]

The E300 allows you to choose which direction to focus in.
I use the Sigma 18-125 sometimes and like the lens. Well made. Some say it is soft but I don\'t see it.

[widdors]

First Light wrote:
Another great feature which is slightly off-topic is the combination AF+MF mode. In this mode, half-pressing the shutter button immediately auto-focuses the lens and activates the manual focus ring. Then you can use the manual focus ring to fine-tune the focus as long as the shutter button is still half-pressed. I have one of the Katz Optics custom split prism focusing screenings in my E-1 (highly recommended) and this AF+MF mode is a dream for tweaking the focus point with a wide-open aperture and shallow DOF!!!

What type of photography does this benefit you? Macro? Landscape? I have a hard time imagining capturing a moving subject and using the AF+MF. How often would you say you use this feature? Just curious mostly, but I also like to improve when I can.

[First Light]

Hi widdors,

Capturing a moving object is always tricky. If the object is either moving toward you or away from you, then the C-AF mode is very helpful. However, I wouldn\'t recommend C-AF unless you have the HLD-2 battery grip (E-1). Without it, the C-AF mode is too slow for many situations.

The AF+MF mode is only available when using S-AF.

I shoot a lot of candids in low light without a flash and frequently use big aperture lenses to get enough light. When I shoot with my ZD 150mm f2.0 in these conditions, I often have a super shallow depth of field (DOF). If I shoot a profile view of a person, the AF system will focus on what is closest. That will be the side of their face. So the ear will be in great focus but the eye and nose will not. Using AF+MF in a condition like this allows me to rapidly tweak the focus exactly were I want it. It gives me the best of both AF and MF. First, the AF system quickly gets me in the ballpark. Second, the MF allows me to make a fine adjustment when desired.

Bear in mind that I\'m not using a standard focusing screen in my E-1. I have both an FS-1 and FS-2 but have replaced them with a Katz Optics split-prism focusing screen. Having a split-prism (plus a microprism circle around it) enables me to ascertain the point of focus much more precisely.

You hit on another great use for AF+MF which I also use: macro photography. I like to shoot small critters like dragonflies that don\'t stay still very long when a big scary camera draws close. I find that AF+MF is quicker than using MF by itself. Macro photography often involves a very shallow DOF so the same comments about the focus point apply.

One more thing: I only use the center field for AF. I have disabled the two side fields used in multipoint focus.

[widdors]

First Light,
I\'ll do some experimenting this weekend with the AF+MF. I haven\'t liked the MF on the ZD lenses because of how far you have to twist the focus ring, but having AF get close would help tremendously. Thanks for the reply.

[mikefellh]

widdors wrote:
I haven\'t liked the MF on the ZD lenses because of how far you have to twist the focus ring

The focus ring on the lenses (including the kit lenses) is SPEED sensitive...if you turn it slowly it will be a fine adjustment, but if you give the ring a quick half turn you\'re through the whole range. Try it with the 40-150 so you can see the dramatic difference between rotating slowly and quickly (1 1/2 turns vs. 1/2 turn, with that lens).

When I do manual focus I will flick the ring quickly to get close, and then slow down to fine adjust, and then do a crawl for final adjustment.

Mike

[widdors]

Wow!!!! I guess I didn\'t read up on my lens, but that makes a huge difference to twist the ring fast. I\'m still not sure I would use it over AF, but at least it seems usable compared to the crawling I\'ve been doing so far with the focusing ring. Thanks.

[First Light]

mikefellh wrote:
The focus ring on the lenses (including the kit lenses) is SPEED sensitive...if you turn it slowly it will be a fine adjustment, but if you give the ring a quick half turn you\'re through the whole range. ...
I believe that the technical name for this kind of control is a \"velocity\" control.

[mikefellh]

First Light wrote:
I believe that the technical name for this kind of control is a \"velocity\" control.

Yeah, but when it comes to explaining things I use the K.I.S.S. method rather than using fancy terms; although with photography it is important to learn the terms, that was one I thought was unnecessary and didn\'t help in the explanation.

[First Light]

mikefellh wrote:
Yeah, but when it comes to explaining things I use the K.I.S.S. method rather than using fancy terms; although with photography it is important to learn the terms, that was one I thought was unnecessary and didn\'t help in the explanation.
I agree 100% about keeping explanations simple. But after an explanation has been offered, it can be helpful to know what a thing is called. Thay way, if you see a camera manufacturer touting a \"velocity focusing ring\" you\'ll know what they\'re talking about.

Are you going to be a terminology policeman on this forum? Or perhaps you\'ll police the comments to make sure they are simple enough? :-)

[iROK]

The focus ring on the lenses (including the kit lenses) is SPEED sensitive...if you turn it slowly it will be a fine adjustment, but if you give the ring a quick half turn you\'re through the whole range.

WOW!!
Thats just Brilliant!! :woohoo:
This makes my E1 seem like a F-16 Falcon (which also has FlyByWire)!!

Now if i could just get the FPS on the E1 to mach the speed of the F-16\'s Vulcan Canon :evil: