Modern, fly-by-wire lenses have a uniform fault. From my Leica 24-90mm zoom lens to my 35mm f2.0 Sigma, and just about all of the other AF lenses put on the market since AF became de rigueur all share the same fault, regardless of brand. They have no hard infinity stops, no depth of field scales and (most grievous of all) they lack distance scales. You literally can't "zone" focus them without having to pay a lot more attention to the process than you should have to. There are a few modern lenses such as the Pro S series from Panasonic and the Pro series from Olympus that have auto focus to manual focus clutches. Pull back on the focusing ring and voila, you are bequeathed both hard stops and also a distance scale. A big and accurate one. But modern lenses with this capability are rare. And not always in the focal length range you might desire.
One of the things that draws me to want the Voigtlander lenses I have been buying is just this thing. A repeatable and knowable distance setting feature for all of the manual focusing lenses. It's a godsend.
I made the photograph above on a shooting trip to Rome. I was using a Mamiya 6 camera which makes photographs on 6x6 cm film. As with any larger format camera the depth of field is less than what we are used to when using lenses with the same angles of view on smaller format cameras. But even with a slight telephoto lens on the camera I was able to select a focus distance and understand what kind of depth of field I would have before even lifting the camera to my eye. In the days of zone focusing we were generally pretty good as estimating distances.
I can't remember whether or not I just took one frame of this scene on the Spanish Steps or if I had time to tweak focus with a second frame but I was able to work quickly, nonchalantly and without the intercession of AF. And once you've focused well the lens maintains your setting whether you keep your finger on the shutter button or not. Once focused you are ever-ready...until the distance changes.
When I take one of the 40 or 50 or 58mm lenses out with me on a digital camera I always feel more in control over the entire frame when the lens I've selected is an "old school" prime with a great depth of field scale on it. If you haven't tried this way of shooting you might want to put an older, manual focusing lenses on the camera of your preference and give it a go. It could be a perfect way of working for you.
Disregard if you are shooting football with long lenses...
14 comments:
Kirk,
I cannot agree more strongly. I've taken to using only the Voigtlander lenses on my Nikon Z cameras when I am in the studio. Fast focus with eye detection is helpful for moving people, but for studio work the fly-by-wire technology is absolutely maddening. There are many frustrating "advancements." Modern bathrooms are particularly annoying when they don't work quite right. You flail and flail under faucets and paper towel dispensers--and there is no easy manual override. Using a manual lens is so satisfying because it is tactile, predictable, and feels good.
Also on quitting blogging because of technological revolutions...I think you have a pretty great community of readers who really enjoy and appreciate your blog. Community is a precious thing and that might be more than enough to keep going.
I'll give it a try. Even way back when my primary camera was an Argus C3, I always used the focusing reticule in the viewfinder.
...no hard infinity stops, no depth of field scales and (most grievous of all) they lack distance scales...
I still use my manual focus Nikon AI and AI-S lenses because they have a hard stop at infinity. Absolutely love that feature. Depth of field and distance scales are also nice.
DavidB
My refrigerator has a hard stop at infinity.
My Voightlander (35 APO F2 z mount) has a hard stop and fortunately it’s a little beyond infinity. This allows for some wiggle room. It has great feel too.
Since we're complaining - I have a digital SLR converted to infrared but have to use old "manual" lenses on it because the modern digital ones lack that little red dot indicating focal point for infrared. Sure, I'm a serious minority but how hard would it be to paint a red dot on the lens body?
The non-user-friendly features of modern digital cameras are intensely frustrating. I regret offloading my Canon DSLRs. I love the size of my Olympus mirrorless setup, but that's about all. But I do my best with the gear I have and try not to grouse too much.
Hi Kirk
Been doing this off and on with my mirrorless cameras for several years for the same reasons you mentioned. The main problem with generic adapters is they often focus beyond infinity or not to infinity. Still I persevere with this technique also for the more haptic feedback.
Forgot to identify myself. My name is Bob Ware from Ottawa Canada 🇨🇦
The number of people who know what you're talking about probably rounds to zero.
The manufacturers could do the equivalent. There should be a menu option to set the camera/lens to hyper focus or infinity at a specific aperture. Olympus does something like in higher end models, maybe other manufacturers do this too. It's not quite the same thing but it's equivalent. Some Olympus bodies can now take hi-rez handheld shots and partly compensate for subject movement so you'd think setting the lens to inifinity wouldn't be too much to ask.
I want more control than that which would be provided by an infinity or hyperfocal distance software setting. Sorry. I want it all.
Bonjour Kirk,
Actuellement, tous les objectifs de mon parc photographique sont plus âgés que moi (52 ans). Je ne peux tout simplement pas me passer de la mise au point manuelle, l'hyperfocale... Je ne possède que le 14mm de fujifilm en mode AF, mais à 99 % du temps, c'est en manuel encore. Minolta, voigtlander, pentax, konica, Vivitar etc font mon bonheur tous les jours, et cela depuis 1995 en tant que pro.
Ah oui, n'arrête pas le blog avant que je ne quitte cette planète.
Kind of like a car’s emergency brake that you used to be able to give a satisfying pull or push to engage. Now you push a button and hope the electronics don’t fail.
Ordered the Voigtlander 40mm for my Nikon Z6 yesterday. This one also has image stabilization which surprised me.
I do a lot of night photography. Auroras & night sky with foreground part of the composition.
Lenses without a hard stop are a real pain for this type of work. You set them and temperature fluctuations, moving around and such can push them off the optimum focus you have set.
With dark skies and no lights to occasionally finesse autofocus & re-tweak manual focus you end up with more than a few images "just off" optimum. If stuck with AF glass I get it set and gaffer tape the focus ring - usually is OK, but not always. My manual focus glass, set at infinity and occasionally make sure it is still there is easy. Not so with AF.
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