Manual Focus technique for "Stills mode". Anyone?

[Roberto Lanczos]

I have an old minolta f1.8 that i really love.

is not the sharpest lens in the world, but when focused right,
it gives me a really stuning images... i'm so in love with this lens.

Anyway... so far the only way i've found to get a more accurate focus
is going "Live View" mode so i can use the 10x zoom.

But it totally kills the vibe and my rhythm.


Thank you very much in advance.


Roberto.

[Doug Marcum]

Zacuto Z Finder???? It offers 3x focusable magnification.

I use it, mainly for video, but it is pretty nice.

Sorry, that's all I got!

[Norman Pogson]

How about one of the Minolta to EOS adapters on Ebay that confirms autofocus, just search Minolta to EOS adapter, there are lots to choose from, ones with and without focus confirmation.

[Bill Pryor]

I stay in live view mode for stills so I can use the 5X/10X button. Works fine.

[Roberto Lanczos]

Originally Posted by Norman Pogson

How about one of the Minolta to EOS adapters on Ebay that confirms autofocus.

i got the standard adapter for 35$, trying to save some bucks by not buying the 50mm from canon.

if i get this new adapter i'm going to shoot my self in the face, for not getting the canon in the first place....

XD unbelieveble

[Norman Pogson]

Roberto, I have to say that I do like the Canon 50mm f1.4, I bought as soon as I got the 7D, makes a huge difference at night on iso. I also like the 24mm old nikkor AI lens that I have with an adapter.

[Kin Lau]

Originally Posted by Roberto Lanczos

i got the standard adapter for 35$, trying to save some bucks by not buying the 50mm from canon.

if i get this new adapter i'm going to shoot my self in the face, for not getting the canon in the first place....

Sounds like you have the adapter with a glass element so that you can focus to infinity... otherwise, on the 35/1.8, you'd be stuck with shooting stuff only 12 inches away.

The additional element degrades the quality quite a bit. You're probably better off in the long-run to sell it, and get one that fits properly.

You shouldn't have any problem selling the MC/MD 35/1.8, it's a fairly sought after lens.

[Roberto Lanczos]

Originally Posted by Norman Pogson

Roberto, I have to say that I do like the Canon 50mm f1.4, I bought as soon as I got the 7D, makes a huge difference at night on iso. I also like the 24mm old nikkor AI lens that I have with an adapter.

I got an old nikkor non-AI 50mm 1.4 last year with the kawa adapter.
I'm dying to test it out. gotta wait a couple more weeks.

I heard it suffers from some barrel distortion, but since i couldn't afford the 1.4 from canon
at the time, sounded like a pretty good deal for 99bucks.

can't wait. hope it match well with the kawa adapter.

Originally Posted by Kin Lau

Sounds like you have the adapter with a glass element.
The additional element degrades the quality quite a bit.

Yep. that's the one i got.

i did some A/B tests with my tamron 17-50 at F2.8 both, the minolta and the tamron.
the performance was really good on the minolta. but in order to get that sharpness
i had to use the ZOOM function everytime. I felt like i'm cheating, cause i don't do that with the tamron. but yeah it degrades a bit when putting my trust in the viewfinder.


--------------------

Tamron at 50mm (2.8)


Minolta 50mm at (2.8)



There's a significant change in depth with the minolta.
looks like garbage, but interesting.

[Fei Meng]

The only difference between the regular adapters and the AF confirm adapters is the chip. There are sellers on eBay who sell the AF confirm chips by themselves. These chips are pretty cheap, only less than ten bucks each. You can then epoxy the chip onto the adapter that you already have. It's not that hard.

Here's one (also includes instructions): http://cgi.ebay.com/New-AF-confirm-c...#ht_3008wt_988