Larry Colen wrote:
On Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 01:13:10PM -0500, Bruce Walker wrote:
# Larry Colen wrote:
#
# >My latest gear acquisition is a katzeye focusing screen
# >which to someone who grew up with manual focus, is like growning an
# >arm back.
#
# That's particularly interesting to me because I too have a K100D Super,
Wow! Actual photography related discussion!
Yes, it's an appalling breach of protocol. I really should have waited
until On-Topic Tuesday. :-)
# I do a bunch of low-light shooting at f2.8 where manual focusing is a
# must, but is hard to do and *really* unreliable--I end up with lots of
# soft shots. (I'm hoping the AF situation is a little better with the
# K20D, but I'm also not holding my breath on that.)
My technique has been to use autofocus to prefocus on my target, then use
the "OK" button to lock the focus in until I need to refocus or shoot.
Trouble for me is that the light is so low or the target so dark and/or
undefined that when I half-press the shutter the lens hunts from one
extremity to the other a few times then <Beep!> and the I Give Up
indicator comes on. This happens with the DA* 16-50, the DA* 50-135 and
the DA 35 Macro. At least with the DA*'s it hunts quickly and quietly. :-)
But that OK-button trick is good to know. It's too bad Mode-3 can't be
set to only kick-in when explicitly in manual-focus mode.
I tend to not engage tricky modes that are only useful in a unique
situation because I forget that that mode is engaged the next time I
pick up the camera and I wonder why it's not working right!
# Was it involved or tricky to open up the viewfinder to install the Katzeye?
Now that I've done it a couple of times, it's easy and only takes
about 5 minutes. You can download the instructions from the katzeye
site:
http://www.katzeyeoptics.com/files/install6.pdf
Yikes! That's a bit too similar to brain surgery for my comfort level.
I might try it, but I suspect I'll just keep waiting for the inevitable
K20D/K30D purchase-to-come.
Thanks for your detailed tale of thrills and chills. :-)
-bmw
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