For the most part, autofocus doesn't work well for macro. You're better off focusing manually, particularly when shooting off a tripod. You'll have to do that often with macro to get enough depth of field. Or when shooting handheld, use autofocus to get close, clamp the focus, then move the camera to fine tune focus.
Paul On Dec 4, 2012, at 9:48 PM, Daniel J. Matyola <[email protected]> wrote: > After all the great advice I received from this list on selecting a > Macro lens for my K-r (and future K-5), I made my decision. I decided > to go old school -- and cheap. > > I found a used smc Pentax FA 100mm 1:2-8 Macro for $338 including > shipping. It is certainly well built (and heavy). So far, I've only > played around with it, taking some test images hand-held. So far, It > looks really good. > > The problem: I went online to Pentax to download the manual, but they > no longer carry it. Does anyone know where I can get one. > > The reason I need the manual is the lens has two controls that I don't > really understand. They are visible in the right half of this image: > http://www.photozone.de/images/8Reviews/lenses/pentax_100_28_fa/lens.jpg > . > > From the reviews, I understand that the lens "hunts" a lot in > autofocus mode. The "focus range" control apparently alleviates that > problem, by limiting the rage of focus. I am not clear, however, how > to use the control. Also, why does this control have an "MF" setting, > when manual focus is usually selected on the camera. Is there a > difference between selecting manual focus on the lens rather than on > the camera? > > Even more mysterious -- to me -- is the "clamp" dial. What does this > do, and how? > > Any information or advice will be greatly appreciated. > > TIA, Dan > > Dan Matyola > http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
