Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/07/14
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Sure, I was only commenting on using modern AF SLRs for manual focus work, not on your observations, which are entirely valid. Your F2/3 cameras are ~30-40+ year old technology and screens do deteriorate with time. Marty On Sun, Jul 15, 2012 at 10:17 AM, Robert Meier <robertmeier at usjet.net> wrote: > Marty, > > All of what you said about modern AF Nikons and Canons may well be true, > but I was comparing my R8 to a Nikon F2a and an F3, both, of course, > manual focus cameras. > > Robert > > On Jul 14, 2012, at 7:31 PM, Marty Deveney wrote: > >> You need to remember what they're _for_. >> >>> It's really depressing that N and C have such poor finders. >> >> To be fair to Canon and Nikon, modern SLRs have very good finders for >> autofocus with lenses of moderate aperture, which is what they're >> designed for, but when you depart from that, it's like trying to take >> a sports car onto a beach. >> >>> I wanted to shoot the 12.5 Photar on the full frame 5D >>> but with the extreme bellows factor >>> I literally can hardly see through the view finder >>> even at f:1.9 >>> The R8 is clear even fully stopped down. >> >> The real difference with the R8 is that you are looking at a ground >> glass focusing screen. As far as I can tell ALL modern AF SLRs use a >> focusing screen that is an engineered light pipe with microlenses on >> each surface, not ground glass. They only accept light from a narrow >> field of view, and in effect each microlens has its own aperture. >> They are much more efficient transmitters within their design spec, >> which is why the view looks so bright in the store with that f2.8 or >> f4-5.6 zoom, but are not so impressive with an f1.4 lens. These are >> very good if you're using an autofocus system, but much less good if >> you're using an eye. >> >> The problem lies in the comparison - a lot of us have transitioned >> from manual focus cameras to dSLRs and have brought lenses and other >> equipment along for the ride. In a way it's better (including for the >> manufacturers!) to just start from scratch. >> >> Marty >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information