Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/02/28
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hmm, interesting point BD. The F5/300 AFS + 1.4 combo can be focussed manually if set that way, and quite well too. The problem I have, when the action is really on, is adapting my shooting style from using the autofocus to then not using it. Even when the equipment makes this possible, in more than one way. I could manually focus and then lock with the buttons on the lens, or press the focus/exposure lock button on the body (though awkward). Or press them first and then focus. I used to do this when taking set piece shots at soccer matches, come to think of it. Perhaps I'll have to practice the skill of recognising when the sensors are not helping, push one of those buttons and then focus manually. This would have been an aid with a number of shots. The difficulty, mentally, is giving up the autofocus when it seems so right, given the way these birds are always changing position. More practice needed. Good tip. Thanks. Rick On 01/03/2005, at 4:38 AM, B. D. Colen wrote: > While I know full well that the automated tools have produced many a > "really special" picture, there are indeed times when doing it manually > is preferable to depending upon automation - and produces better > images. > Where we part company is when you contend that those really special > pictures require a tool optimized for manual use - many a really > special > picture has been produced by high end auto lenses focused manually. > But, > obviously, if you have found that for your really special pictures you > require manual focus lenses focused manually, then that's what you > should be using. :-) > > -----Original Message----- > From: lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org > [mailto:lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of > Doug Herr > Sent: Monday, February 28, 2005 8:44 AM > To: Leica Users Group > Subject: Re: [Leica] Shootout - L vs N > > > My experience exactly. The automated tools help you produce the goods > quickly and easily but the really special pictures come from doing it > manually, requiring a tool optimized for manual use. > > Have you posted these pictures yet? > > Doug Herr > Birdman of Sacramento > http://www.wildlightphoto.com > > > > on 2/28/05 2:48 AM, Rick Dykstra at rdcb37@dodo.com.au wrote: > >> Having discovered this magical puddle on the boulder out in the >> forest, and the incredible variety of birds that are attracted to it >> if I top it up with water, I spent the weekend standing on a stool >> behind Leica and Nikon lenses. On the Saturday I was in an Ameristep >> Outhouse blind with my head jammed up in the attic - bit hot it got, >> when it was sunny. So on Sunday I tried without the blind - and most >> of the birds were happy to play regardless - at a distance of only 2.5 > >> to 3 meters. >> >> I started with the apo telyt 560/5.6 and R8 and found trying to focus >> on birds doing spins in the puddle nearly enough to give me a cerebral > >> hemorrhage. I didn't feel like I was getting many keepers so on >> Sunday I dragged out a F5 and 300 AFS, hardly used since my soccer >> photography days. It was very good for that so maybe I should give it > >> a go with 'da boyds'. >> >> That Nikon made me feel like the God of Photography, on steroids. >> Damn this is easy. The 300 plus a 1.4 converter - faster than my 560 > >> so more wriggle room in the changeable light. I machine gunned a pair > >> of little thornbills as they splashed water over each other. Great >> fun. >> >> So I got four rolls processed today, two from the Leica gear and two >> from the Nikon. With the Leica I got about 5 keepers from each roll, >> vs about 8 with the Nikon, which had felt better than that. I'd been >> using the F5 on focus priority mode and so it only fired when it was >> happy, as I was with each shot. And it did achieve focus with each >> shot, but not necessarily on what I would have liked - the bird's eye. > >> When it missed, it didn't miss by much, usually picking up the >> feathers just in front of the eye. Whereas my misses with the Leica >> gear were usually by more. But a miss is a miss is a miss. >> >> Two shots stood out head and shoulders above the rest, of a White >> Eared Honeyeater and a Scarlet Robin (boy did I get a surprise when >> when that guy jumped into the viewfinder!). And, both were taken with > >> the Leica. It was the ease of focussing anywhere on the screen that >> made the difference. No dicking around trying to get the sensor in >> the right place. Complete freedom with composition. Neither shot >> would have worked with the Nikon as the sensors were not where I >> needed them. >> >> So, I have a good number of very engaging and useable photos from the >> Nikon, and a couple of absolute crackers from the Leica. Those two >> shots did feel good as I took them - I remember saying 'Yes!' under my > >> breath. >> >> The moral? Autofocus maketh one a God - not! :-) >> >> Rick. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >