It wouldn't surprise me at all if Canon had NEVER even so much as mounted a single non-Canon lens on the EOS R during its entire development and testing.
JohnJ wrote:
It wouldn't surprise me at all if Canon had NEVER even so much as mounted a single non-Canon lens on the EOS R during its entire development and testing.
It would surprise me if any camera manufacturer with a full lens lineup of their own ever mounted any other company's lens during development and testing of any body. They have no obligation to support the competition. Nor should they.
Jochenb wrote:
I'm using adapted manual Nikon mount lenses (Zeiss ZF.2) on the Canon EOS R. I also do this on an A7III.
I'm struggling with the Canon because of a few things:
- I can't double-tap the subject on the screen to magnify it. With my A7III this is not a problem.
- I can't select a point that has to be magnified before actually going into magnification. On the EOS R you press the magnification button and then have to search for the subject. Time consuming.
- Half-pressing the shutter button doesn't exit magnification, you first have to press another button.
With a Canon mount lens in MF mode I don't have some of these issues, it's only with adapted lenses that don't communicate with the camera.
Am I overlooking something or is the EOS R really this cumbersome when using adapted lenses (that don't have communication with the camera)? ...Show more →
Bro..
How hard is it to manual focus on the eos R using only the viewfinder? With zeiss lenses? I meant can clearly see or distinguish contrast/sharpness on the viewfinder.?
bushwacker wrote
How hard is it to manual focus on the eos R using only the viewfinder? With zeiss lenses? I meant can clearly see or distinguish contrast/sharpness on the viewfinder.?
Using only the viewfinder, with focus peaking enabled, it's pretty easy to focus well enough for typical print sizes. I am tempted to use magnified view sometimes for critical focus. Remember that because it's an EVF, the magnification and focus peaking work there too -- not just on the big rear LCD.
Using only the viewfinder, without focus peaking or magnification, it's more difficult to achieve good focus. It's easier with wide aperture lenses because they have narrower DOF, making it a little easier to see things move in and out of focus. But focus peaking is available, so I don't know why anybody would want to try manual focusing without it anyway.
moondigger wrote:
so I don't know why anybody would want to try manual focusing without it anyway.
Because I am coming from DSLR and I am used to viewfinder focusing., all of my DSLRs got modified finders., it's easier for me to acquire focus than messing around focus peaking or with the screen.
I will have to visit BH again do some manual focusing via screen myself.
bushwacker wrote:
Because I am coming from DSLR and I am used to viewfinder focusing., all of my DSLRs got modified finders., it's easier for me to acquire focus than messing around focus peaking or with the screen.
Thanks
Imagine Canon developed an electronic split prism focusing screen for DSLRs. You can turn it on or off in the menu. How amazing would that be?! Well, that's what I like to think of focus peaking as. Only it's even better than that. And, as as been pointed out, you don't need to use the screen for focus peaking because it is visible through the EVF just like a DSLR focus screen.
bushwacker wrote:
Because I am coming from DSLR and I am used to viewfinder focusing.
But... that’s what I’m talking about. Viewfinder focusing. Eye to the viewfinder, not looking at the rear LCD. Honest question — have you seen what the focus peaking feature looks like? I know a couple photographers IRL who thought it was something different than it is until they saw it in person.
In old 35 mm film cameras, a common manual focusing aid was the split image circle. In mirrorless cameras the most common manual focusing aid is focus peaking. It highlights in-focus edges with a bright color. It is not a magnified view —it’s the normal viewfinder image, with out of focus parts appearing blurred and in- focus parts appearing sharp. The only difference with focus peaking enabled is that the in-focus parts will be ‘highlighted’ with a bright color. On the EOS R, you can pick red, blue, or yellow. You can also optionally magnify the view 5X or 10X if you like, but that is a separate feature.
all of my DSLRs got modified finders., it's easier for me to acquire focus than messing around focus peaking or with the screen.
How are they modified? Enhanced in some way to make manual focus easier, right? That’s what focus peaking is. An optional enhancement to the normal viewfinder image to facilitate manual focusing.
I don't know how well it will work in practice, as I've never used it. But, I'm very excited about one day having a camera with an EVF and focus peaking. To me, it seems like a factastic alternative to autofocus, even for the most demanding applications.
Let's remember how much hardware/software is devoted to getting your camera to understand your intended subject, follow that subject through some motion, and perhaps attempt to predict the subjects future motion. Even still, while you understand all of that intuitively, you have to try to communicate that information to the camera. The most advanced, high-performance autofocus systems have lots of AF points, sure, but they also have to have incredibly sophisticated software, hardware, and user-interface in order to actually do something with those AF points. To me, focus peaking takes most of that out of the loop, and replaces all of that software, hardware, and UI with your own personal computer (i.e. your brain) and a simple forward/backward user interface (i.e. the focus ring).
It's just funny that we've come full circle. Albeit, with a tremendously more powerful tool than the manual focus days of old, as the camera can 100% confirm that you have achieved correct focus, and with the ability to quickly review the image.
amacal1 wrote:
Imagine Canon developed an electronic split prism focusing screen for DSLRs. You can turn it on or off in the menu. How amazing would that be?! Well, that's what I like to think of focus peaking as. Only it's even better than that. And, as as been pointed out, you don't need to use the screen for focus peaking because it is visible through the EVF just like a DSLR focus screen.
Canon "Electronic Split Prism" aka Canon EPS....for manual focus lenses. That's a good idea
We need to send this to Canon as "CAMERA DESIGN REQUEST".... do they have email address where you can send such ideas?
It's very important Canon delivers on Jochen's issues, and I'd add that you should be able to shoot from magnified views. For others:
EVF is akin to using a loupe to view transparencies. Rear screens, even good ones, are problematic by comparison; EVF offers a rich, immediate sensory connection, very different from a low end hand-held consumer product method. Even if it seems strange at first, persistence is rewarded with greater efficiency and practicality.
Peaking is a second tier focus aid, most keep it in the background at first level. Like the confirmation dots, it is an approximation only in most comps, rather than the exact focal plane. You may have to go without it otherwise when using high microcontrast wide lens (any Zeiss), they can turn your screens completely red (or whatever color) and obscure the subject. Best used for close ups with normal/longer lenses with good in focus/OOF separation.
While peaking is useful for an estimate, it can assist with stopped down focus with slow MF lenses where you want to know when the desired zone of focus is achieved. Such as manual landscape zooms. For most lenses in most use cases, focus magnification is the primary pathway to perfect focus. With today's EVFs, focusing at the shooting aperture provides tremendous verification and confidence by obviating the bad effects of focus shift at 1-2 stops down and even modern short teles have some FS. A key EVF advantage is that you get instant feedback of a problem easily overlooked in hand-held use: body sway on axis (either you or the subject). I can't imagine getting good, let alone perfect, focus with a rear screen in many circumstances.
Long time manual focus lens users will love the re-purposing of older lenses that you get from your very own HUD. It's much easier to work in the closed, light-stable environment, checking exposure, working ISO, aperture and s/s as well as checking focus fade and bokeh this way, and no one even notices you. You re-engage with photography, rather than trusting the all-too-fallible AF systems. Magnification is so good you can use it like a good pair of binocs, turning your 100mm lens into a 1000mm view. All with a perfectly accurate sensor feed. A quick check of image review and move on.
moondigger wrote:
But... that’s what I’m talking about. Viewfinder focusing. Eye to the viewfinder, not looking at the rear LCD. Honest question — have you seen what the focus peaking feature looks like? I know a couple photographers IRL who thought it was something different than it is until they saw it in person.
In old 35 mm film cameras, a common manual focusing aid was the split image circle. In mirrorless cameras the most common manual focusing aid is focus peaking. It highlights in-focus edges with a bright color. It is not a magnified view —it’s the normal viewfinder image, with out of focus parts appearing blurred and in- focus parts appearing sharp. The only difference with focus peaking enabled is that the in-focus parts will be ‘highlighted’ with a bright color. On the EOS R, you can pick red, blue, or yellow. You can also optionally magnify the view 5X or 10X if you like, but that is a separate feature.
How are they modified? Enhanced in some way to make manual focus easier, right? That’s what focus peaking is. An optional enhancement to the normal viewfinder image to facilitate manual focusing. ...Show more →
All done... decision is made. Tried EOS R + Canon adapter + 1.4/55 Otus combo, EVF focusing without focus peaking is good, I can clearly see the transition between sharp and unsharp.
by the way as for the combo i tried it's all tight the adapter is holding up very well... no wiggle or looseness.
Have been reading posts on FM forum for a long time and have learned a lot from all the experienced photographers on this site. However, this is the first time that I post. One of the reason I decided to make my first posting is I bought the EOS R recently and I have seen many many negative posts about the EOS-R. I agreed that some of them are real issues but I also felt that it does offer some very useful and unique features like the focus assist feature that can useful to this post's situation. I have been using manual focus lens like the IRIX 11, TSE 17, TSE 24 and TSE-90 and even tried manual focusing on the Canon auto-focus lenses on the EOS-R for the last 10 days. With the focus assist feature in the EOS R, it is super easy to do manual focus accurately and effortlessly. I used to rely on the focus confirmation in my 5D classic, III and IV to sort of guess if my pictures are in focus, mostly because I don't use tripod or the rear LCD that much. Since I mostly used manual focus on these wide angle lenses around f8, this method is somewhat acceptable but it is still very tedious. With the focus assist feature on the EOS-R, there are three arrows shown on either the EVF or the rear LCD. For example, if the current focus point is beyond the best focus point, there will be 2 spread out arrows on top and then 1 arrow in the middle. The amount of spread of the top two arrows indicate how far off the current focus is from the best focus. When you move the focus back towards the best focus point, the spread of the top two areas gradually decrease until all three arrows lined up and turn green and that means focus is achieved. If in the beginning, the current focus point is closer than the best focus, the two arrows will be in the bottom and the 3rd arrow will be in the top. Again the amount of spread between the bottom two arrows indicate how far off the current focus is from the best focus. You don't need focus peaking, you don't need to enlarge the picture 5x or 10x. All you need to do is turn the focus ring until all 3 arrows lined up in the middle and turned green and focus is achieved. Not only is fast, easy, it is very accurate. Before the EOS-R I had a very hard time trying to use the TSE-90 for portrait because it is very difficult to manually focus on the 5D series camera. But on the EOS-R, it is a breeze and the focus is dead-on. Moreover, since the EOS-R indicates whether the current focus is closer or beyond the best focus, you don't need to guess which way to turn the focus ring. Additional benefit of using the TSE lenses on the EOS-R is since now the exposure is taken on the sensor, I don't need to get the correct exposure before I shift or tilt the lenses. It saves a lot of hazzle.
