Hi all, acquired my first Carl Zeiss lens and my first contribution to this thread. Hopefully to contribute more in the future as this is my favourite lens at the moment!
Hello, long time looker, first time poster. I just wanted to say that you folks are amazing! Not only do you all take incredible photos, but you do it with manual focus. I just got my first manual lens, Contax Zeiss 50/1.4 with a fotodiox adapter for my T1i. And after a few days of trying to shoot with it, all I can think is, "how do they do it?" I either need better eyes, or a different focusing screen. Or a heck of a lot more practice. I am leaning towards the more practice. Thank you all for your inspiration.
If you're using the stock focus screen, getting a precision one would be a good start. I shoot with a Rebel XT and am able to with very good focus accuracy with my 50/1.7 with a Katz Eye focus screen installed. Though the smaller viewfinder is definitely going to be a hindrance.
For instance, here's a shot that I nearly nailed, wide open, of my cat with my Zeiss 50/1.7. A bit of hand shake is effecting the absolute sharpness (1/80s shutter)...
I´m waiting my "new" Zeiss VS 35-70mm I bought recently on Ebay (paid US$ 400 for one in suposed good condition). I also bought a Distagon 35mm 1.4 (in germany Ebay) but am afraid of the condition of this lens, waiting to see! While I am waiting the new babies, follow some picture taken with my 35-70mm Jena Zoom. I like very much the quality of this lens. I paid US$ 120 recently, but 2 weeks ago saw one sold for only US$ 9 on Ebay A truly bargain, I think. Regards to all photography friends.
Has anyone generated any lens profiles to be used in ACR?
I'm afraid to read what is involved for doing so, I would probably never have the time to do so.
pjhad wrote:
Hello, long time looker, first time poster. I just wanted to say that you folks are amazing! Not only do you all take incredible photos, but you do it with manual focus. I just got my first manual lens, Contax Zeiss 50/1.4 with a fotodiox adapter for my T1i. And after a few days of trying to shoot with it, all I can think is, "how do they do it?" I either need better eyes, or a different focusing screen. Or a heck of a lot more practice. I am leaning towards the more practice. Thank you all for your inspiration....Show more →
Make sure your viewfinder diopter is calibrated to your vision. If it is not, the focusing manually will be impossible. Put the camera on a tripod with an AF lens mounted. Fill the field of view with a flat, crisp shape, like a bar code on a cereal box. Hit the shutter button to focus. Gently, flip the lens to MF (optional) and look through the viewfinder. Adjust the viewfinder diopter wheel until the bar code looks sharp. If you have bad vision, you may need to order a stronger eyepiece from your camera maker.
Jim
Thank you for your suggestion, the diopter was off just a little. But now after a few tests, I am not sure how accurate the AF confirmation is. With a tripod, I focused until the green dot came on and beeped at me, snapped off a shot and it looked ok. Did the same thing, but in Live View and got far better results. Left the lens focused to were it was with live mode, went back to AF confirmation. No confirmation dot until I refocused a little bit and went back to being just an ok picture.
But all in all, I think I have to stop kidding myself about my sight and wear my glasses. It is a week prescription, but a prescription none-the-less.
Thanks for all your suggestions. Just have to get used to the learning curve and practice, practice, practice.
Focus confirm chip is not for precision. Live view or a viewfinder with a calibrated diopter is the way to go. Confirm chip helps for subjects at a distance, but your eye is better for everything else.
Are you using the 35-70mm Jena zoom without T* coating? Do you have picture of it? thanks
By the way very good pictures and pin sharp!! Love the bokeh on the top left of your 2nd pic
Hi RobinLee,
I apologize for the delay in responding. Yes, these photos were taken with a 35-70mm JenaZomm. I'm just waiting for my VS 35-70mm arrived, eagerly! rs. Then a few more pictures:
I apologize for the delay in responding. Yes, these photos were taken with a 35-70mm JenaZomm. I'm just waiting for my VS 35-70mm arrived, eagerly! rs. Then a few more pictures:
Jenazoom 35-70mm: (soft in the corners)
Great pics with 2.8/28mm
Jenazoom seems to be Sigma; Vario-Sonnar is CZJ
pjhad wrote:
Thank you for your suggestion, the diopter was off just a little. But now after a few tests, I am not sure how accurate the AF confirmation is. With a tripod, I focused until the green dot came on and beeped at me, snapped off a shot and it looked ok. Did the same thing, but in Live View and got far better results. Left the lens focused to were it was with live mode, went back to AF confirmation. No confirmation dot until I refocused a little bit and went back to being just an ok picture.
But all in all, I think I have to stop kidding myself about my sight and wear my glasses. It is a week prescription, but a prescription none-the-less.
Thanks for all your suggestions. Just have to get used to the learning curve and practice, practice, practice....Show more →
If there is a precision matte focus screen available for the T1i, I would suggest picking one up. Or even a split prism screen will help with apertures f/2.8 and smaller. Live view is nice for certain applications, (I use it when tripod mounted, for example) but a proper focus screen will help tremendously. My keeper rate increased dramatically when I first got mine.
A truly bargain, I think. Regards
