How hard is it to MF a 24mm 1.4?

[futureal33]

One thing I've always wanted to have a go at is a 24mm 1.4 lens...

Not paying the price on the Canon as Im not sure its a lens Im going to even like, so I was toying with the idea of the Samyang 24mm manual focus

On a 5DIII how hard would it be manually focusing this thing at fairly wide apertures?

Thanks

 

[Nod]

Live view and zoomed in on the critical point of focus shouldn't be too hard. I would hope that the Samyangs would have a decent angle of throw between infinity and close focus since they're MF only (AF lenses' smaller angle makes tiny adjustments a little awkward in MF IMO).

 

[FlyingShrapnel]

the wider then lens the greater depth of field you have for the same aperture so i would imagine it being easier than a 50mm. but i reckon a lot will be down to how smooth / how much resistance the focus ring has

 

[woof woof]

the wider then lens the greater depth of field you have for the same aperture so i would imagine it being easier than a 50mm. but i reckon a lot will be down to how smooth / how much resistance the focus ring has

I find it the other way around actually. I find it easier to manually focus with longer lenses the reason being that the image is possibly more likely to be big in the frame and judjing focus is therefore easier.

If you're using a wide angle and are close to something then focus will be easier as you've have a subject large in the frame but if not you're possibly relying on DoF and/or hyperfocal technique which is always a bit of a fudge and the image may not stand up to close (or just very close) examination.

With live view things are easier if you have a magnified view but I'm not really a fan of manually focusing a DSLR with a standard focus screen unless the image is big in the frame.

 

[FlyingShrapnel]

I find it the other way around actually. I find it easier to manually focus with longer lenses the reason being that the image is possibly more likely to be big in the frame and judjing focus is therefore easier.

If you're using a wide angle and are close to something then focus will be easier as you've have a subject large in the frame but if not you're possibly relying on DoF and/or hyperfocal technique which is always a bit of a fudge and the image may not stand up to close (or just very close) examination.

With live view things are easier if you have a magnified view but I'm not really a fan of manually focusing a DSLR with a standard focus screen unless the image is big in the frame.

actually thinking about it, i see what you mean. that it will be easier to focus with shallower depth of fields because it will be easier to see whether you have it spot on or not :bonk:

but what i was saying is with the larger depth of field, and you will probably be closer to the subject with it being a 24mm lens, you wont have to be "very" accurate with focusing. If it is street photography then set it to a certain distance away from you and then go with 1ft in front, 2 ft behind will be in focus (thats how i personally do it) or if it is for landscapes then there is plenty of time to get the focus right

 

[woof woof]

Well, yes. If you're not shooting at wide apertures the DoF will catch a lot and what hyperfocal technique does is get things acceptably sharp. Focusing at 8ft and at f8 your DoF will probably be something like 4ft to infinity according to the DoF table on a well known site but the closer you look and the larger you print the more likely you are to spot any compromises that using hyperfocal may give.

It may well be good enough.

When I use my 12-24mm or 20mm f1.8 on my 5D at smallish apertures pesonally I use AF and focus on someting and I deffo use AF and focus on my main subject when using the 20mm at wider apertures.