Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: joneil on September 20, 2011, 12:49:53 pm
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I don't know if this is a question as much as a rant, but here goes..
A while ago I bought myself one of those Zeiss 85mm F1.4 for my nikon. The main attraction of that lens over other lenses was that I wanted a manual focus lens, not auto focus. Now this is just my situation and needs, your mileage may and will vary. I was going to say I love the German glass I use for my 4x5, but of course these Zeiss lenses are all made in Japan. ( That's almost as bad as having the Martin Luther King monument made in China....oh - wait. :D )
What gets me though is how many people in their reviews - sometimes magazines - sometimes just blogs or messages on a forum similar to this - put "manual focus" as a detriment or a negative, when for me it was the primary draw. However in terms of full disclosure, none of my local dealers had the ap-s nikkor 85mm in F1.4, only F1.8, and the F1.4 was a "special order" and a lot more expensive than the Zeiss too. Then the real weirdness was the Zeiss was in stock at one local dealer I often buy from anyhow. Still I would of stuck with the Zeiss.
Before digital my main Nikons were the FM and FM2, and then my MF camera was a Mamiya C330 and I also shoot 4x5, so to me manual focus on a DSLR is simple and easy. Sometimes too I find auto focus can get in the way. Yes, you can turn it off - at least I can on the AF lenses I use - but for me, how my mind works, I find when I have a MF lens on to begin with, my mindset, the way I work, it's better for me. Slowing down to focus manually makes me stop and think more about my shot. Again, YMMV, and there are times and situations that auto-focus is just perfect, a real life saver. But not always.
Also along those lines I have one of those Korean 8mm fisheye lenses that sell under a zillion different brand names all for around $300 ish. For what it is and the price, I love it. However - again I will often read a review or comment or blog and the fact that it is manual focus is usually listed as a negative or a "warning". Have you ever tried NOT to focus an 8mm fisheye lens? :) Not saying it cannot be done, but it's pretty darned hard, and personally i haven't had shot out of focus yet with that lens.
So my point or question is this: First, I guess my "issue" with listing manual focus as a "negative" in reviews anymore is are we all becoming too spoiled, to entitled, or what? Secondly I sometimes I wonder out there on the internet if people who review or comment about these lenses actually ever use them.
thanks much for the rant space, love reading this forum
joe
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Hi Joe,
I shoot almost exclusively using manual focus and most of my lenses are used AI(-s) Nikon lenses. I don't seek manual focus lenses because they are manual focus so much as I avoid the AF versions because of things that tend to come along with being AF: weight, price, size, and, most importantly to me, the "feel" of manual focusing (because oftentimes, manually focusing is just easier/more precise/faster). So are you drawn to MF lenses so much as you are repelled by AF ones?
I don't know about the AF-s version, but the 85mm f/1.4 AF-d has, IMHO, a pretty good MF ring (though probably not as good as the Zeiss). Too bad I can't say the same thing about the 14-24mm f/2.8 AF-s focus ring, which (surprisingly) more or less demands full-time manual focus on my APS-c camera, despite AF fine-tuning.
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We use manual focus Zeiss lenses for aerial orthograhic imaging - in this application, manual focus is a huge advantage over autofocus - particularly vs. ultrasonic focus lenses, which can drift away from a focus point due to helicopter vibration.