Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: EinstStein on January 17, 2016, 04:26:06 pm
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Almost all post discussions on super-tele lens discouraging MF.
I understand the compelling differences when shooting bird in fly or the equivalent fast moving objects. But I found it requires not only AF, but must be the best available fast and accurage AF, and it is a combinatin of the lens and the camera body. A typical 70-300mm AF zoom is hardly useful. So far the only claimed satisfiable setups are among the best DSLRs + the best Canon or Nikon AF 400mm~600mm f5.6 or F4 super fast prime lenses.
So, the question is, does it make any real difference between MF and not top notch AF if the lens is 500~600mm, f4, and is shooting bird on the tree?
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So, the question is, does it make any real difference between MF and not top notch AF if the lens is 500~600mm, f4, and is shooting bird on the tree?
No. A stationary target can usually be focused equally well with either MF or AF and will depend on eyesight/judgement for MF and Lens fine tuning for AF. This is a good reason why newer lenses have one touch MF when the lens is set to AF.
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In my mind I am actually considering a Nikon 600mm f4 ED IF, Sigma 500mm f4.5 APO HSM, and Tamron 150-600mm f6.x.
After looking the posted pictures in flickr.com, I like very much the Nikon, but not sure if I ignoed any imporant factor.
Also, after tried some 500m lenses, I found a good tripod and/or a good vibration compensation is very important.
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In my mind I am actually considering a Nikon 600mm f4 ED IF, Sigma 500mm f4.5 APO HSM, and Tamron 150-600mm f6.x.
After looking the posted pictures in flickr.com, I like very much the Nikon, but not sure if I ignoed any imporant factor.
Also, after tried some 500m lenses, I found a good tripod and/or a good vibration compensation is very important.
I would add the Nikon AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6E and the Sigma 150-600mm pair to the mix. At $1399, the Nikon is a great value with seller VR and the Sigma Sport adds some additional functionality. Obviously, if you can afford the 600mm f/4 then that does give 1 stop more light.
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In my mind I am actually considering a Nikon 600mm f4 ED IF, Sigma 500mm f4.5 APO HSM, and Tamron 150-600mm f6.x.
After looking the posted pictures in flickr.com, I like very much the Nikon, but not sure if I ignoed any imporant factor.
Are you speaking about the old MF version of the 600mm f4?
I would make sure to try one before investing. I used to own a copy of the 600mm f5.6 MF, and found it very hard to focus accurately. Those lenses were designed for sports and the focus throw is pretty short to enable quick focusing, the downside is that they are hard to focus accurately up to the standards of modern high resolution digital bodies (the 600mm f4 may be better).
The latest versions of the super tele lenses (including the 600mm E FL) are clearly the best there is, but the price tag is pretty high.
Cheers,
Bernard
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I use a Nikkor 600mm f/4 AI-S lens with my D810 and D800E and, for wildlife shots, do not find the manual focus to be any disadvantage and it does, of course, give superb image quality.
Remember that, until comparatively recently, there was no such thing as AF and we all managed perfectly happily. (Although I can see some advantage in AF on long-focus lenses for sports photographers.
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Depending on the stationary target, manual focus may be better than AF sometimes, when AF gets confused and focuses on a nearby high-contrast branch or leaf. When I am shooting a stationary structure from tripod eg bird's nest, I use MF because there's enough time to get the focus right. Birds in flight - I don't see how they did it back in the MF days. AF is wonderful for BIF. I use the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L no-stabilization old-design lens, great BIF lens because it is lightweight (1.2 kg) and well balanced.
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Hi,
My experience is that manual focus using magnified live view is the most exact way to focus on stationary subjects.
I agree that many AF lenses can be difficult to focus manually.
Best regards
Erik
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Are you speaking about the old MF version of the 600mm f4?
Yes. The new one with AF are too good to me.