What is the "1x mode"? Personally, I've never used those screens and magnifiers before (hence the noobness). I learnt to focus manually with the D40 anyways. A real pain when the lighting is bad and most of the photos didn't turn out well. haha. TS can consider upgrading the body to avoid all the inconvenience with non AF-S lenses etc? If not, better to try it out yourself first. Green dot method or not.
manual focus on d40/x/60
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What is the "1x mode"? Personally, I've never used those screens and magnifiers before (hence the noobness). I learnt to focus manually with the D40 anyways. A real pain when the lighting is bad and most of the photos didn't turn out well. haha. TS can consider upgrading the body to avoid all the inconvenience with non AF-S lenses etc? If not, better to try it out yourself first. Green dot method or not.
I tried that and it didn't work. :dunno:
1x means no magnification, for magnifiers like DG-2, DR-5 and DR-6, the 2x magnification only blows up the centre of the screen, so you won't be able to see the corners comfortably. DK21m does help a little with a 1.17x magnification but it's quite minimal.
Thanks so much y'all for all the advice. I'm considering going ahead and concuring the art of manual of focusing! haha
The split screen definitely sounds like a good aid for manual focusing. Thank you, H4lcyon, for the links.
Um.. some questions about this split screen,
1. I can install and uninstall it any time i like?
2. after installing it, i will always see the screen through my viewfinder even when i don't need it?
3. any shops sells it here or i can only purchase from ebay, and the cost.
H4lcyon, may i know what you meant by changing the shim thickness?
Isisaxon, uh... does this mean that if i fix on the split image focusing screen, i can only focus on things in the middle not not elsewhere in the photograph.
Pardon the noobness, this screen thingy sounds damn tricky lar! haha
Many many thanks peeople!!
The split screen definitely sounds like a good aid for manual focusing. Thank you, H4lcyon, for the links.
Um.. some questions about this split screen,
1. I can install and uninstall it any time i like?
2. after installing it, i will always see the screen through my viewfinder even when i don't need it?
3. any shops sells it here or i can only purchase from ebay, and the cost.
H4lcyon, may i know what you meant by changing the shim thickness?
Isisaxon, uh... does this mean that if i fix on the split image focusing screen, i can only focus on things in the middle not not elsewhere in the photograph.
Pardon the noobness, this screen thingy sounds damn tricky lar! haha
Many many thanks peeople!!
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actually, you need to point the center af point at the point of focus and and turn the focus ring until the green dot appears. then stop focusing and recompose. when you move your camera to recompose, the green dot will go of or blink as the center point of your lens moves across objects that is in the same focus plane. just go ahead and shoot even when the green dot is off (assuming you have recomposed after focussing).
i have been using an e series 50mm (m/f and no metering) for the past week and after a few shots (like 50!) you will get the hang of it!
some shots with the 50mm e lens. if find it sharpest at f2.8
Isisaxon, uh... does this mean that if i fix on the split image focusing screen, i can only focus on things in the middle not not elsewhere in the photograph.
Pardon the noobness, this screen thingy sounds damn tricky lar! haha
Many many thanks peeople!!
Of course you can use elsewhere to focus, but it's the same as what you have now. The split image or microprism is only in the middle portion of the screen.
If you have looked through the site posted by H4lcyon, http://www.focusingscreen.com/privacy.php you would know how the screen looks like.
This site has another example.
http://www.dyxum.com/columns/other/HaodaScreen/gubbe.asp
1. Yes you can because you're not cutting or breaking anything, just need the time and effort to play around with the mechanism.
I found a youtube video of it
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IjSPL584zg
but I don't advise you to use metal tweezer though, it can easily scratch the mirror if it slips off inside the body.
One of the links in the Flickr page that I posted earlier also showed a step-by-step instruction.
2. Yup, so instead of the blank clear view of the viewfinder you'll always see the split at the centre, but it's not distracting at all to me and it's so useful I won't change it back to the original screen.
3. I got it second hand from someone and I didn't ask where did he buy it from, but some people have said that Orient Photo in Sim Lim sells it, and they'll change it for you too.
The shim is basically a small rectangular brass frame between the screen and your camera, it's just a spacer of certain thickness so that the autofocus of the camera is exactly the same as what you see in the viewfinder.
When I first installed mine I used back the original shim and it was too thin. The view would be perfectly focused in my viewfinder but was slightly off in the resulting picture. Same thing when I was using my kit lens, when the autofocus locked the split image on the viewfinder was a bit off but the picture came out sharp.
I modified the shim by adding a small tape to increase the thickness, just a small change in thickness. Some other people have tried using paper or clear plastic and some screens do come with replacement shims. It's really try and error at this step whether you got the correct thickness and others can live with the slight difference in focus because it won't affect the image that much but luckily for me it was perfect after that. Viewfinder, autofocus and final picture all show the same sharp focus.
Where did you get the focusing screen from? I'm tempted to buy a piece of K3 type screen for FM3a and cut it to size. ;p
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Hey there,
Good to see that there's a number of people who are like me, using the 50mm f1.8 on manual on D40/D60 series.
I bought the 50mm f1.8 some time back for my D40x. It's really great for general shots and also portraits. Manual focusing takes some practice and I still am doing it.
I didn't know about the availability of the split screen thing for DSLRs. Gotta go ask around now.... Anyone can tell me how much $$ this will cost ? And also where can I find it ? God, I miss the manual days when I had my dad's camera to play around with the split screen image man.....
Good to see that there's a number of people who are like me, using the 50mm f1.8 on manual on D40/D60 series.
I bought the 50mm f1.8 some time back for my D40x. It's really great for general shots and also portraits. Manual focusing takes some practice and I still am doing it.
I didn't know about the availability of the split screen thing for DSLRs. Gotta go ask around now.... Anyone can tell me how much $$ this will cost ? And also where can I find it ? God, I miss the manual days when I had my dad's camera to play around with the split screen image man.....
Yeah, i saw the pics of the split screen but i thought i could only focus in the centre cus the cross hair only appears in the centre. Guess i need to test it out to understand how that thing really works. Lol. fixing it up sounds a tad complex too, gives me the feeling like i can spoil my camera anytime. haha
Maybe the next time i head down to simlim, I'll go to Orient Photos and check out the price of it and update in this thread.
Thanks!!! *shall start looking around for 50mm/1.8 at the buy&sell forum. LOL! :bsmilie:
Maybe the next time i head down to simlim, I'll go to Orient Photos and check out the price of it and update in this thread.
Thanks!!! *shall start looking around for 50mm/1.8 at the buy&sell forum. LOL! :bsmilie:
Thanks ! Right now just using my eyeball on the 50mm f1.8.... ha.... perhaps if train my eyeballs to be more accurate at focusing, can do without the hassle of using the split screen....
:thumbsup: after i get this lens, imma train my eyes for the desired accuracy in manual focus too. haha the split screen does sound a bit of a hassle albeit its sharp results. :/ guess there're always pros and cons to everything.
You can do it but it's just not as fast because you will have to turn it out of focus again a couple of times to confirm it's in. At the end, it's faster to roughly get it in and rely on the green dot.
I used to shot with a matt screen (E2) on my FE2, and that due to the use of zoom lenses with f/3.5-4.5 or 4-5.6 when one half of the split image goes black. Got quite good at it that I actually preferred to shot without the split image screen (and with FE2/FM2/FM3a/F3 etc you can easily swap focusing screens, and they cost only $30 original Nikon).
Now lao liao, not so sure of eye sight, si si have to go back to split image. :bheart: :sweat:
Dun forget also that the FE2 has a bigger and brighter display because it's 24x36.
Actually in my younger days I dreamed of owning the Olympus Pen series half-frame SLR for casual shooting. 72 to 74 frames per roll, SLR viewing and all. But never did get it because it was discontinued before I got $ to get it.:cry:
Now the DX format is much like the half-frame SLR, a bit larger but still ok.:thumbsup:
Quite happy with the D60's small size, and reliving the manual focus days. My resurrect my 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5, small a more usable focal length than 35 f/2. Only wish the 18-55 is brighter, like f/3.5-4.5 instead of the dark f/5.6.:thumbsd:
Now the DX format is much like the half-frame SLR, a bit larger but still ok.:thumbsup:
Quite happy with the D60's small size, and reliving the manual focus days. My resurrect my 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5, small a more usable focal length than 35 f/2. Only wish the 18-55 is brighter, like f/3.5-4.5 instead of the dark f/5.6.:thumbsd:
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