Manual focus

[Cap_Dingo]

Hi all

On occasions I am in need of using the manual focus on my Minolta A1. However, it seems that when the final product comes out, it is way way off.

My old grandpa's Nikon which is probably like 20 or 30 years old, had a circle in the middle which was diagonally split in half. If the subject was out of focus, the image would appear split. If it is in focus, the split would not be there.

Is there any way that I can correctly adjust the manual focus on my A1? Its driving me nuts!~!

Cheers!
Andrew.

 

[Buggy]

roughly gauge the distance between the object and your camera. the evf in the A1 shld be better than my dimage 7 to see if the object is in focus or not. usually i spot sharp edges of the object, if it's there... then it should be in focus.

another way is you can use the autofocus first, then switch to manual focus. then the rough focus dist will still be displayed on the evf/lcd. from there, adjust the focus manually.

hope it helps

 

[Cap_Dingo]

In other words I'm not "missing" any circle in the middle or anything "idiot proof" like that.... its kinda a guessing game to either go closer or further away???

I suppose manual focus probably takes about 15 seconds to arrange a snap.... sighhhh

 

[Buggy]

usually i do AF then MF. works most of the time.
won't play guessing game unless it's quite obvious the dist is wrong.
example - focus is at 1m but object is 0.5m from you.

and also you'll see the sharpness of the object change when you turn the mf ring, pick the one with sharpest edge. you won't go wrnog.

 

[Cap_Dingo]

aha!!!! I've finally figured out my problem... when I use the viewfinder, I don't magnify the picture.... so I don't see as much detail as I should. Hence, when I use manual focus, it appears alright - until I go to the PC screen and its like way off. I suppose I should also use the "magnify" or "zoom" button to ensure that the edges are sharp.