Manual focusing

[RayQuek31]

Hi!

I'm stuck with the problem of manual focusing for camera as it hinders me in deciding on buying a camera. I am thinking of buying Nikon D60 but the problem for manual focus on some lenses hold me back and was considering on Nikon D80. I like D60 because of the package comes with VR lens and I like to light-weight. I do not like the 18-135mm lense for D80.

I would like to get advise on
1) When is the situation to use manual focus?
2) Is it true that only most prime lenses is manual focus on D60?
3) Is manual focusing annoying?

Hope to hear advise on this that would help me on deciding on camera.
Thank you very much!

 

[giantcanopy]

Hi!

I'm stuck with the problem of manual focusing for camera as it hinders me in deciding on buying a camera. I am thinking of buying Nikon D60 but the problem for manual focus on some lenses hold me back and was considering on Nikon D80. I like D60 because of the package comes with VR lens and I like to light-weight. I do not like the 18-135mm lense for D80.

I would like to get advise on
1) When is the situation to use manual focus?
2) Is it true that only most prime lenses is manual focus on D60?
3) Is manual focusing annoying?

Hope to hear advise on this that would help me on deciding on camera.
Thank you very much!

Many situations call for manual focusing When shooting macro for instance.
In other instances when my AF becomes unreliable and starts hunting i switch to manual.
And of course on my several manual focusing lenses

You can check out the list of AF compatible lenses on the D40/60
started by Drahc : http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=380612 There are now more and more primes with AFS capability

Annoying ? A matter of whether you like it. There are alot of Nikon users who swear by their Carl Zeiss ( MF ) lenses. There are still a number of manual lens users.
Of course for fast paced action shots a fast AF is :thumbsup:

Ryan

 

[dennisc]

No one can answer this accurately, depends on personal preferance. I use manual focus when there's low light or when AF wont focus accurately (like in a crowd) or to achieve a creative effect. Tricky part is finetuning the focus esp when you're wearing specs, etc, have to be a quick marksman esp if the subject is moving. Rate of getting OOF is high % on big aperatures

 

[Churchwolf]

I was in a similar position to you. I actually have a D60 now, and have been using some manual lenses with it. I find it fantastic. If you enjoy having a lot more active input into making your pictures then I suspect that you will enjoy it too, however if you prefer to just concentrate on the pic and let the camera do all the calculating and focusing for you, then perhaps it's not your cup of tea. as the other guys have pointed out: MF lends itself poorly to some fast action sequences (unless you know where your target is going to be and you pre-focus).

At any rate, I love MF and, with a bit of practice, you will find that it becomes relatively easy as well as the fact that you become a better photographer with a better ability to judge distances.

 

[RayQuek31]

Hi!

Thanks for all the reply! It is indeed very encouraging to know that there are quite a number of MF users and also like it a lot. It is indeed very subjective but the replies are very encouraging.

My only concern for Nikon D60 is only MF for some lense else I quite like it. The reason that I like it are
1) Light weight which I can carry around without tiring myself like carrying army SBO with barang barang.
2) The package with 18-55mm VR lense and now with promotion to buy with 55-200mm VR lense together at around $1260 with freebies. Quite a good buy to my opinion and VR lenses is my main attraction to D60 as I don't need tripot to carry along most of the times.
3) Rangefinder which I think should be useful for MF therefore I didn't choose D40
4) The feel of the camera is comfortable to me as compare to Canon 450D

Well, I think more or less I would choose Nikon D60 after hearing the replies about the MF. Thanks a lot guys! I really appreciated for all the quick replies!

 

[calebk]

If you think VR is a substitute for tripod, you are wrong.

VR can aid in stable handholding but it will never be a substitute for a tripod.

See here: http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=376147

 

[dzignous]

Hi!

I'm stuck with the problem of manual focusing for camera as it hinders me in deciding on buying a camera. I am thinking of buying Nikon D60 but the problem for manual focus on some lenses hold me back and was considering on Nikon D80. I like D60 because of the package comes with VR lens and I like to light-weight. I do not like the 18-135mm lense for D80.

I would like to get advise on
1) When is the situation to use manual focus?
2) Is it true that only most prime lenses is manual focus on D60?
3) Is manual focusing annoying?

Hope to hear advise on this that would help me on deciding on camera.
Thank you very much!

Actually everyone should take time to shoot every picture and not trigger happy shooting like there's no tomorrow. Manual focusing have it's own fun and joy and you can even shoot fast action pics if you are well-trained too.

You can always get a D80 and buy a 18-55 VR separately if you prefer the lighter lens.

 

[RayQuek31]

Thank you for all the replies! I had just bought the Nikon D60 after much consideration and the replies from you guys. My decision is based on:
1) I am a newbie
2) I am not going to be a professional
3) I am treating it as a hobby
4) The 18-55mm VR lense and 55- 200mm Vr lense would cover all the range for me
5) My concern for MF had been solved after hearing the replies from this threat. I do not intend to buy much lenses as the 2 VR lenses already cover my learning stage range. By 2 to 3 years time, I might mastered my Nikon D60 and photographing skills and that time I would buy a new lense which might be a lot of AF-S lense available for me and might be cheaper or maybe it is time for me to upgrade to a new camera.
6) I think the rangefinder would help me on the MF lenses so I think it is better than D40
7) I had thought about buying the D80 body only and buy the 55-200mm VR lenses but I find the price is not attractive. It would cost around $1500 plus and I could buy the SB-600 for $199 and get the freebies.
8) If I buy the D80, I will sell off the kit lens as I know I will not be happy with the kit lense as it do not have VR. I have to go through the hussle of selling in B&S and buy a new VR lense.
9) I like the light weight of Nikon D60 as compare to D80

All these reasons prompt me to buy the Nikon D60. I am grateful for the replies that you guys had given me which had helped me on my decision. Thank you very much!

regards
Ray