Struggling with Manual Focus Lenses

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Since I started collecting old cameras I’ve accumulated quite a few vintage lenses in a variety of mounts (Nikon F, Minolta MD, Leica LTM, Leica M, Contact/Yashica C/Y, Exacta, M42 and more). A while back I decided to get a Sony Nex 5n, in large part because I’d read that it adapted well to vintage lenses so I got the appropriate adapters and for a while used them quite a lot and was pleased with the results. Then I picked up a Sony A77II, which didn’t adapt so well and my interest in manual focus waned to a point where I haven’t used the manual focus lenses for ages.

Then I started to collect older digital cameras, many of which (Sony A6000, Olympus OM-D E-M10, Fujifilm X-E1) also adapt well to older lenses. Of course the adapters I’d collected for the Nex 5n work fine on the A6000. I also picked up a few adapters that would work with micro four thirds cameras. I only recently got the Fuji and I’m not sure whether or not I’ll try to use manual focus lenses with it. We’ll see.

I decided to try manual focus lenses again – this time initially on my Sony A6000. Specifically I decided to try a Canon 50mm f1.4 and a
Voigtländer 35mm f2.5, both in Leica Thread Mount (LTM).

The results were awful! I couldn’t seem to get the focus right! I tried using focus peaking without much improvement. I tried focus magnification with similar results.

But I persisted until I discovered that using a combination of the two seemed to produce the best results. Focus magnification allowed me to ensure that what I was focusing on was indeed in focus, while focus peaking gave me a sense of the depth of field i.e. what I could expect to be in focus in front of and behind where I was focusing.

I should probably have thought of that before. It now seems so obvious.

Taken with an Olympus OM-D E-M10 and Panasonic Lumix 20mm f1.7

Around the Neighborhood – A Flag

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aroundtheneigborhoodflag-1

I was on one of my walks when I spotted this flag. What attracted me was its old, weather-beaten look with its bright and largely smooth texture set against the darker, textured tree it was leaning on.

I’m conscious of the fact that property owners might be suspicious of people taking pictures of their property so I quickly took the picture and then moved on.

It was only when I got back home that I noticed that there was something very wrong about this flag.

      It has only five stars when it should have fifty (symbolizing the current 50 states).
      It has only nine stripes when there should be 13 (symbolizing the original 13 colonies).

It least they got the colors right: white signifying purity and innocence; red, hardiness and valor; and blue signifying vigilance, perseverance, and justice.

I’m sure that this flag is nowhere near in conformity with the official US Flag Code. I wonder what the penalty for that might be. I guess it probably varies from state to state.

Taken with a Sony RX100 M3.