I have the same set up, X-Pro 1 + TT 23mm just to do the same, old school zone focus and shoot without any worry. IMO the good thing about the new inexpensive lenses is that you don't have to mess with the adapters and the risks involved in buying old used stuff.
I love your videos. Not only the things I can learn, but also your incredibly humorous presentation. Also, your videos encourage me to experiment... Thank you so much
I've been running my Fuji XT3 in B&W film sims with my 79 Olympus G. Zuiko (radioactive) 50 1.4 lens, I overall have 100% forgotten all about new gear and tech. If it calls for it, my Viltrox 75 1.2 modern lens handles weddings, portraits and more serious work alongside my stabilized 16-80,. At the drop of a hat I have a full manual street camera with manual dials. Its a MASSIVE win. Especially given the performance of the Zuiko glass and how affordable it is! More people need to be investing in these old fast primes, many have produced some of the worlds most famous images.
This is exactly why my native Nikon Z glass has been sitting on the shelf and I've bought several m mount Voigtlander lenses. My hit ratio has gone up dramatically.
Ironically enough, I’ve had that TTArtisan lens you mentioned sitting in my EBay cart since I was wanting to pair it with my new XT-30ii. I mostly do street photography while riding around on my bike and wanted to give a manual lens a go. This video has inspired to pull the trigger. As always, thanks George.
I found aquireing focus with my 40mm Voigtländer works really great but frankly only in low light. on a bright day i really suck with it lol also focusing at 1.2 is much easier than stoped down but only in low light. but in my defence i shoot the mayority of my pic in lower light situations.
Perfect timing for me! I'm searching for some vintage lenses for my sony a7ii and trying to learn a bit more about them. I don't know what focal length to get, either 35mm or 50mm. I'd prefer the 35mm but for now I can't find any that are around the same price as the 50s and are for rangefinders.
Great video. Explained the concept really well. Even I could understand it! Quick question: I'm looking at getting back into photography and am looking at going the micro four thirds route as I like the compact nature of these cameras. I understand that a focal length of ~17mm on an M43 would give similar to a full frame 35mm. Are there any other issues likely to arise when using zonal focussing on an M43 setup? Thanks very much!
Great video. Thank you for showing the lovely interaction with your subject. I think that I am a bit shy, and stepping into that interaction may be a hard obstacle for some of us.
You can do this with any AF lens without markers with a hyperfocal distance calculator like photopills, the issue is some camera brands like panasonic don't show you where you are when manual focusing, they only show a useless flower and mouintain so you need to use another distance meter app to learn you exact focus distance.
It's a good option. Fix manual focus and keep your shooting distances consistent. The same effect can also be achieved with an AF lens set to a fixed MF too. The only issue I've found with old school lenses on smaller format mirrorless is their equivalent focal lengths are too high and therefore too zoomed in for my shooting style. My photography is typically done at 14-25mm.
Hello George, I’ve been researching the 35mm rangefinder lens options for my Sony A7C, but there’s a lot of info on “field curvature” issues with small lenses. Meaning, the corners will be sharper than the center, because the Sony sensors have some filters in front of them and behave differently. Whenever a rangefinder lens has a protruding rear glass. Have you experienced that problem with your 35mm M39 lens? Thanks!
@@GeorgeHoldenI finally bought a Minolta X-700, it came with the MD 35-70mm f3.5 macro and a Tokina RMC 100-300mm F5.6 Love the camera and the features.
A problem with pretty much any type of lens adapter is poor manufacturing quality, infinity focus will be misaligned, so the accuracy of the DOF scale goes with it. So, on mirrorless digital (which is more unforgiving than film anyway), it is hard to make zone focusing work, unless one only uses a specific lens, learning how the (inaccurate) scales work on it.
You could write in the description of the video the name of the lenses you are talking about, or on the video itself make a small inscription in the corner which lens you use or show. Because it would help viewers who don't understand English
Hi, I do have multi-language subtitles which I can confirm are accurate - which language do you speak? If it isn't included I can add it to the video. For reference I only reference the Minolta MD 28mm f/2.8 and the Canon L39 35mm f/2.8
In terms of the focal lengths in will be a simple crop factor, if you mean the focal distances then I don't know of a specific chart. It might sound silly but what I've done in the past is set the focus distance on the lens and double checked with a tape measure that it is accurate. If it is then the close point is accurate and the furthest point is almost certain to be in focus if it's above 25ft, 50ft - infinity
crop sensor cameras have a smaller sensor compared to full frame which is equivalent to the size of 35mm film. I believe some apsc brands have a 1.5x crop factor and some have a 1.6x crop factor so, if you bought a lens for a 35mm film camera, for example a 50mm lens, the focal length would be either 75mm (1.5x crop) or 80mm (1.6x crop) depending on your camera brand.
@@1ilrx yes I’m pretty aware of this but my question is pointed at zone focusing and not crop, which I find there’s no conversion chart available other than what George’s tape measure technique.
I'd go with the tape measure, it's worked for me when adapting to full frame and I tested it on 7artisans lenses for micro four thirds and ttartisan for Fuji X. Then at least you see the results for yourself and can be sure when shooting@@christianmotos
I have been using zoom focusing for years.. auto focus just doesn’t know what I want to focus on.. the only thing on my camera is the ISO… Oh .. and I like old n vintage lens..
No ! Not only from 35mm and shorter ! I often use fx 55mm, 60mm and 65mm which are great focal length for street !!! You can use up to 135mm for street, longer focal length will be for very special use, most often I use from 14 mm to 65mm focal length Lenses.
Sadly that's the trouble these days, a technique that's been around since Lenses were invented and 'photographers' don't know about it, technology makes people lazy and ignorant, it's one of the first things I learned in the 70's, you forgot to mention Hyperfocal Focusing as it goes hand in hand....Then there's general optimum F stop you should use.....All the old street photographers used this technique, it's a no brainer.
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I have the same set up, X-Pro 1 + TT 23mm just to do the same, old school zone focus and shoot without any worry.
IMO the good thing about the new inexpensive lenses is that you don't have to mess with the adapters and the risks involved in buying old used stuff.
Amazing! Such a nice lens
I love your videos. Not only the things I can learn, but also your incredibly humorous presentation. Also, your videos encourage me to experiment... Thank you so much
Thanks Frank, really appreciate the feedback, happy shooting!
I've been running my Fuji XT3 in B&W film sims with my 79 Olympus G. Zuiko (radioactive) 50 1.4 lens, I overall have 100% forgotten all about new gear and tech. If it calls for it, my Viltrox 75 1.2 modern lens handles weddings, portraits and more serious work alongside my stabilized 16-80,. At the drop of a hat I have a full manual street camera with manual dials. Its a MASSIVE win. Especially given the performance of the Zuiko glass and how affordable it is! More people need to be investing in these old fast primes, many have produced some of the worlds most famous images.
Thanks for explaining zone focusing and taking the fear out of manual focus
Another very useful video George for me as someone starting out on street photography with my m4/3rds kit.
Fantastic!
This is exactly why my native Nikon Z glass has been sitting on the shelf and I've bought several m mount Voigtlander lenses.
My hit ratio has gone up dramatically.
9:02 OMG he's staring into my soul 😵💫
Ironically enough, I’ve had that TTArtisan lens you mentioned sitting in my EBay cart since I was wanting to pair it with my new XT-30ii. I mostly do street photography while riding around on my bike and wanted to give a manual lens a go. This video has inspired to pull the trigger. As always, thanks George.
Amazing news, best of luck with that combo!
I found aquireing focus with my 40mm Voigtländer works really great but frankly only in low light. on a bright day i really suck with it lol also focusing at 1.2 is much easier than stoped down but only in low light. but in my defence i shoot the mayority of my pic in lower light situations.
Perfect timing for me! I'm searching for some vintage lenses for my sony a7ii and trying to learn a bit more about them. I don't know what focal length to get, either 35mm or 50mm. I'd prefer the 35mm but for now I can't find any that are around the same price as the 50s and are for rangefinders.
Perfect! SLR lenses are a nice affordable way to start, the Canon range of L39 lenses are beautiful but do take some time to track down clean copies
Great video. Explained the concept really well. Even I could understand it!
Quick question:
I'm looking at getting back into photography and am looking at going the micro four thirds route as I like the compact nature of these cameras. I understand that a focal length of ~17mm on an M43 would give similar to a full frame 35mm. Are there any other issues likely to arise when using zonal focussing on an M43 setup?
Thanks very much!
Great video. Thank you for showing the lovely interaction with your subject. I think that I am a bit shy, and stepping into that interaction may be a hard obstacle for some of us.
Thank you! And I think you can hear from my voice and nervous laugh I struggle a bit too, but it's something I'm working on
You can do this with any AF lens without markers with a hyperfocal distance calculator like photopills, the issue is some camera brands like panasonic don't show you where you are when manual focusing, they only show a useless flower and mouintain so you need to use another distance meter app to learn you exact focus distance.
That's the case with all mirrorless lenses I believe as they use non-linear focus by wire focus rings. Makes you want to throw it all in for a DSLR 😂
Love my Hanimex 35/2.8 and Soligor 28/2.8 in M42 mount on the Z7ii.😎
It's a good option. Fix manual focus and keep your shooting distances consistent. The same effect can also be achieved with an AF lens set to a fixed MF too.
The only issue I've found with old school lenses on smaller format mirrorless is their equivalent focal lengths are too high and therefore too zoomed in for my shooting style. My photography is typically done at 14-25mm.
Is that 14-25 full frame? Very wide! I know a 24mm on crop does about 36mm which is good enough for this technique
@@GeorgeHolden nah nah! M43! so it's about 28mm.
Hello George, I’ve been researching the 35mm rangefinder lens options for my Sony A7C, but there’s a lot of info on “field curvature” issues with small lenses. Meaning, the corners will be sharper than the center, because the Sony sensors have some filters in front of them and behave differently. Whenever a rangefinder lens has a protruding rear glass. Have you experienced that problem with your 35mm M39 lens? Thanks!
7:41 Stop, Hammer Time
Nice Minolta camera and lens! I use them with M43. I don't have a film body for them though, lol
Thanks! You definitely should try find one, love my Minolta 😄
@@GeorgeHoldenI finally bought a Minolta X-700, it came with the MD 35-70mm f3.5 macro and a Tokina RMC 100-300mm F5.6
Love the camera and the features.
A problem with pretty much any type of lens adapter is poor manufacturing quality, infinity focus will be misaligned, so the accuracy of the DOF scale goes with it. So, on mirrorless digital (which is more unforgiving than film anyway), it is hard to make zone focusing work, unless one only uses a specific lens, learning how the (inaccurate) scales work on it.
I've measured and tested this set up and it works beautifully at the right close focus distance
Lumix S5ii and iiX are pretty good with AF to be honest
Very true, still fun tho
You could write in the description of the video the name of the lenses you are talking about, or on the video itself make a small inscription in the corner which lens you use or show. Because it would help viewers who don't understand English
Hi, I do have multi-language subtitles which I can confirm are accurate - which language do you speak? If it isn't included I can add it to the video. For reference I only reference the Minolta MD 28mm f/2.8 and the Canon L39 35mm f/2.8
@@GeorgeHolden I speak Russian and Ukrainian. I'm sure there are many people on your channel who also speak these languages.
Thanks I have no added those and will make sure I do on future videos too@@mond1s-197
Is there a conversion chart somewhere where I can use these manual lenses (I have a minolta) on a crop sensor? Does jt make a difference?
In terms of the focal lengths in will be a simple crop factor, if you mean the focal distances then I don't know of a specific chart. It might sound silly but what I've done in the past is set the focus distance on the lens and double checked with a tape measure that it is accurate. If it is then the close point is accurate and the furthest point is almost certain to be in focus if it's above 25ft, 50ft - infinity
crop sensor cameras have a smaller sensor compared to full frame which is equivalent to the size of 35mm film. I believe some apsc brands have a 1.5x crop factor and some have a 1.6x crop factor so, if you bought a lens for a 35mm film camera, for example a 50mm lens, the focal length would be either 75mm (1.5x crop) or 80mm (1.6x crop) depending on your camera brand.
@@1ilrx yes I’m pretty aware of this but my question is pointed at zone focusing and not crop, which I find there’s no conversion chart available other than what George’s tape measure technique.
I'd go with the tape measure, it's worked for me when adapting to full frame and I tested it on 7artisans lenses for micro four thirds and ttartisan for Fuji X. Then at least you see the results for yourself and can be sure when shooting@@christianmotos
Shots fired at Panasonic lol.
I have been using zoom focusing for years.. auto focus just doesn’t know what I want to focus on.. the only thing on my camera is the ISO…
Oh .. and I like old n vintage lens..
Same, ISO is the only thing that changes for me now
I don't need it. I don't need it
I NEEED IT!
I NEeEeEeEeEEEEeeed iiittt
No ! Not only from 35mm and shorter ! I often use fx 55mm, 60mm and 65mm which are great focal length for street !!! You can use up to 135mm for street, longer focal length will be for very special use, most often I use from 14 mm to 65mm focal length Lenses.
Bruh leave my Lumix alone 😂😂😂😂😂
I can't 😭
Sadly that's the trouble these days, a technique that's been around since Lenses were invented and 'photographers' don't know about it, technology makes people lazy and ignorant, it's one of the first things I learned in the 70's, you forgot to mention Hyperfocal Focusing as it goes hand in hand....Then there's general optimum F stop you should use.....All the old street photographers used this technique, it's a no brainer.
spend 10 min to just know mobile phones are great
But they're not 😂
Please stop with the autotranslate titles. It‘s bad.
Do you think just keep English titles then use translated subs? I've had good feedback on subtitles
@@GeorgeHolden yes they dont make any sense in german
@@tomrichter7979 Thank you I will keep that in mind and just translate subtitles rather than full data
@@GeorgeHolden cool thx :)
Man, really, I remember you few months ago and your nose was smaller, be careful bro, great photos anyways.
What does that mean?