The X-T2 Has Arrived

On Mon, 11 Jul 2016 11:23:49 -0700, Savageduck
wrote:

On 2016-07-11 17:37:27 +0000, Alfred Molon said:

In article 201607101138195400-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom, Savageduck
says...
Long before the advent of stabilized lenses or the inclusion of OBIS,
somehow we managed to produce good, even great images.

By that logic not even autofocus is needed, because you can take
pictures also without autofocus.

I survived for years without AF, and even in this age of AF I still use
manual focus when appropriate or necessary.

I was shocked to learn recently that AF has issues under certain
conditions. I was taking some shots at a concert, and there's no
question that the lighting and some objects on the stage would be a
problem, but there was absolutely nothing I could do, no setting I
could use, that would get AF to work properly. I tried focusing on
everything, but every one of them was OoF. I finally went to MF, and
blind as I am, there was a huge improvement from the first try. I'll
post the photos at some point, and maybe someone can give me some
hints about why I had so much trouble, and maybe some solutions other
than MF. I know I grabbed the wrong lens, but its focus is fine tuned
in the body, and it works fine in normal lighting. It's just too slow
for this sort of thing.

On 7/11/2016 2:23 PM, Savageduck wrote:
On 2016-07-11 17:37:27 +0000, Alfred Molon said:

In article 201607101138195400-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom, Savageduck
says...
Long before the advent of stabilized lenses or the inclusion of OBIS,
somehow we managed to produce good, even great images.

By that logic not even autofocus is needed, because you can take
pictures also without autofocus.

I survived for years without AF, and even in this age of AF I still use
manual focus when appropriate or necessary.


Yep! I do not use autofocus for: most of my macro shots; and a lot of my
landscapes. There are also other occasions, but it depends on the shot.

--
PeterN

In article , Bill W
wrote:

Long before the advent of stabilized lenses or the inclusion of OBIS,
somehow we managed to produce good, even great images.

By that logic not even autofocus is needed, because you can take
pictures also without autofocus.

I survived for years without AF, and even in this age of AF I still use
manual focus when appropriate or necessary.

I was shocked to learn recently that AF has issues under certain
conditions.

everything does.

there are always edge cases.

I was taking some shots at a concert, and there's no
question that the lighting and some objects on the stage would be a
problem, but there was absolutely nothing I could do, no setting I
could use, that would get AF to work properly. I tried focusing on
everything, but every one of them was OoF. I finally went to MF, and
blind as I am, there was a huge improvement from the first try. I'll
post the photos at some point, and maybe someone can give me some
hints about why I had so much trouble, and maybe some solutions other
than MF. I know I grabbed the wrong lens, but its focus is fine tuned
in the body, and it works fine in normal lighting. It's just too slow
for this sort of thing.

what focusing mode were you using?

i recently shot a dance performance. the folds in the curtains behind
the stage had high contrast edges, so the camera kept locking on to
*that* rather than the very agile dancers.

On Mon, 11 Jul 2016 16:52:13 -0400, nospam
wrote:

In article , Bill W
wrote:

Long before the advent of stabilized lenses or the inclusion of OBIS,
somehow we managed to produce good, even great images.

By that logic not even autofocus is needed, because you can take
pictures also without autofocus.

I survived for years without AF, and even in this age of AF I still use
manual focus when appropriate or necessary.

I was shocked to learn recently that AF has issues under certain
conditions.

everything does.

there are always edge cases.

I was taking some shots at a concert, and there's no
question that the lighting and some objects on the stage would be a
problem, but there was absolutely nothing I could do, no setting I
could use, that would get AF to work properly. I tried focusing on
everything, but every one of them was OoF. I finally went to MF, and
blind as I am, there was a huge improvement from the first try. I'll
post the photos at some point, and maybe someone can give me some
hints about why I had so much trouble, and maybe some solutions other
than MF. I know I grabbed the wrong lens, but its focus is fine tuned
in the body, and it works fine in normal lighting. It's just too slow
for this sort of thing.

what focusing mode were you using?

Spot, single, on the ones I kept, so that's where I got the best
results, as bad as they were. It was also set to release priority, but
I never shot until the focus confirmation lit up, and stayed lit.

i recently shot a dance performance. the folds in the curtains behind
the stage had high contrast edges, so the camera kept locking on to
*that* rather than the very agile dancers.

I tried the amps, keyboard, individual musicians, drums, but nothing
worked. It's either one of those things where nothing will work, or I
need to recheck the fine focus adjustment, even though I think it's
right.

In article , Bill W
wrote:

I was shocked to learn recently that AF has issues under certain
conditions.

everything does.

there are always edge cases.

I was taking some shots at a concert, and there's no
question that the lighting and some objects on the stage would be a
problem, but there was absolutely nothing I could do, no setting I
could use, that would get AF to work properly. I tried focusing on
everything, but every one of them was OoF. I finally went to MF, and
blind as I am, there was a huge improvement from the first try. I'll
post the photos at some point, and maybe someone can give me some
hints about why I had so much trouble, and maybe some solutions other
than MF. I know I grabbed the wrong lens, but its focus is fine tuned
in the body, and it works fine in normal lighting. It's just too slow
for this sort of thing.

what focusing mode were you using?

Spot, single, on the ones I kept, so that's where I got the best
results, as bad as they were. It was also set to release priority, but
I never shot until the focus confirmation lit up, and stayed lit.

i recently shot a dance performance. the folds in the curtains behind
the stage had high contrast edges, so the camera kept locking on to
*that* rather than the very agile dancers.

I tried the amps, keyboard, individual musicians, drums, but nothing
worked. It's either one of those things where nothing will work, or I
need to recheck the fine focus adjustment, even though I think it's
right.

odd. that should have worked.

do you have focus lock?

On Mon, 11 Jul 2016 17:33:24 -0400, nospam
wrote:

In article , Bill W
wrote:

I was shocked to learn recently that AF has issues under certain
conditions.

everything does.

there are always edge cases.

I was taking some shots at a concert, and there's no
question that the lighting and some objects on the stage would be a
problem, but there was absolutely nothing I could do, no setting I
could use, that would get AF to work properly. I tried focusing on
everything, but every one of them was OoF. I finally went to MF, and
blind as I am, there was a huge improvement from the first try. I'll
post the photos at some point, and maybe someone can give me some
hints about why I had so much trouble, and maybe some solutions other
than MF. I know I grabbed the wrong lens, but its focus is fine tuned
in the body, and it works fine in normal lighting. It's just too slow
for this sort of thing.

what focusing mode were you using?

Spot, single, on the ones I kept, so that's where I got the best
results, as bad as they were. It was also set to release priority, but
I never shot until the focus confirmation lit up, and stayed lit.

i recently shot a dance performance. the folds in the curtains behind
the stage had high contrast edges, so the camera kept locking on to
*that* rather than the very agile dancers.

I tried the amps, keyboard, individual musicians, drums, but nothing
worked. It's either one of those things where nothing will work, or I
need to recheck the fine focus adjustment, even though I think it's
right.

odd. that should have worked.

do you have focus lock?

Yes, but holding the shutter halfway is also supposed to lock it. I'll
post the photos at some point, and I think it'll be clear that it
would be a difficult image for AF, but I do think I should recheck the
fine focus.

And I was mistaken about the lens - I had intended to experiment with
a longer, slower lens, but brought the 17-70 2.8-4 lens instead.

In article , Bill W
wrote:


I was shocked to learn recently that AF has issues under certain
conditions.

everything does.

there are always edge cases.

I was taking some shots at a concert, and there's no
question that the lighting and some objects on the stage would be a
problem, but there was absolutely nothing I could do, no setting I
could use, that would get AF to work properly. I tried focusing on
everything, but every one of them was OoF. I finally went to MF, and
blind as I am, there was a huge improvement from the first try. I'll
post the photos at some point, and maybe someone can give me some
hints about why I had so much trouble, and maybe some solutions other
than MF. I know I grabbed the wrong lens, but its focus is fine tuned
in the body, and it works fine in normal lighting. It's just too slow
for this sort of thing.

what focusing mode were you using?

Spot, single, on the ones I kept, so that's where I got the best
results, as bad as they were. It was also set to release priority, but
I never shot until the focus confirmation lit up, and stayed lit.

i recently shot a dance performance. the folds in the curtains behind
the stage had high contrast edges, so the camera kept locking on to
*that* rather than the very agile dancers.

I tried the amps, keyboard, individual musicians, drums, but nothing
worked. It's either one of those things where nothing will work, or I
need to recheck the fine focus adjustment, even though I think it's
right.

odd. that should have worked.

do you have focus lock?

Yes, but holding the shutter halfway is also supposed to lock it. I'll
post the photos at some point, and I think it'll be clear that it
would be a difficult image for AF, but I do think I should recheck the
fine focus.

it's always possible the calibration is off, but if it was, you'd see
it in most, if not every photo.

And I was mistaken about the lens - I had intended to experiment with
a longer, slower lens, but brought the 17-70 2.8-4 lens instead.

that should actually make focusing work better.

On Mon, 11 Jul 2016 13:23:31 -0700, Bill W
wrote:

On Mon, 11 Jul 2016 11:23:49 -0700, Savageduck
wrote:

On 2016-07-11 17:37:27 +0000, Alfred Molon said:

In article 201607101138195400-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom, Savageduck
says...
Long before the advent of stabilized lenses or the inclusion of OBIS,
somehow we managed to produce good, even great images.

By that logic not even autofocus is needed, because you can take
pictures also without autofocus.

I survived for years without AF, and even in this age of AF I still use
manual focus when appropriate or necessary.

I was shocked to learn recently that AF has issues under certain
conditions. I was taking some shots at a concert, and there's no
question that the lighting and some objects on the stage would be a
problem, but there was absolutely nothing I could do, no setting I
could use, that would get AF to work properly. I tried focusing on
everything, but every one of them was OoF. I finally went to MF, and
blind as I am, there was a huge improvement from the first try. I'll
post the photos at some point, and maybe someone can give me some
hints about why I had so much trouble, and maybe some solutions other
than MF. I know I grabbed the wrong lens, but its focus is fine tuned
in the body, and it works fine in normal lighting. It's just too slow
for this sort of thing.

What is the camera and lens you were using?
--

Regards,

Eric Stevens

On Tue, 12 Jul 2016 11:09:14 +1200, Eric Stevens
wrote:

On Mon, 11 Jul 2016 13:23:31 -0700, Bill W
wrote:

On Mon, 11 Jul 2016 11:23:49 -0700, Savageduck
wrote:

On 2016-07-11 17:37:27 +0000, Alfred Molon said:

In article 201607101138195400-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom, Savageduck
says...
Long before the advent of stabilized lenses or the inclusion of OBIS,
somehow we managed to produce good, even great images.

By that logic not even autofocus is needed, because you can take
pictures also without autofocus.

I survived for years without AF, and even in this age of AF I still use
manual focus when appropriate or necessary.

I was shocked to learn recently that AF has issues under certain
conditions. I was taking some shots at a concert, and there's no
question that the lighting and some objects on the stage would be a
problem, but there was absolutely nothing I could do, no setting I
could use, that would get AF to work properly. I tried focusing on
everything, but every one of them was OoF. I finally went to MF, and
blind as I am, there was a huge improvement from the first try. I'll
post the photos at some point, and maybe someone can give me some
hints about why I had so much trouble, and maybe some solutions other
than MF. I know I grabbed the wrong lens, but its focus is fine tuned
in the body, and it works fine in normal lighting. It's just too slow
for this sort of thing.

What is the camera and lens you were using?

The Pentax K3, with Sigma 17-70 2.8-4. Pentax is known for AF issues,
but mostly speed, not accuracy as far as I know. The more I think
about it, the more convinced I become that I screwed up the fine
focus. I'm just too lazy to set up that focus rig again. Like nospam
said, it should be OoF on all photos, and maybe I just haven't looked
closely enough at some other photos. I don't use that lens all that
often, plus the high ISO I was using might have made me more aware of
the focus issues. The MF photos came out surprisingly well, especially
the substantial crops.