Is there a manual focus lens with a focus tab that will work with Fuji?

[Craig268]

This is a great solution for shooting from hip. Markings are a little garish but easily masked.

You can't get more inconspicuous than with a lens like this. 18mm, very small/thin, no focus needed, f6.3, $70, Fuji mount.



https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...oAhBgVKemw9hKsaAgNcEALw_wcB&lsft=BI:514&smp=y

 

[canonbcguy]

Hi

FWIW the TTartisan 50mm f1.2 has such a tab.

The Ricoh cameras also have an interesting feature some speak well of, whereby you can set focus to snap easily to a given distance - e.g. 1metre (you choose). You then get used to gauging how far away that is.

Best

Ian

Thanks. 50mm on a crop sensor is too long for my use I think.

I've heard of Ricoh's snapfocus. I think only 1 setting is too limiting though. What if I see something 8 or 12 feet away? AF-S would be even tricker at those distances. Though maybe a combination of hyperfocal and 1-metre might do.

 

[Howard V]

Mine has two smaller tabs that are easy to find by touch. This is a very well-constructed and sharp lens for $98. It comes in Fuji X mount. No need for an adapter.


Tabs visible on focusing ring

 

[Tom Schum]

Yes, I'm finding that wide angles are rare. I'm wondering about using a Samyang 12 on our bodies, but am worried that's TOO wide.

I tried some street once. I had a 21mm manual lens on the camera, and had pre-set focus and aperture and locked them in place with black electrical tape. It was during the day so I could set the F-stop to a high number (F8). ISO has to be a little higher but the shots are fairly sharp this way.

I put a remote release (the electric one) in my pocket and hung the camera on my chest like a regular tourist.

People noticed the camera but didn't give it a second look because my hand was not on it.

This strategy worked well for me and I got a few good shots.

Reviewing images later, I came to the conclusion that I should have used my 12mm F2 Samyang/Rokinon lens and cropped more. There are plenty of megapixels there.

A 21mm lens on Fuji is equal to 33mm, wide but not terribly wide if you aim correctly. Hard to do when you have the camera on a neck strap on your neck and aren't touching it with your hands.

A 12mm lens on Fuji is equal to 18mm, much easier to aim. Also much easier to get it set to a good hyperfocal distance. The range of clarity is larger with this lens.

You won't get clinical perfection optically, but you will get some really good street shots and that's what it is all about anyway.

So, if I do it again I'll be using my 12mm.

--
Tom Schum
Cooper: a person who makes wooden containers from timber.

 

[Truman Prevatt]

I saw and handled a Leica with a manual focus lens that had a focus "tab" that could be operated quickly by "feel" using a finger. I thought that was cool.

I was told that in a street photography situation, the photographer could estimate the distance to a subject and get a quick shoot from the hip with a reasonable chance of focus accuracy by rotating the focus tab by "memory" to the position of proper focus.

e.g. if I spot someone 10 feet away, I might be able to quickly swing the focus tab to say, "6 o'clock", the position that, with lots of practice, I know to be the right position for the lens to focus at something 10 feet away. And shoot.

Questions:

1) Is this a useful technique? Or have today's autofocus mechanisms made that an obsolete method of shooting?

I usually shot with AF-S with a single spot. I am finding that I cannot shoot from the hip with any accuracy on the street because I can't guarantee I'd hit my subject with the AF spot without looking through the viewfinder or LCD. And most of my smaller bodies (X100/X100F, X-E1/E2) don't have flippy screens. And even with the one that does (X-T10), I feel I'd be spotted if I was holding the camera looking down at the screen.

2) what lenses could work like this for Fuji? (Fuji and 3rd-party or vintage). I believe most Fuji lenses are focus-by-wire and thus this won't work well like this, even if I attach such a tab to the focus ring.

Clicked aperture allow one to set aperture. A tab on the focus ring allows one to dev3lop the muscle memory to focus by feel. This can be a valuable skill to have. Of course it cannot be done with a focus by wire lens.

You sort of answered your own question. A Leica M adapter and a Leica lens with a tab.

 

[VfxByArt]

Leica lenses have focusing tabs.... you can get a leica M to Fiji X mount adapter from fuji or other 3rs part like Hawks Factory.

 

[canonbcguy]

Yes, I'm finding that wide angles are rare. I'm wondering about using a Samyang 12 on our bodies, but am worried that's TOO wide.

I tried some street once. I had a 21mm manual lens on the camera, and had pre-set focus and aperture and locked them in place with black electrical tape. It was during the day so I could set the F-stop to a high number (F8). ISO has to be a little higher but the shots are fairly sharp this way.

I put a remote release (the electric one) in my pocket and hung the camera on my chest like a regular tourist.

People noticed the camera but didn't give it a second look because my hand was not on it.

This strategy worked well for me and I got a few good shots.

Reviewing images later, I came to the conclusion that I should have used my 12mm F2 Samyang/Rokinon lens and cropped more. There are plenty of megapixels there.

A 21mm lens on Fuji is equal to 33mm, wide but not terribly wide if you aim correctly. Hard to do when you have the camera on a neck strap on your neck and aren't touching it with your hands.

A 12mm lens on Fuji is equal to 18mm, much easier to aim. Also much easier to get it set to a good hyperfocal distance. The range of clarity is larger with this lens.

You won't get clinical perfection optically, but you will get some really good street shots and that's what it is all about anyway.

So, if I do it again I'll be using my 12mm.

That's a cool trick. I have dabbled with this myself using this technique too (I have an electronic trigger as well as a traditional cable release).

I'd like to shoot night scenes too though and a wide aperture makes things especially tricky. I had trouble with my 10-24 at f/4 (max aperture).

I think f/2, even on a 12mm lens, might be hard to nail focus. Maybe for this kind of street, pin-sharp isn't needed. I will have to give this technique more practice as I didn't give it a fair shake back when I tried it.