The term "bokeh" is commonly found when reading about photography. I would like to discuss bokeh in this series of articles. I don't intend to cover all aspects of bokeh, and I realize that not all would agree with my opinions. So you should view this as my personal opinions, and not as facts.
When using the word "bokeh", one normally means the nature of out-of-focus rendering. How the lens renders objects that are out of focus, the bokeh, depends on a number of factors, for example, the lens itself, the objects photographed, and settings like the focus distance and the aperture.
It does not make sense to say that "a lens has bokeh", or that "there is bokeh in a photograph". Rather, the term can be used to describe the out of focus rendering, e.g., "this lens gives me good bokeh", or "in this photo, the bokeh is distracting".
Showing posts with label nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AIS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AIS. Show all posts
Sunday, 7 August 2011
Sunday, 16 January 2011
GH2: Magnified focus with legacy lenses
The Panasonic Lumix GH2 represents an evolution from the original GH1, which not only includes better video quality, but also better ergonomics. One example is the possibility to use the click wheel to select magnified focus assist mode when using legacy lenses. With the GH1, this mode was available through two button presses: Left arrow key followed by the down arrow key.
On the GH2, it is much simpler. Normally the rear control wheel controls the aperture (in A mode), and the exposure compensation. Switching between these two is done by pressing the click wheel.
When using a legacy lens, however, the camera cannot control the aperture anyway, so the default function of the control wheel is to adjust the exposure compensation. However, Panasonic has added a new function on the GH2: Pressing the control wheel once brings up the magnified focus assist view. You can exit the magnified view by pressing the control wheel again, or by half pressing the shutter release button.
I will demonstrate how to do this.
To use a legacy lens, you will first need to make sure the camera operates when a non-compatible lens is attached. This is done by setting the "Shoot without lens" option. You'll find this option under the custom options (with the "C" and wrench symbol). Here is the location in the menu:
As an example, I am using the manual focus Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AIS lens. This is a classic, cheap and light lens. It has a pancake characteristic, however, with the adapter it is still not very compact.
To attach such a lens, you will also need a Nikon to M4/3 adapter. Here's how to attach the adapter and the lens to the GH2 camera:
In the next demonstration video, you can see that I use the magnified focus assist view. In this mode, rotating the control wheel changes between 5x and 10x magnification. You can also use the arrow keys to move the enlarged area.
The magnified view can also be brought up by pressing the touch screen. However, since I usually have the thumb near the rear click wheel, I find it much easier to use this function for focus assist.
When focusing, you will normally want to use a large aperture. E.g., f/1.8 for the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AIS in my example. It is easiest to verify that the focus is correct when the aperture is large, since the depth of focus is the smallest.
On the other hand, when actually taking the photo, you'll often want to close down the aperture for extra sharpness. Hence, you end up adjusting the aperture ring on the lens back and forth all the time.
Virtually all cameras do this process automatically. But when using legacy lenses on a Micro Four Thirds camera, you must set the largest aperture manually when focusing, and then stop down the aperture before taking the picture.
On the GH2, it is much simpler. Normally the rear control wheel controls the aperture (in A mode), and the exposure compensation. Switching between these two is done by pressing the click wheel.
When using a legacy lens, however, the camera cannot control the aperture anyway, so the default function of the control wheel is to adjust the exposure compensation. However, Panasonic has added a new function on the GH2: Pressing the control wheel once brings up the magnified focus assist view. You can exit the magnified view by pressing the control wheel again, or by half pressing the shutter release button.
I will demonstrate how to do this.
To use a legacy lens, you will first need to make sure the camera operates when a non-compatible lens is attached. This is done by setting the "Shoot without lens" option. You'll find this option under the custom options (with the "C" and wrench symbol). Here is the location in the menu:
As an example, I am using the manual focus Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AIS lens. This is a classic, cheap and light lens. It has a pancake characteristic, however, with the adapter it is still not very compact.
To attach such a lens, you will also need a Nikon to M4/3 adapter. Here's how to attach the adapter and the lens to the GH2 camera:
In the next demonstration video, you can see that I use the magnified focus assist view. In this mode, rotating the control wheel changes between 5x and 10x magnification. You can also use the arrow keys to move the enlarged area.
The magnified view can also be brought up by pressing the touch screen. However, since I usually have the thumb near the rear click wheel, I find it much easier to use this function for focus assist.
When focusing, you will normally want to use a large aperture. E.g., f/1.8 for the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AIS in my example. It is easiest to verify that the focus is correct when the aperture is large, since the depth of focus is the smallest.
On the other hand, when actually taking the photo, you'll often want to close down the aperture for extra sharpness. Hence, you end up adjusting the aperture ring on the lens back and forth all the time.
Virtually all cameras do this process automatically. But when using legacy lenses on a Micro Four Thirds camera, you must set the largest aperture manually when focusing, and then stop down the aperture before taking the picture.
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