Sean Esopenko

Manual Focus Confidence

June 27, 2010

I’ve been shooting with a Zeiss manual focus lens for almost a month now and I can safely say my manual focusing ability is getting better. I’ve previously had frustrations with auto-focus on wide angle lenses because I usually want to focus on a single point and doing that is tough. I either have to pick the point with the camera’s controls, or focus the center point and re-frame. Picking a focus point wastes valuable time and re-framing often leads to out of focus shots.

It takes me about a second, sometimes two, to get a shot in focus with the Zeiss. When I try to manually focus my Canon lenses it’s horrible. The focus rings have “slip-play” where I can move them slightly and the focus mechanism inside isn’t moving. There’s a gross grinding feeling of plastic-on-plastic, even on many of the higher end L lenses when I handle them in a store.

So overall I am VERY satisfied with my Zeiss 35mm F2 Distagon. I am no longer nervous to bring it for an event and I’m sure I will consistently get many good shots from this lens. After using it for a month I have to say again, it’s highly recommended.

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