[Scott_Tarlow]

So I haven't done much photography, but I really like taking pictures, and I have had an E-PL1 for a few weeks( used an old olympus e300 before that). I think the 14-42mm kit lens really is ok, but after a bunch of online research I found so many lenses that can fit on the pen, but they don't auto focus. Specifically, I want to get some prime lenses (like 50mm, and some wide angle ones). Specifically I was thinking about getting the Cannon 50mm 1.8, but the auto focus will be disabled on my camera. How hard is it to manual focus? I think I will be using it for mostly non fast moving objects, but I have never really used manual focus as my primary shooting method. So I guess my question is, How many of you turn off the auto focus, and what difficulties do you have when shooting with AF off?

 

[audioser]

Manual focus at f1.8 is hard, but not impossible. At f2.8 it shouldn't be a problem, and at f2 it should be possible with some practice. Remember that the 50mm will become a 100 f1.8 on your camera, which will be even harder to manually focus.....
Also, the focus ring on the Canon f1.8 is quite small and not really designed for lots of manual focussing....why not try a nikon ai prime? They have much bigger focus rings which will make mf'ing a bit easier, and they are very very sharp. And made out of metal and thus very tough, as opposed to the plastic Canon. Ebay is your friend for those, just make sure you don't buy anything with dust inside it.....
I am a DSLR user, and a friend of mine has a 50 f1.4. That's impossible to manual focus for portraits, even if you're on a tripod, and the other person is holding very still. Depth of Field is just too shallow....
Hope that helps.

 

[Scott_Tarlow]

Thanks for the reply!, I am still not sure, but this olympus kit lens is really pissing me off, and I am still a novice. The camera is amazing, and has good manual focus support, but i might check out some nikon primes. The good thing about the pen is you can buy a 15 dollar adapter for about any lens as long as your willing to manual focus. I think ill be buying a 17mm pancake, even though everyone says the 20mm pancake is way better, I can get the olympus 17mm for 150 dollars less. Still dunno what to do, wish there were some cheaper primes for 4/3 or m4/3 ( I could buy a lecia 50mm prime for about a grand I guess, but to me thats way too expensive).

 

[audioser]

Not a problem! The 17mm pancake would be a great choice, as it's very well priced and the effective focal length of around 35mm is what some of the best street photographers have shot all their work on-it's a great all purpose lens. 
I'd also mention to avoid the canon fd primes-they are not very sharp, and another bonus of the nikons is that if you ever buy a nikon dslr, you can mount them straight up and they work great. Go here for a list of every nikon lens ever made, the ai and ai-s lenses are the ones to get. With a 50 f1.8 or 35 f2 as well as your pancake you'd have all the lenses you'd ever need.
Good luck, and let me know how you do. 

 

[Scott_Tarlow]

I bought the 17mm pancake with viewfinder for 230 shipped, perhaps i will sell it and buy the 20mm once i get better. Until I get better, I am not going to gripe about the uber quality lenses. I think I am going to buy some of the vintage range finder lenses instead of getting some of the old nikon or cannon primes. Its amazing what 70 bucks can get you when using a m4/3 camera. I think I will be having a lot of fun.

 

[LostOne.TR]

did you like using the viewfinder?  Considerable improvement from the built-in screen?

 

[MadCow]

In general, I would say manual focusing is hard, especially on modern DSLR cameras with small viewfinders. Even with focusing assistance (I am using a Canon 40D with KatzEye focusing screen), I wouldn't dream of manual focusing on any aperture wider than f/2.8.
 
However, in your case, I believe the E-PL1 has some sort of LCD magnification assist for manual focusing? If implemented well, it should be a big step from optical viewfinder manual focusing. In this case, I would think the answer depends a lot on how convenient you think it is to engage into the said view to focus, disengage to compose, and take shots?

 

[Scott_Tarlow]

Quote:

did you like using the viewfinder?  Considerable improvement from the built-in screen?

I will get it in a week or two, bought it on ebay. I got the optical viewfinder btw, not the digital one. 

 
Quote:

In general, I would say manual focusing is hard, especially on modern DSLR cameras with small viewfinders. Even with focusing assistance (I am using a Canon 40D with KatzEye focusing screen), I wouldn't dream of manual focusing on any aperture wider than f/2.8.
 
However, in your case, I believe the E-PL1 has some sort of LCD magnification assist for manual focusing? If implemented well, it should be a big step from optical viewfinder manual focusing. In this case, I would think the answer depends a lot on how convenient you think it is to engage into the said view to focus, disengage to compose, and take shots?

Its very easy to do actually, I did some shooting only on manual with the kit lens earlier today. It wasn't too bad, I am really thinking of buying vintage lenses.