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Manual lenses vs autofocus lenses?


5 years 7 months ago #600789 by TGonzo
I'm considering some lenses that are manual focus only.  Will your camera still meter light and show where you need to be at for correct exposure?  
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5 years 7 months ago #600811 by Nikon Shooter
The light meter and the AF are in the camera. The AF will still
confirm focus.
Light is free… capturing it is not!
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5 years 7 months ago #600851 by Ozzie_Traveller
G'day TG

Back 1000 yrs ago in film camera days - all lenses were manual focus until maybe the 80s when some autofocus started to be seen. During this time the exposure side of lens operations ticked along 'just beaut' and should continue for you today :)

Phil from the great land Downunder
www.flickr.com/photos/ozzie_traveller/sets/
Phil from the great land Downunder
www.flickr.com/photos/ozzie_traveller/sets/
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5 years 7 months ago #600929 by KCook
If native mount, yes. If you are adapting an old lens, AE, or even automatic aperture stop down may not work.

Kelly
Canon 50D, Olympus PL2
kellycook.zenfolio.com/
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5 years 7 months ago #601779 by fmw
I use the Fuji X mirrorless system.  I have some adapted lenses from Pentax, Nikon, Zeiss, Leitz and Yashica that have no electronics at all.  I can use aperture priority or manual metering with any of them.  All focus aids work as well.  I believe the same would be true for any other mirrorless brand.  Back in the 80's I had no idea how good the Yashica lenses were.  I know now, however.

I have no experience with adapting SLR lenses of non-native mount to DSLR's so I won't go there.  I think in most cases an adapter with optics is necessary and I wouldn't recommend that.  Mirrorless cameras have a short distance between the back of the lens and the sensor so there is room for adapters that are akin to extension tubes but with the appropriate mounts on them.  No optics required.  We mirrorless users often use adapted lenses with differing mounts.  Not so easy with DSLR's
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5 years 7 months ago #601793 by Ozzie_Traveller
G'day fmw

Agreed mate ... I also have some manual lenses that I bolt onto my Panny mirrorless from time to time, and it's fun to play with them as well. However, I do like the speed of the electronics today, so I don't do it all that often :(

Like you, I have - again long ago - come to appreciate that second-tier camera / lens makers can and do produce stuff that performs as good as the big names but for 1/2- their price ... and Yashica was one of those makers

I think that 'good photography' is more the skill of the user than the high price of the equipment used - something that seems overlooked by many today

Phil from the great land Downunder
Phil from the great land Downunder
www.flickr.com/photos/ozzie_traveller/sets/
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5 years 7 months ago #602088 by fmw
The high end Yashica lenses in the 80's and 90's were made by Kyocera, the same company that made most of the Zeiss lenses for 35mm SLR's.  They are really very good.  My Yashica 80-200 f4 zoom is the best zoom lens I have ever used in that focal length range and I have used some really good ones including the Nikon 80-200 f2.8.  I also have the 135mm f2.8 which sharp, contrasty and virtually free of aberrations.  Yashica was never a big brand in 35mm but I have to say their lenses were amazing.

I'm too old to worry about speed so I use them regularly.  I have a perfectly competent Fuji telephoto zoom but I prefer the Yashica because it is better optically.
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5 years 7 months ago #602107 by Screamin Scott
Since the OP hasn't indicated what camera they have, we can only assume how effective a manual focus lens would work for them, given the limitations of lots of models.
Scott Ditzel Photography

www.flickr.com/photos/screaminscott/
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5 years 7 months ago #602140 by Screamin Scott
I believe Tomika made a number of manual focus lenses for Yashica.... I still have the older screw mount Yashica cameras, both SLR  rangefinder
Scott Ditzel Photography

www.flickr.com/photos/screaminscott/
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5 years 7 months ago #602150 by fmw

Screamin Scott wrote: I believe Tomika made a number of manual focus lenses for Yashica.... I still have the older screw mount Yashica cameras, both SLR  rangefinder


I'm sure you are correct.  Yashica and Contax shared the same bayonet mount.  Folks knew you could use either brand of lens on either camera.  The Yashica lenses were marked Yashica or YUS.  The Contax lenses were marked Zeiss.  They weren't identical in terms of design but they both had the same build quality and comparable performance.  One could own a Contax and mount Yashica lenses for the same result as they would have mounting the more expensive Zeiss branded lenses.  Or vice, versa, of course.

I have two Zeiss lenses.  My 300mm Tele-Tessar is one of the few SLR lenses made in Germany by Zeiss.  They also had them made by Kyocera.  I also have a Zeiss Touit 32mm lens for my Fuji system which was made in Japan by Cosina.  Both are outstanding optics.  And the Yashicas are just as good.
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