BLACKOUT Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 Just put together this in-expensive out fit for some surfing shots on the local surf beach's ,to test the water and see if it worked OK.. A very cheap EPL1 body, Pentax 42mm screw 300mm f4, elcheapo screw to M43 adapter, VF-2 View Module. Gives me 600mm in equivalent view angle to 35mm. No shortage of sun and good light so easy to run low ISO'S with a decent shutter speed. So the burning question !!!!! I'm happy to manual focus on a hefty tripod locked down, B U T - I want to change the body to an upgraded model with focus peaking in a M43 mount for the generous magnification you get with 35mm based full frame telephoto lens, yes the body will do both stills and capture video. I've never done any work with the assist of focus peaking. I'm open to any brand, so looking for recommendations for focus peaking abilities OR would you adapt a 5" monitor with focus peaking abilities. Using the VF-2 was a challenge not the fastest refresh rate and stuttered a bit, so looking for a really clean view and accurate focus peaking..would be great... Thanks for your in put.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webrunner5 Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 I have seen Sony A7r's, the original ones, for under 700 dollars. That is a buy to be honest. But with that lens no handheld stuff. The Olympus EM1, original one, is damn nice also and has good IBIS. 450 bucks for them at times. I think focus peaking is almost a must with that lens. Now years ago when they had split Fresnel focusing screens well no LoL. I'd go with the EM1. You already have the adapter. And for that kind of money they are a steal. A poor mans birding camera. Even at sports they are great. Plus there are tons of cheap m4/3 lenses out. You can even use the 4/3 lenses on the EM1. I had 3 of them and they worked great on mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLACKOUT Posted August 8, 2018 Author Share Posted August 8, 2018 Seen some nice 4/3 lens including the 300 f2.8 on sale at times - was the genuine Olympus 4/3 to M4/3 adapter a dead set good bit of gear.(Nikon and Canon will probably release something for their legacy mounts when the mirrorless bodies hit as well)!! Ever have ti use the focus peaking in an accurate situation?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webrunner5 Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 The adapter is even weather proof. Pretty well made. I think the main body is aluminum. Couple of different ones. One is Silver, and two are Black. I had the Black one, the MMF-3. Matches the black color of 4/3 lenses also. They are pretty big lenses though compared to the m4/3 stuff. Eh not so much bigger, they are, but heaver. Built like a tank . https://www.apotelyt.com/photo-accessory/four-thirds-adapter Read the reviews. All 5 or 4 stars. Nuff said. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/842941-REG/Olympus_V3230500W000_MMF_3_Four_Thirds_Adapter.html "Ever have ti" not sure what that is?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLACKOUT Posted August 9, 2018 Author Share Posted August 9, 2018 6 hours ago, webrunner5 said: The adapter is even weather proof. Pretty well made. I think the main body is aluminum. Couple of different ones. One is Silver, and two are Black. I had the Black one, the MMF-3. Matches the black color of 4/3 lenses also. They are pretty big lenses though compared to the m4/3 stuff. Eh not so much bigger, they are, but heaver. Built like a tank . https://www.apotelyt.com/photo-accessory/four-thirds-adapter Read the reviews. All 5 or 4 stars. Nuff said. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/842941-REG/Olympus_V3230500W000_MMF_3_Four_Thirds_Adapter.html "Ever have ti" not sure what that is?? Sorry my bad spelling, should read "have you ever had to" use focus peaking accurately.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webrunner5 Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 21 minutes ago, BLACKOUT said: Sorry my bad spelling, should read "have you ever had to" use focus peaking accurately.. Yeah on the Sony A7r I had with 36mp you had better use focus peaking I can tell you that. Not much room for error when it was that high MP on photos with a long lens. And for video if you are using a fast aperture lens wide open you have Got to use focus peaking. I use it all the time on my A7s. You can set the color and intensity the way you want it on them. Once you have it you wonder how you lived without it. But it is not perfect. That is why they use tape measures in the Pro stuff. And why there is a hook at the sensor plane on Cine cameras. Mostly for focus pullers. The old "stand on the mark" thingy. ? Now don't confuse Zebras with Focus Peaking. They are totally different animals. Zebras are for overexposure, Peaking is for Focus. Zebras have been around forever, Peaking is kind of new. Trouble is they can kind of look alike in a small LCD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmmbeats Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 Focus peaking is a great tool. I use it a lot for live events, etc., where you have to focus on fast moving things. But it is a bit hit and miss to be honest (my experience is with the GH4. It doesn't always detect focus, depending on conditions (sorry I can't be more specific, I haven't quite worked out what factors make it more likely to work), and even on a high setting it isn't accurate enough to set focus for a very shallow dof. I'm not trying to put you off using it, just mentioning some of the limitations. Best used in conjunction with other tools in my experience. Btw - monochrome preview is an excellent partner tool with peaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLACKOUT Posted August 9, 2018 Author Share Posted August 9, 2018 I'm lucky with being in good light and having a few stops of aperture down the barrel, the monochrome preview sounds visually very workable. Read/looked at some reviews on different bodies colours and peaking strength's ,but will remain in the M4/3 , 4/3 domain . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldolega Posted August 12, 2018 Share Posted August 12, 2018 Panasonic's peaking never let me down, so long as I fed it a scene with at least decent lighting and contrast. Which it sounds like you will definitely be doing, I imagine surfers against waves will give more than enough contrasty edges for the camera to detect and display peaking on. So maybe look for a G7, G85, or GH4. Alternatively, I can recommend the Lilliput A5 as a cheap-and-cheerful little 5" monitor with good peaking. It's not the brightest thing out there though, so to use in bright beach sun you would probably need some sort of extended hood. Upgrading the camera is probably smarter. If you get a 4K model, you'll be able to crop a bit (or use ETC mode), which will give you even more reach. Plop a cheap magnetic loupe on the LCD, switch to monochrome display mode with blue or red peaking, and off you go. mercer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no_connection Posted August 12, 2018 Share Posted August 12, 2018 8 hours ago, aldolega said: I imagine surfers against waves will give more than enough contrasty edges for the camera to detect and display peaking on. That would be the problem with it. Enough contrast and it will be "in focus" even tho it's not. Granted I have not used peaking on many cameras but those I have it sounded useful but about 5min later I turned it off cause it gave false indication it was in focus. Maybe peaking is good enough to know the difference nowdays but you really need to test it on the subject you use. If you use peaking as an aid to see where is goes off and rack focus and get a feel for where the middle and focus really is. That is how I do it without peaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLACKOUT Posted August 13, 2018 Author Share Posted August 13, 2018 On 8/12/2018 at 2:01 PM, aldolega said: Panasonic's peaking never let me down, so long as I fed it a scene with at least decent lighting and contrast. Which it sounds like you will definitely be doing, I imagine surfers against waves will give more than enough contrasty edges for the camera to detect and display peaking on. So maybe look for a G7, G85, or GH4. Alternatively, I can recommend the Lilliput A5 as a cheap-and-cheerful little 5" monitor with good peaking. It's not the brightest thing out there though, so to use in bright beach sun you would probably need some sort of extended hood. Upgrading the camera is probably smarter. If you get a 4K model, you'll be able to crop a bit (or use ETC mode), which will give you even more reach. Plop a cheap magnetic loupe on the LCD, switch to monochrome display mode with blue or red peaking, and off you go. Thanks for the info,I'll have a couple of stops down from max aperture, polariser and lowest ISO available versus shutter speed . I'll look into the Lilliput accessories for an extended hood and get a demo and go rom there. Thanks................. 18 hours ago, no_connection said: That would be the problem with it. Enough contrast and it will be "in focus" even tho it's not. Granted I have not used peaking on many cameras but those I have it sounded useful but about 5min later I turned it off cause it gave false indication it was in focus. Maybe peaking is good enough to know the difference nowdays but you really need to test it on the subject you use. If you use peaking as an aid to see where is goes off and rack focus and get a feel for where the middle and focus really is. That is how I do it without peaking. Generally speaking as the riders progress into the frame there nearly all tracking faster to left or right out of frame rather than hurting at to speed toward you, so I'm laying it down to the peaking aid and a good depth of field.. I'll be able to place a few marks on the lens as focus reference points - and surf breaks generally all develop over the same reef/break.SO a bit repeatable in the method with wind/tide changes eventually alter the area Spoke with a couple of pros's some time ago and a general comment was that after you've been with a long lens for long enough you'll get the feel for focus from how big your subject actually sizes in the frame of your viewfinder. Summer down here is not far off..Looking forward to what comes of it.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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