With all of the recent talk about manual focusing on dark rides, i thought i would open this open to you manual-focusers (THAT would be an interesting abbreviation) to see how you go about it on dark rides. ; You have the floor...
1) Get a feel for the lens' manual focus--without looking, have a rough idea where different 'focus distances' (no clue if that's the correct term of art) are on the ring. 2) With that established, in a particular scene, turn the ring to the general area where it should based upon the distance of your camera to the show scene you're photographing. ; From there, make fine-tuned adjustments on burst mode (I should have noted this first, but shoot on your fastest burst mode - be mindful of your location when doing this. ; Your fellow passengers may not like it if you do it all the way through PotC; on Pan or Haunted Mansion, you only have your spouse/fellow passenger to worry about). 3) ; If you cannot see the scene well enough to know whether it's in focus due to your viewfinder being too small or the scene too dark (caretaker and helmsman come to mind) move the focus ring back and forth in the pre-determined "zone of proper focus" while you hold down the shutter. ; After exiting the attraction, marvel at how many horrendously out of focus shots you got, and jump for joy when you see that one that you just nailed. 4) Be patient. ; You may have some attractions where you won't nail a single shot. ; The next time, you may get in a groove and get 15 keepers. ; In my opinion, this method is more successful than "hunting and hoping" (letting the AF hunt while you hope that it finally catches a focus). Hopefully I articulated this somewhat well. ; I was intimidated before I first tried, but it was really not that bad. ;
Great idea Tim! ; Tom, thanks for the tips, I'll have to see if I am courageous enough come Pixelmania to give this a try.
That caretaker is DEAD! ; Ha! ; Finally, I'm going to get that sucker. ; I just picked up my newest camera body today - shocked that it came in the day before my trip (leaving tomorrow)...now I'm armed with ISO12800, an F1.4 lens, built-in stabilization, and 7fps burst. ; Can't wait!! ; Manual focus will likely be a must for me on dark rides - autofocus is always a mixed bag even on the best of cameras when it gets that dark. ; I actually sort of like manual focus - brings me back to my 1970's and days of using my Pentax ME Super...which didn't HAVE autofocus. ; It's still surprisingly natural for me too - I tend to spin the focus ring quickly to just past the point of focus, then slowly rotate back until I've got it.
I tend to auto focus for the most part but when I do use manual I like to let the ride movement bring the subject into focus. ; I shot a couple dark rides with my Epson rangefinder that way- just presetting the focus to about 15' away and snapped pictures when I got to the right place.
I was wondering if someone else who may have used Nikon's rangefinder on their dSLR was going to chime in; but I see you mentioned the Epson....
Ah yes...I tried B&H first, 4 days ago...I even called them to see if there was ANY way they could get the camera to me before my trip. ; All bets were off, and I was actually giving up on buying it before the cruise...I was just going to pick it up at B&H when I got back. ; Then today, I'm out getting my haircut, and walked past the Sony Style store in the mall on the way out...and there it is. ; In stock, just arrived Friday, only two of them, and just stuck out for display that day. ; I couldn't resist - it was like kismet/fate/karma...the last possible moment before my cruise, and there it is. ; So I had to grab it. Sony DSLR-A550, body only. ; 14.2MP APS-C, CMOS sensor, ISO200-12800, 5 fps burst with tracking focus, 7 fps burst with fixed focus, 4 fps in live view, dual live view mode (second sensor & main sensor), 921K pixel 3" 180 degree tiltable LCD, wireless flash control, eyestart focus, built-in adjustable HDR mode with auto merge and alignment. Should be lots of fun! ; Can't wait to start playing with it tomorrow on the ship and in the Caribbean...then at Pixelmania too!
