New vintage prime - 105mm f/2.5

B

Blue_Esq

Senior Member
So, I finally pulled the trigger and purchased the longer focal length prime that I've been wanting. Having only a 50mm f/1.8, I wanted another prime in the traditional portrait focal lengths. I picked up a 105mm f/2.5 AI-S on eBay for about $219 (USD). I'm working on getting better at the manual focusing and have struggled a bit with the limited view finder on my D5300. Thanks to the advise of a number of people here, I have purchased a split prism focusing screen that has yet to arrive. Apart from that, does anyone have any advice regarding the use of this classic lens.

Below are a couple of the shots where I seem to actually be able to get the proper focus for once.

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R

RON_RIP

Senior Member
Good start. I had this lens a long time ago and foolishly sold it. I would just separate my subjects from the background by moving them farther away from background allowing you to use the smaller aperture to gain improved bokah and let your subject stand out more. Sometimes hard to do when shooting in situ, I know.
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Manual focus is something you have to practice a bit, and expect some rejects casualties. In the older film times we used to bracket for light so now just try focus bracketing. This means taking more than one picture and either moving in or out while shooting, you can then select the right shot for focus. There will be times when your best shot (subject expression) will be out of focus but I know that it can be improved with practice.

Just remember that the depth of field is always better back of the subject. So if you want good insurance, try focusing just a tiny bit forward (tip of the nose let's say) and see if you get better shots. Of course when you are fully open, you should be focusing on the front eye.
 
B

Blue_Esq

Senior Member
Thanks, Don. I was using live view as I had also read that. The problem for me is that when I do that and zoom in to confirm focus, I end up losing composition because the subject moves. My daughter does not yet understand the art of posing.
 
B

Blue_Esq

Senior Member
Thank you for the advice, Marcel. I'll give that a try. I can already see that I'm going to love the lens when I get better at nailing the focus. The keeper rate is painfully low right now, but the IQ and rendition of the lens are pretty great.
 
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