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Old 12-02-2008, 02:12 PM
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KimberleyPhotography KimberleyPhotography is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Canada
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Unhappy *sigh*... Manually focusing 50mm on D40



So I knew, or at least thought I knew, what I would be getting into if I bought the 50mm f1.8 prime lense for my Nikon D40x. Manual Focus.

I googled the subject. Checked out exampls on flickr. Read everything I could about it before making the purchase. It came down to the wire when I found a good deal and decided to go for it. Now that I have it I feel like a failure. I cannot manual focus anything to save my life.

This becomes especially true when I try using the higher f-stops from f1.8-f2.8. And perhaps I am just too close to my subject and therefore there is only a razor thin plane that would be in focus thus making it difficult to focus on the correct spot.

Should I give up? Practice more? Only use apetures greater than f2.8. I bought it because its fast, if I can't use that function whats the point...

Any advice for increasing my learning curve on this lens? I cannot afford to step up to the D80/D90 although it may be in my future for 2010. Maybe I should just put it in a box until then because I really really hate when I think I have taken this great shot only to find out that the focus was wrong.

My purposes for buying this lens was for taking indoor shots of kids/families (my own, I'm not a pro and I'm not charging money). Maybe I should sell it and get a 50mm with the motor built in, I think Sigma has one?

Anyways I know some people on here have had great success with this and I am just wondering how you do it?? Did you need to take 1,000s of shots before you got it right?

Help
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Nikon D40x, kit lens 18-55mm, Nikon AF-S 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR, Nikon 50mm f1.8
My Photo Blog: http://kim-the-looking-glass.blogspot.com
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