Manual lenses with modern body - does it bother you?

[scott_murphy_photography]

<p>All I use on my D700 are AIS Nikkors. However I do not trust the focus confirmation, as it is wrong more times than it is right. I got an aftermarket microprism screen designed just for the D700 and it works perfectly, which is why I know the focus confirmation is not all that good. It was about $70 and the best investment I have made in the digital arena besides the battery pack for it. I am on track to get almost 3000 images with a single charge of both the batteries. Not surprising though, since I do not use any juice for auto exposure or autofocus.</p>

[roberto_patrizi]

<p>I'm coming from and old full manual system, and I've taken an EOS 50D + EF 85 1.8. I use my old lenses to expand possibilities. I have focus light confirmation, it doesn't work very well, but it is still acceptable, and is quite fast to focus is this way. I can achieve the best results with live view (but it needs some time) but my preferred way to go is setting hyperfocal or using the dof scale provided on the lens barrel. I like it better when used 1 stop lower than suggested, and this is a very quick way to setup a shot.<br>

I miss dof scale provided on the lens barrel (or at least an electronics version that show on the display/wiewfinder the sharp distances reange) of new lenses (EF 85 1.8).<br>

I miss dichroic mirror on viewfinder on my new camera.<br>

The best quality comes from my old 50 1.8, great lens, still usable, but autofucus is very fast, you can't beat it!</p>

[kam_kozalak]

<p>More than half of my lenses are MF (from film days). I also manually focus my AF lenses. All with a D200 body. I have no diffuclty with focusing; the diopter correction on the camera did wonders for me. The MF primes are inexpensive, sturdy, and have great picture quality. <br>

However, my preferences are an outcome of what I shoot. If you are into action photography then you would naturally prefer AF.</p>

[don_copeland]

<p>Get the Katz split screen for some of the Nikons. D700 for mine. The camera needed a slight calibration and they talked me through it on the phone. Excellent product and excellent personal service; the owner gave me her cellphone number and helped me calibrate it on a Saturday. They truly love what they do and so you get a great product and great service. </p>

[carl_becker2]

<p>After spending much time on Bjorn's site it appears that the D700 sensor can work very well with the older manual focus lenses and have reduced CA over the sensor of a D200 and other sensors. Seems like all is not in the lens. Some of the older AF lenses do in fact focus as fast as or faster than a new AF-S lens. I think it is very important not to generalize about the use of a lens with the D700 type sensors until a user has tested them out for their needs.</p>

[Landrum Kelly]

<p>I have to second Scott Murphy's emphasis on the need to get the proper focusing screen(s) for whatever camera you might be using. I prefer one with the diagonal split image, but others can be effective as well, depending on the equipment and conditions..</p>

<p>--Lannie</p>