How do yuo do it! Manual 50mm question

Evening all. How do you folks get amqzing results with your manual focus 50mm lens? I have had a few good shots however , most of them are out of focus etc, Also when it is used in low light how do you focus or is it nar impossible to do this? thanks

Most of us use fast lenses, like the FA 50mm 1:1.4.

In low light, use a torch.

When using manual focus lenses ensure your dioptre is accurately set. I found that the hard way.

For scenics, very often, I use hyperfocal distance focusing with manual lenses.

Try enabling the 'catch in focus' settings until you get the hang of it.

See this thread

I use the beeping focus confirmation on my Samsung GX 10, works well and the noise helps in low light but on my Pentax K100 I put in a cheap ebay split focusing screen which did the job ok

If you are focusing very close, you might get back or front focusing.
I have it in ALL my MF lenses
I've used 50mm F1.7 with both a split prism focusing screen and the stock screen and then the focus confirmation and got same bad focus results.

Generally, when using MF lenses I use the focus confirmation and get good results, provided that the shutter speed is enough and that SR is adequate (dialed in right focal lenght) not to leave blur in the picture.

For low light, a focus screen with focusing aids (split image, micro prism) works better than the beepy thing (wont work at all).

I must also say, I've had some strange experiences with a Vivitar 28mm F2.5. Pretty sharp lens when its focused, but focusing it is pretty hard, the camera has fooled me many times. This hasn't happened with other lenses though.

Great thanks for the feedback

How can that be? Perhaps your dioptre is not adjusted correctly?

My understanding is that back/front focussing only affects AF lenses and AF focussing. Any lens focussed manually should reproduce what you see in the viewfinder unless the mechanical position of the mirror relative to the sensor is not accurate.