Manual focusing ? Any tips

I have recently got myself a Pentax f1:1.7 50mm lens but of course back in the old days my film Pentax had a screen for manual focusing but my K7 is just plain. Now I know that different screens are obtainable at a price but are there any "tricks" "nacks" or "dodges" to help overcome this dificulty. Iv'e been training myself focusing on newsprint and high contrast squares and lines.

On my K-x when using manual lenses there's a 'beep' when the subject is in focus (leave camera in AF)...

There's also the 'catch in focus' feature... Often called 'Poor Mans AF'... Very useful once you get a handle on it although I personally found a bit of a learning curve...

First of all adjust your viewfinder magnification. It is critical to be correct. Then focusing with 50/1.7 becomes much easier.

Other thing is to focus from you to infinity... when the confirmation beeps, keep moving the ring slowly till the green hexagon is lit in the viewfinder. Continue to focus while holding the shutter half-pressed... when it disappears you are good to go.

For AF confirmation to work properly you need to ensure the AF is calibrated to the lens in use otherwise the camera may think it's in focus when in fact it's either front or back focussed

How can you calibrate the camera for a lens that doesn't have contacts and electronics to interact with the body?

Borislav, when I came to digital 3 years ago I had the same problem, lack of split screen viewfinder. The hexagon and beep arehelpful but I always found the display a bit hard to see. I ended up buying a split screen. For what it's worth, I did switch back to the normal screen about a year later, ie it gets easier.

-Johan

You could also use catch in focus, it's very good. I used it on a 600mm Sigma mirror to get these, scroll to the boats (zap cats) for a better example.
Also take a look through my Flickr for Zap cats, and btw most of my macro shots are taken using CIF including my avatar with a 50mm on tubes.

Get a box such as Cornflakes box, asprin box etc. and practice
focusing just by getting the writing on the box sharp enough to read.
Try to include something with writing on it in your photos.

LV magnified to 8 or 10X is the most accurate, but still not
spot on.

By turning the focussing wheel slowly and noting when the green hexagon comes on and goes off, and estimating the correct focus position somewhere between the two, you can get pretty close. As noted above, live view is probably the most accurate technique. Hold the camera rock steady in front of you and focus using an 8 or 10x view. Use a higher shutter speed to compensate for holding the camera like that.

If you are stopping down to f5.6 or smaller, you can get away with focusing 'by eye' with the regular focusing screen or simply ensuring the green hexagon is lit.

Live view is for for steady shots, personally after two shots of lv focusing i get too frustrated.
As i mentioned above, after adjusting the viewfinder diopter i solved all my manual focusing problems. Got no problems focusing either on 50 @ 1.7 or 600mm.
Especially after 100mm if you switch the lv it gets very funny, the camera shake reduction goes crazy. But as you increase the millimeters it gets easier to focus as the picture is bigger.

Liveview is best for subjects that don't move much in relation to the camera - you nail the focus in LV and then don't touch it until something changes. This is handy for shooting performers who are rooted to their mic stand, macro photography etc... but agree, a bit frustrating if you are roaming about with your camera or are shooting a moving subject!

I actually find seeing the shake reduction in action quite helpful, and of course you are reassured that you cannot take a picture before it fully engages. However on nailing the focus I often go out of LV and return to using the viewfinder (taking care not to move the camera much - dof usually allows a couple of inches breathing room).

I cannot wait to try the K30 with focus peaking and a faster refreshing LV mode, which will make all this much easier.

You use the master calibration setting and set it to that value when you attach that particular lens. not as automatic as lenses the camera can recognise and store the setting for but better than OOF pics

Exactly what i meant Not something i would to in long terms.
Manual Focusing is a bit tricky, but when you get used to it's not hard at all.

Smeggy, hope to see you at naked bike ride this year

Yes hope to be there for the third year running

Thanks to all who replyed. I'm almost an expert. Well nearly almost. Cheers