pre-setting FL on manual zoom lenses

I am curious to know how others handle this conundrum. When using manual zoom lenses on my K5iis I dial in the mid way FL as best of a bad job average as, if birding, its impractical to zoom in to frame the shot, check the FL and dial it in, and expect the bird to still be there! - what do others do?

---

"All you ever gotta do is be a good man one time to one woman"
(Janis Joplin)

KIT: K5iis, DAWR18-55mm,FA4.5 80-320mm, Mitsuki 5.6 400mm, M1.7 50mm, M1.4 50mm, M2.8 28mm, Miranda M2.8 28mm, M3.5 135mm, M1.4 200mm, Vivitar S13.5 70-210mm, Vivitar A 2.8 90mm macro,
Sigma150-500mm F5-6.3 APO DG HSM.

Its better to dial in a shorter focal length than a longer one. Depending on what range your zoom has, your "average" FL might be a good compromise, or you could be getting too much compensation.

---

Peter



My Flickr page

Given that the bird is moving quickly and a high shutter speed is needed, I turn off the SR system thus avoiding the slight delay waiting for it to stabilise.

---

Best regards, John

Are you getting that delay with the K1 John ? I have not noticed any shake reduction delay, unlike my previous camera the K10

---

Peter



My Flickr page

Hi - I think the SR is another topic (albeit an interesting one) , I have it switched off the whole time as, unless I need to grab a photo in very low light, my understanding is it hinders sharpness at higher speeds. Re the FL setting, these are for stationary birds. I did not know it is better to have the dialed in FL below the likely zoom used for the shot, than above. Why is that though (not questioning it, my brain just needs to understand why )

---

"All you ever gotta do is be a good man one time to one woman"
(Janis Joplin)

KIT: K5iis, DAWR18-55mm,FA4.5 80-320mm, Mitsuki 5.6 400mm, M1.7 50mm, M1.4 50mm, M2.8 28mm, Miranda M2.8 28mm, M3.5 135mm, M1.4 200mm, Vivitar S13.5 70-210mm, Vivitar A 2.8 90mm macro,
Sigma150-500mm F5-6.3 APO DG HSM.

John is right for panning shots, as SR is counterproductive then. When I had the Sigma 150-500 I would for static shots dial in the length I would most likely use which was generally 450mm; I used a preset for this lens but cannot remember if the length was recorded as well so worth a try. Results were good.

The camera detects movement (camera shake) and adjusts the sensor to compensate. When it knows you are using a 50mm lens it makes a small adjustment to the sensor. When it knows you are using a 250mm it makes a larger adjustment to the sensor. If you are using say a 50-250mm zoom, set the SR at 150mm and take a "shakey" picture at 50mm, the camera over compensates and actually introduces more blur to your shot. Now if you set the SR to 50mm and took a shot at 150 you would not get enough compensation, but this is less noticable than over-compensation. This is how I have always understood how it works anyhow.

Of course the optimum is to set it at the actual FL you are using, but if this is impractical, then setting it to the lowest FL that you feel you are likely to be using may be better than setting it to an average.

---

Peter



My Flickr page

Just got back to this thread after New Year celebrations!!!!!- thanks for the insight Peter - that makes sense to me now.

---

"All you ever gotta do is be a good man one time to one woman"
(Janis Joplin)

KIT: K5iis, DAWR18-55mm,FA4.5 80-320mm, Mitsuki 5.6 400mm, M1.7 50mm, M1.4 50mm, M2.8 28mm, Miranda M2.8 28mm, M3.5 135mm, M1.4 200mm, Vivitar S13.5 70-210mm, Vivitar A 2.8 90mm macro,
Sigma150-500mm F5-6.3 APO DG HSM.