I've recently bought a Canon M50ii, which I think is an excellent little camera. I do a lot of air-to-ground photography from a light aircraft, and invariably the lens needs to be focussed on infinity. Auto focus is very hit and miss, it often tries to focus on the canopy, or a wing if it's in the picture. Manual focussing using the focus peaking can work, but it's a nuisance as I often nudge the lens between shots. What I'd really like is a manual focus lens which has an infinity stop so that I only need to turn the focus ring to its limit and I'm then assured it's focussed on infinity. Max aperture is not important, although let's say f4 minimum as high shutter speed and low ISO is important. In terms of focal length, ideally a zoom of say 30 to 100mm (in full frame terms, say 20 to 60mm for APS-C) would be best, but I could try a fixed focal length lens in the middle of this range. I'd prefer it to talk to the camera's metering system, but a completely manual lens would be feasible. Can anyone suggest any specific lenses which would suit? Thanks, Stuart
Not that I own or have used any of these lenses, but the first ones that spring to mind are Samyang. Have a quick look at the this and see if any would suit what you are looking for. - lenses reviews - LensTip.com Gary
Thanks, Gary. I'd forgotten that Samyang does manual focus lenses. Alas no zooms, but a selection of primes. The 50mm might do if I can't find an old Canon fit manual focus zoom.
Is anyone familiar with the Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC OS HSM? I suspect it has a focus ring that stops at infinity from looking at pictures of it, but reviews don't mention this aspect of its operation. Thanks
I would use gaffers tape to lock the infinity focus, If you do a Google search for 'list of efm lenses' there is a good one that comes up I'll be collecting my laptop from the repair later today so I can post the link Any lens can be put into manual focus just switch the M50 itself to Mf I think the only efm zooms are the canon ones the fastest being the 11-22mm but that's only f4 You can adapt EF efs and vintage M42 etc as well, though the vintage ones won't have data connection I find the pentagon 5omm f1.8 on the vintage side is a very sharp fast prime for very little money edit: https://lesdeuxpiedsdehors.com/en/canon-ef-m-lens-list/
Yes, that's the one. The video doesn't praise it much for optical performance at wider apertures, which is a shame. I notice that the manual focus ring goes past the infinity mark when he moves it, and also when he demonstrates the auto focus working, so maybe it isn't what I'd hoped. He comments that the Sigma 17-50 is better optically, and his review demonstrates that, but the focus ring shows the same movement past infinity. I figure this is probably due to the focus control system and common to all lenses with an autofocus function, so maybe I need to concentrate on finding a manual focus only lens.
Yes, I've tried taping the focus ring, but it's a bit messy and not guaranteed to reset to infinity if I switch off and on again, on the lenses I've tried. (Actually Olympus ones, which I've used for much longer than Canon.)
That site has a lot of lenses to consider! Very useful, thanks. One thing becoming apparent to me is that lenses without auto focus seem also to be without image stabilisation. Given the vibration in my small aircraft, that might be a snag.
infinity marking on a lens isn't always the best for infinity, it should be but i have found manual focusing on the furthest object at the lenses sharpest aperture is the best, i don't do much long distance landscape work mine is usually at closer distances in daylight or long telephoto on planets and moon my little M42 Pentacon 50mm ƒ1.8 is a very very sharp lens for regular and medium distance stuff, vintage lenses would be a good option esp to do some tests as they can hace very good optics and build but alas they wont have the data on the image. being a cheaper lens to buy, like £10-£30 it might be worth getting one and setting it to its infinity (tested of course) then gaffer taping it up, then if it works out you could keep that as your infinity lens did you have a chance to look at the efm link i put in the previous post, i have my macbook back now so i'm back up the speed some of the modern manual focus lenses do have some data have you tried other air to ground imaging facebook groups or sites, youtube for best recommendations on lenses for specific requirements? if you get a chance i'd be interested in seeing the type of image you shoot
I keep remembering my first camera in 1966, a Zenit 3M with an f2 Helios 58mm lens (39mm Leica screw). Turning the focus ring to its stop did give infinity focus, and somehow I expect that still to be the same. Now I know it isn't for autofocus lenses. That lens was basically a Russian Tessar copy, and worked well. I guess your Pentacon might be similar. I've got an M42 to Canon adapter as part of my bellows macro setup so I guess I could try any 42mm screw lens. I'll see if I can get one in the 35mm - 50mm range, as you say it's a cheap experiment. Yes I did follow your efm link, thanks. Lots to look at, but the manual focus lenses look worth a try, eg Neewer, 7Artisans, etc. Also pretty cheap and a stright fit without adapters. I've never looked for sites of groups doing aerial photography - never occurred to me. But I will now, thanks for the heads-up. If you'd like to see some of my photos, some are here - https://s-ord.uk/index.php/aerial-photography/ One day I'll get the time to upload more! A couple of days ago I was flying over Windermere using my M50ii and the kit 15-45mm. Barely 1 in 100 was tolerably sharp, which prompted me to start this thread. The photos on my site were all with Olympus gear.
I do have a Helios 44m-4 58mm ƒ2 and it does stop on the infinity mark. i'll have to take that out and do an infinity test or a sharpness test on long distance. the serial number starts with 87........ i'm not sure if that means its a 1987 produced one, i know some of the russian ones are year dated on the serial number
