Adapters with focus confirmation: do they work fine?

[pdesopo]

So far I've only bought adapters without any focus confirmation. I was wondering if an adapter with focus confirmation actually works and what to expect.
Does the focus confirmation make it possible to use, for instance, a old Helios 44 with the auto-switch button on my 7D and then take advantages of the 7D AF system or I'm misunderstanding?

Thanks.

[pst]

[pdesopo]

Thank you pst.
I was thinking to try one of these adapters, as I find very difficult to shoot manually, if not impossible when it comes to take sport or wild life pictures.
So far what hold me back to buy one adapter like that is some posts I read sometimes ago on other forums (cannot remember which). Someone were pointing at the risk that comes with these adapters as they may damage the electronic part on the camera. Is that true?

P.S. yeah, I made some confusion about the auto switch button, thanks for clarifying that.

[pst]

You are brave! Shooting sports and wildlife with MF
Yes, I think AF-confirm might help a bit, but IMHO I think it would be much better to use an AF lens. Especially when you have the 7D with great AF sensor anyway.

The stories on damaging the electronics, well, I read them too. Are they true, I don't know, but let's say they are so rare, that I don't think it's really a problem.

[pdesopo]

[peterqd]

Hi Pietro, I don't think the AF confirm beep will help you much with sport pictures. It might be more useful for wildlife if you have a little more time, but it's not what you're hoping for I imagine. It takes me just as long to focus with the beep as it does with a microprism screen, because there's a range of "in-focus" distance when the AF beeps. The first beep happens at different places depending on which way you turn the dial, so you're never certain that you've hit the right spot. And the sensor won't beep at all if the lens is stopped down above f8 in good light, lower if the light is poor. I've given up relying on the beeps and I don't notice them now. For action shots the best thing is to try to anticipate where the action will be and prefocus there, so that you're ready to take the shot. Higher shutter speeds are usually necessary for action shots, but remember the extra depth of field you get with higher f stops.

Still, I guess you have to try one for yourself to make up your own mind. I've never heard of anyone damaging the camera electrics with a chipped adapter, We have many members who use them and not one has reported any problems, I'm sure we would have heard about it by now!

[vanilla437]

i have problem with helios 44M and M42-EOS(focus confirm) adapter on my canon 450D! I used extension tube with this lens and i can focus(focus beeping) just on f2 - f4! why?

[peterqd]

[vanilla437]

beeping just on f2 - f4! on f5.6 - f16 is not beeping! Ok, i try with flash

[pdesopo]

[meanrat]

I'm quite new in the Manual Focus scene and have recently tried an adapter with focus confirmation. It actually does not work. Especially at wide open. Some would say it only works at wide open because there's much light coming into the lens so the focus indicator is more able to see if the picture will be sharp.

But the thing is, at wide open you have a small DOF and the focus has to be 100% exact for the photo to be its sharpest. With a focus indicator it is not exact enough. I took a photo with focus indicator of my son, zoomed in on his eyelashes and I could not see the each individual lashes. Instead it was a brown haze. When I shot it without the focus confirmation and used my own senses, I could see each individual lashes for the result was much and much sharper.

Also, without zooming in you could see in my photo-editor software that the photo's were blurry. So at wide open the photo's are just plain useless.

I used the Porst 55mm Color Reflex f1.4 at wide open for this test. Focus was done on the eyes.


The girl, with focus confirmation


The boy, without focus confirmation.

Of course the boy's picture is taken closer, but the eyes of the girl are just plain blurry, in my opinion.

[visualopsins]

The AF confirm chips have improved from the days of smoking cameras & inaccurate confirmation. Today's AF confirm chips, such as the "Dandelion", utilize the more accurate AF sensing available in later dSLRs. The only known problem is the AF chips do not work with some of the latest cameras such as Canon 5DIII -- AF chip makers are working on new versions...

Personally, I prefer no AF chip -- I find the blinking AF points in the viewfinder to be too distracting, and, I get lazy and don't look as closely at viewfinder as I should for best results. After my second time trying AF chip, I again decide without chip is better for me.

AF chip confirmation isn't going to help manual focus any quicker. In fact, looking for focus points to light can be slower than looking at actual focus. There may be some advantage with cameras that will actuate shutter when a focus point lights (with focus-confirmation beep).

[mackeral]

The chips definitely don't work with newer models, the t4i included

[SonicScot]

[SonicScot]