So I bought a flash and a trigger.

[Stryno]

I bought a flash and a trigger as well as a 60" convertible umbrella, on a 9 ft stand. I had to drag it out around sunset and try it. I was ready to throw the manual focus into the ravine behind us, but after a couple hundred shots, half managed to be in focus. 85mm prime full frame on Nikon D5100 crop sensor, full manual settings, manual Focus.

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Does your D5100 have the manual focus assist?
My D7000 has a green LED in the view finder to help with manual focusing. I use it a lot since my eyes are old and can't focus just by looking thru the viewfinder. I think the lighting in these is fine, but the focus is off just a tad. From all I've read here on the forum about portrait photography, it's all about focusing on the eyes.
Sure wish I had someone that would consent to being a model around here. Can't talk my wife into it and the kids are gone now.
Manually focusing is all about practice I've found.

[Stryno]

No I am getting no assist from the camera.. the only way I can get it, is to zoom in on the Display, set Focus then go back to view finder to frame the shot.
I would not have bought a manual if I knew that the Camera wouldn't signal me in any way.

[Shadowman]

Was the camera hunting for an area to focus on that you switched to manual?

[Stryno]

The Lens is only Manual. or did I miss the question?

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Which lens is it?
Some of the more knowledgeable people here may be able to help knowing what model it is.

[Stryno]

Rokinon 1.4/85mm AS IF w/conformation Chip

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Do I assume correctly that you've read your camera manual and understand what it says about using manual focus lenses or non-native lenses?
I thought I'd read my manual but found I missed flipping this switch:



When I did, all of a sudden I found I had the LED helper in the view finder.

[Stryno]

Ug, I dont have that switch.

[AlwaysOnAuto]

That's OK.
Have you delved into the menu much?
I know mine is daunting for both my cameras but, the more I get into them, little by little, the more comfortable I am with them. Six weeks ago I couldn't have taken that shot of the switch that I posted.
They may have made that switch a software switch, if you catch my meaning.
I'm pretty sure there are some others here who have and use your same camera and I bet they'll be able to help you more than I.

As an added note, have you seen the tutorial here on portrait photography?

[Manfred M]

The Samyang lenses (Rokinon is one of the numerous rebrands that they use) are 100% manual focus. There are no CPU contacts so there is no lens to camera communications either. With the D5100 you pretty well have to use the rear screen and magnify it to have a decent chance of nailing focus. The 85mm focal length on the crop sensor is going to make life even tougher to nail the focus.

It's a bit of a case you get what you pay for and there is a reason for the "reasonable" price. Unfortunately, the modern Nikon (and Canon) focusing screens are terrible for manual focusing.

I have a 8mm Samyang fisheye for the D90, but at least with that lens, the focal length is so short that virtually everything from a few inches in front of the lens to infinity is in focus, so I can live with it. Without the CPU connectivity, I do trial and error shooting and use the histogram to judge my exposure.

I'm not sure what to tell you, but suspect that you are going to find it a tough lens to shoot with and as long as you can live with the lack of spontaneity and the occasional out of focus shot, you should be okay. It's really meant as full-frame lens, but will still be a decent portrait lens so long as you can get back far enough to get the framing you want.

[Stryno]

Found it, it is a software switch, and was one of those things were the menu gives you 6 options but only 5 display unless you scroll down and then you see MF, which usually you try to stay away from, lol.

Grumpydiver thanks for the comments, I bought the lens for repo which allows me to tether shoot, but this samyang has the CPU connection and monitoring signal, it coast me about $70 more. And for my repo work I was actually wanting to crop the lens and adjust to a larger focal range, in this case 127-128 is fine, 100 to 105 would have been better, but for the price I went with this lens, and I was told cheaper lenses fail more at the corners which in reproduction is something I can't live with so croping the corners of a cheap 85, for me trumps paying more for a cheap 105... If that makes since? The portraits are more of a case, of why not :-)

[Manfred M]

If you are shooting tethered, then focus should not be a problem. As long as you stop down far enough, you'll loose the softness and vignetting in the corners. I wasn't aware that Samyang has started putting CPU contacts in; that certainly helps on the metering.

[Stryno]

Yes, which for repo is exactly what I want, and the lens works perfect tethered. No rush no problem does its job. But for a bit of sport I like to explore all forms of photography, repo work lacks any artistic freedom, since the goal is complete accracy.

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Glad to see you found the switch. Hope it makes a difference when used now.

[Manfred M]

Glad to see you found the switch. Hope it makes a difference when used now.

The switch is totally irrelevant on a manual focus lens.

The switch in your image is only available on the higher end (D7xxx series) and pro cameras that have a in-camera focus motor and is used with the older "D" series lenses that did not have a built-in focus motor in the lens. A screw drive in the camera engages with a pin on the lens to autofocus those lenses. The switch engages and disengages that camera motor. The D3xxx and D5xxx series of cameras don't have this feature and can only autofocus the newer "G" series lenses.

The M/A - M switch that you show on the lens is found on the newer "G series lenses and you need to set that to the "M" position to disengage the in-lens autofocus motor to focus that lens manually.

The Samyang lenses have no in-lens focus motor and no screw drive focus mechanism, so must be focuses 100% manually.

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Thanks for that info Manfred.
I was thinking it might have something to do with the green LED focus assist that the D7k has when using manual lenses. The green dot in the view finder...I find it very helpful focusing my manual lenses, but I wasn't sure if Chuck's camera had the same assist available via a menu selection.

[Stryno]

Thanks for that info Manfred.
I was thinking it might have something to do with the green LED focus assist that the D7k has when using manual lenses. The green dot in the view finder...I find it very helpful focusing my manual lenses, but I wasn't sure if Chuck's camera had the same assist available via a menu selection.

It does but when that lens is attached the camera switches itself to MF, the green dot is of help, it flickers some for no reason, so I thought maybe it was for something else, now that I am conscious of it, I can focus to a point that it stays on, and it makes since. so I am looking forward to the golden hour. which is just about here! going to try it out, Ill post my results! now to talk someone into modeling!

[Stryno]

So get this, a 5 yr old boy is less willing to cooperate than a 9 year old girl. It was fun, but a bundle of energy, about the time I found focus he was off to something else, but I used that green light and it helped reel in the focus. It is strange though, the light gives false positives, but if I get it close to focus, then wait to see the light, it is in focus, but if I just use the light, it still may not be in focus.

[AlwaysOnAuto]

I like the shot with the truck the best. Practice will get you more comfortable with how the light works or rather how the camera uses the light as an indicator of focus.
Is there a focus box in the view finder?
Are you aware of how the camera actually measures focus?
Until I learned how my camera focused I couldn't take an in-focus shot to save my life.