Now Proud Owner of S 006

[rollsman4]

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  I just made the jump to the S 006 and the 70/2.5 lens.  I gave up my Pentax 645Z which I liked very much. I also wanted to get the S 006 and Now it arrived today.  Any suggestions from S users is appreciated.  I am semi- retired from Shooting after 42 years and Now look forward to doing to do it for Leisure and some paying jobs. My experience has been shooting weddings, Social gatherings,portraits and some landscapes.

    I do shoot with a Custom Flash bracket and I also shoot OCF . I will try the S out this weekend.  Thank you,  Dennis

[albertknappmd]

congratulations and welcome to the club..

 

Albert     

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[rollsman4]

congratulations and welcome to the club..

 

Albert     

 

congratulations and welcome to the club..

 

Albert     

 

 Thank you. Looking forward to using it and getting some good info from the forum members

[mgrayson3]

My advice - figure out where infinity focus really is - do it in good light, checking at high magnification (long press of thumb wheel while reviewing a picture or do it tethered). Mark, or remember exactly where on the infinity symbol you are. I've found AF in less than perfect light gets confused at long distances and will often focus at 15 meters instead. So if the light is poor and you focus on something distant, look at the lens barrel to be sure it focused out far enough. f/2.5 is a shallow DoF, and if the light is poor, and you're already at ISO 800, you'll want to be wide open. ISO 1600 is fine for a grainy B&W, but If I want color, I try to keep it at 800 or under.

 

Anyway, that's my experience with the 006 and the 35, 70, and 120.

 

And shoot shoot shoot! Boy, is it a fun camera to use!

 

Best,

 

Matt

[rollsman4]

My advice - figure out where infinity focus really is - do it in good light, checking at high magnification (long press of thumb wheel while reviewing a picture or do it tethered). Mark, or remember exactly where on the infinity symbol you are. I've found AF in less than perfect light gets confused at long distances and will often focus at 15 meters instead. So if the light is poor and you focus on something distant, look at the lens barrel to be sure it focused out far enough. f/2.5 is a shallow DoF, and if the light is poor, and you're already at ISO 800, you'll want to be wide open. ISO 1600 is fine for a grainy B&W, but If I want color, I try to keep it at 800 or under.

 

Anyway, that's my experience with the 006 and the 35, 70, and 120.

 

And shoot shoot shoot! Boy, is it a fun camera to use!

 

Best,

 

Matt

 

My advice - figure out where infinity focus really is - do it in good light, checking at high magnification (long press of thumb wheel while reviewing a picture or do it tethered). Mark, or remember exactly where on the infinity symbol you are. I've found AF in less than perfect light gets confused at long distances and will often focus at 15 meters instead. So if the light is poor and you focus on something distant, look at the lens barrel to be sure it focused out far enough. f/2.5 is a shallow DoF, and if the light is poor, and you're already at ISO 800, you'll want to be wide open. ISO 1600 is fine for a grainy B&W, but If I want color, I try to keep it at 800 or under.

 

Anyway, that's my experience with the 006 and the 35, 70, and 120.

 

And shoot shoot shoot! Boy, is it a fun camera to use!

 

Best,

 

Matt

 

 

 

Hi Matt, Thank you for the suggestions.  Are you referring to MF or AF ?   I never had to do this on my other cameras.  Dennis

[mgrayson3]

Hi Matt, Thank you for the suggestions.  Are you referring to MF or AF ?   I never had to do this on my other cameras.  Dennis

 

If you can MF in low light, then no problem. I'm talking about the AF in low light and only at or near infinity. It's just not as reliable as I'd hope. On a tripod at f/8 and a wide-ish lens, it's not a problem, but if you're using the 120/2.5 wide open and you want to focus on a distant building or mountain, it's worth checking that the AF really did get out there. I have the split prism screen, and I still can't tell perfect focus from slightly off for distant objects, which is why I rely on the lens barrel.

 

Maybe it's my camera or lenses? One "problem" is that the optics are so good that when the focus is perfect, it's jaw-droppingly sharp. I compared directly with some tech cam pictures and the S holds up.

 

It's also good to get used to what a sharp picture looks like on the LCD. It won't look quite as sharp as it really is, so don't be fooled into thinking that nothing is perfect. I'm often VERY pleasantly surprised when I see the image on a big monitor at 200%. Same for high ISO noise. It looks worse on the LCD.

 

--Matt

[ZHNL]

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Yes, S AF at long distance is crap. The problem carries to S007 as well. Never shooting without checking if you shoot AF at wide aperture. Nowdays, I use MF almost 100% if time permit under decent light.

 

Remember the infinity barrel location is a good trick and a must for any manual lens (pretty much for any system.)     

[rollsman4]

Yes, S AF at long distance is crap. The problem carries to S007 as well. Never shooting without checking if you shoot AF at wide aperture. Nowdays, I use MF almost 100% if time permit under decent light.

 

Remember the infinity barrel location is a good trick and a must for any manual lens (pretty much for any system.)     

 

  I appreciate that info. I will check it out. I have already learned something about the S . Hope to learn from others experience.  Dennis

[rollsman4]

congratulations and welcome to the club..

 

Albert     

 

 

  Thank you

[tom0511]

If you can MF in low light, then no problem. I'm talking about the AF in low light and only at or near infinity. It's just not as reliable as I'd hope. On a tripod at f/8 and a wide-ish lens, it's not a problem, but if you're using the 120/2.5 wide open and you want to focus on a distant building or mountain, it's worth checking that the AF really did get out there. I have the split prism screen, and I still can't tell perfect focus from slightly off for distant objects, which is why I rely on the lens barrel.

 

Maybe it's my camera or lenses? One "problem" is that the optics are so good that when the focus is perfect, it's jaw-droppingly sharp. I compared directly with some tech cam pictures and the S holds up.

 

It's also good to get used to what a sharp picture looks like on the LCD. It won't look quite as sharp as it really is, so don't be fooled into thinking that nothing is perfect. I'm often VERY pleasantly surprised when I see the image on a big monitor at 200%. Same for high ISO noise. It looks worse on the LCD.

 

--Matt

 

I have not experienced this but then I dont shoot much at infinity . If I find the time I will check.

What I once had was a slight misscalibration in a S which leaded to slightly wrong manual focus: I dont remember if it was the S2 or the S006, I think it was the S2.