Using M240 to catch action

[jmahto]

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I disagree.  I recently shot pics of family toddlers using a Canon 5D and 85/1.8 wide open.  I could not have gotten that kind of subject isolation with a smartphone (I guess there are apps that fake shallow DOF but I haven't seen the results so I can't comment) nor could I have nailed focus using a Leica with similar lens at similar aperture given the sudden, unpredictable, erratic movement of the subjects. 

I don't think (I guess) anyone here disagrees that a good AF implementation makes catching action easier. The point of this thread (when I wrote the first post) was to make a point that M240 with manual focus lenses should not be discounted for this kind of use. In your case, if all I had was a manual focus 90mm then also I would have attempted the family toddler shot. You might get less keepers but those may have the look which you expect to get from your fav 90mm lens. 

[jmahto]

Another cat picture with M240 + 180APO3.4 (At this point my cat is the most active person/animal in my household )

 

I am more and more convinced by a better handling setup is more valuable than mere specs. It is shot at 1/45sec and I got sharp pic. 1:1 zoom shown. The only drawback is EVF lag. At some point MXX model's EVF won't have EVF lag and it will perfectly fine for me to be used with long lens. High ISO will be better but even M240's ISO3200 is no slouch (see 1:1 crop).

 

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1:1 crop

Edited April 10, 2018 by jmahto

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[bocaburger]

I don't think (I guess) anyone here disagrees that a good AF implementation makes catching action easier. The point of this thread (when I wrote the first post) was to make a point that M240 with manual focus lenses should not be discounted for this kind of use. In your case, if all I had was a manual focus 90mm then also I would have attempted the family toddler shot. You might get less keepers but those may have the look which you expect to get from your fav 90mm lens. 

Well yeah, I would have attempted it, and yeah I would have gotten less keepers, and yeah I would have gotten the look I expected...from my wife, a look of "this is what you paid ten grand for? I could have gotten better shots with a $600 Canon Rebel."  If I needed to hang pictures and had no hammer I could take my shoe off and pound the nails with my heel.   I say this in good humor btw, as I shot with manual focus from the age of 11 until well after the advent of AF.  In fact between age 11 and 14 I used a folding Kodak 620 with no rangefinder or gg, had to estimate the focus.  I still find current AF far from perfect, the camera can only make an assumption what I want in focus (and is often wrong), and sometimes it still hunts.  There is not nor do I think ever will be an electronic nanny that replaces skill and experience.