The ultimate front or back focus test target

[thompsonkirk]

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Hi, Howard -

 

I occurred to me after I'd suggested the old pin method that I was actually recommending acupuncture over psychiatry!

 

K

[gfspencer]

Personally, I'll just continue to stick a pin in a sheet of newspaper & shoot crosswise, whenever I have an attack of focus anxiety. Kirk

Kirk, what you don't realize is that Canon users really do have "focus anxiety" (me included ). Auto-focus can be all over the place on any given shot. So you think you are focusing on your subjects's eye when you have actually focused on a potted plant in the background.

 

I learned photography with an old Konica and several manual focus Nikons. Then I moved to an M6TTL. As I got older and my vision got worse DSLRs came along . . . with auto-focus. I grew dependent on auto-focus. But auto-focus can be a pain. I find myself screwing up shots that I didn't screw up before. So I moved to an M8 where I have to focus. (Puts me in control again.) In fact I wish the newer DSLRs had manual focus with a split screen. Maybe I would have less anxiety.

 

The bottom line is that I look for ways to make focus better and this particular gadget looked interesting to me. If I've blown $130 so be it. I've blown more on less.

 

And I am seriously interested in the "pin in a sheet of newspaper" method that you mentioned. What is it and how does it work? Thanks.