....with the MD 50 1.7 I can now see/understand what all the fuss was about shooting manual on lecagy adapted lenses!!! (which I have a feeling that will lead to a "dangerous" passion aka a sliperry slope, lol ) For a photo noob like me the focus peaking function on the Nex-5 is Godsend (is it better on other Nex models?) - it really makes everything so damn easy (there are times that I feel I don't even need the MF Assist help to know if I'm in focus or not - and to think I've only shoot MF for 2 days!!!). I must have shot more than 100 photos until yesterday when I mounted my MD-Nex adapter and more than 90% of my shots are in focus (and 99% perfect to my eyes even prior to/without PP). I really saw a huge difference/improvment from when I was shooting AF/DMF with the 18-55mm kit lens (so for anyone that hasn't tried it I highly recommend it), for some reason my shots are better in terms of focusing ?), nicer in terms of sharpness, light etc. 1) Speaking of sharpness, I have found out that my MD is sharper when stopped down to f/2.8 rather than when wide open at f1.7... Is there a way to stop the aperture somewhere in between? (just out of curiosity to try this) 2) I've only shoot the MD indoors, portraits, with natural light and for this kind of shooting I'm very very pleased. Is the MD suitable for other kinds of shooting? If yes, what? -Nick
Hi Nick, congratz to your decision! Yep, primes are so much nicer to shoot than zooms and offer much better IQ imo. I prefer shooting modern Zeiss lenses like my 24 1.8 in MF 'cos the uncoupled focus rings are a bit smoither imho (not at cheap NEX lenses, sadly). The focus peaking is as good as it gets at the old NEX-5. It gets worse with increased sensor resolution. 1) Every lens gets sharper if you stop down. If its a aperture ring that clicks in place every 1/3 (?) of a stop there's no option to stop it between. But there should be at least one click between 1.7 and 2.8. 2) It's suitable for everything you want to do with it. Well, except maybe star photography 'cos of the chroma defect, and it could be a little bit short for sports, but that depends more on the kind of sport than on the lens. Just take it outside and see what you get!
Ther'e's no physical stop but you can sorta just set the ring between 1.7 and 2.8 (which makes a F2 equivalent). You'll get excellent sharpness there. I do it all the time.
Well I'll be... so you can! I still give the designers a big "REALLY????" award for this, but otherwise it is a groovy lens, without a doubt.
Thanks everybody for the replies and thanks for the tip Claire - I'll def try it out Oops..........lol {} {} {} {} All I need to do now if learn Post Processing a bit better
I've never read an explanation for this design choice anywhere. It's also interesting to note that the distance between f/1.7 and f/2.8 (1.5 stop) is less than between e.g. f/4 and f/5.6, which is relevant for the ancient lightmeter coupling. This behaviour is not unique to this lens, almost all Minolta MF lenses miss an intermediate click-stop between maximum aperture and the next value.
