MaxKißler
New member
Don't get me wrong, I really don't mean to offend you, but this sounds a lot like Leica sales pitch. I do claim that manual focussing is far from being obsolete. Take Leica for instance, the rangefinder focussing mechanism (if calibrated correctly and with slower lenses that don't shift focus) works very well but in MFD with the brightness enhenced focusing screens of today's 645 cameras, manual focussing is a real pita IMO......
Indeed, the 80mm has its difficulties, though I would say manual focus is only a minor one since when your working with it its almost better to have direct feedback between yourself, your hand the focus of the lens and the movements of both you and the model.
and for all of the good images, sh*t like this happens http://brianhirschfeldphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/CF002367ex-mini.jpg
With the 80mm 1,9 I had a keeper rate of about 60%. Having to stop down manually didn't make focussing easier. If you're shooting for 5 hours and only use manual focus with MFD, you're either a total pro are simply stupid. I did this several times and figured I must have been completely stupid. It just required too much concentration that lacked elsewhere. (Shooting film is a different story though)
With the HC 80mm I have a keeper rate of about 97%. And I do have my standards. If the focus is not on the eye that is closer to the viewer, the image will be deleted. So even without true focus, the HB works just great for me.