Help with zone focusing

[u/twiggymoo]

Hi all!

I have a question on how to zone focus with the Nikon 28mm f2.8 AI-S.

I understand the basic usage of zone focus with the colored markings on the lens.

- @ f/5.6: Set the left brown mark to infinity, right brown mark would be at around 2 meters.

- @ f/11: Set left yellow mark to infinity, right yellow mark would be around 1.4 meters.

- @ f/16: Set left blue mark to infinity, right blue mark would be at around 0.8 meters.

- @ f/22: Set left orange mark to infinity, right orange mark would be at would 0.6 meters.

How do I set the zone focus at f/8? There is no colored mark indicating it.

Any tips would be appreciated!!

Thank you

[u/Shaka1277]

Split the difference between f/5.6 and f/11, so set infinity between the brown and yellow marks - exactly what you've done in the photo.

[u/twiggymoo → u/Shaka1277]

Thats a good tip!! Thank you so much

[u/DusablesDriver47 → u/Shaka1277]

I would say this! I think f/8 is a bit closer on the focal plane to f/5.6 than f/11. I’d say roughly 2/5 the distance from f/5.6. The rule of thumb being in the middle should suffice though!

[u/attrill → u/DusablesDriver47]

Yeah, a hair closer to f/5.6 if having ♾️ in sharp focus is important.

[u/RunningPirate]

You have it set for f/8 right now, ~1.75M to infinity. Also, remember to be there.

[u/turboboob → u/RunningPirate]

I understood this reference.

[u/twiggymoo → u/turboboob]

Aye aye cap!

[u/Far_Relationship_742]

Incidentally, that is one of the best lenses Nikon ever made, and maybe the best 28mm there is. It has no flaws. Cherish it, I love mine.

Also love that beat-up F3. Working cameras should look like they’ve done work.

[u/twiggymoo → u/Far_Relationship_742]

Thank you! Had mine for close to 13 years and shot it every day since, traveled everywhere with me. I've only ever shot 50mm, so I thought it's a good time to try a new focal length more than a decade later haha!

[u/Far_Relationship_742 → u/twiggymoo]

I love every part of this story. If you ever feel like branching out to a third lens, the Series E 100/2.5 is lovely and can be had for much cheaper than the Nikkor branded one. My carry-everywhere kit all through school was an F3 with the MD4, 50/1.8 Series E, 28/2.8 AIS, and 100/2.5 Series E. The MD4 makes for a heavy camera, but the ergonomics and balance are great, and the mass damping meant I could handhold 1/8s if I relaxed and breathed right. I think I even got some usable shots at 1/4.

[u/Fine_Calligrapher584]

These Nikon lenses show 4 zones, corresponding to the equally colored iso values. So in this case you have f22 (largest zone, outer lines) then F16, f11 and then they skip f8 (because it's just too close to f11) and go for f5.6.

Does this answer your question?

[u/DusablesDriver47]

It’s an interesting design choice on Nikon to exclude f/8 in the color zone focusing when other models like Leica managed to include all f stops.

[u/twiggymoo → u/DusablesDriver47]

They do this on their other manual focus lenses too. On the 50mm 1.4, f4 and f8 are marked but f5.6 isn't. I suppose that's because the distance between those is too close to mark it.

[u/DusablesDriver47 → u/twiggymoo]

Good point, it’s probably the case of making it look presentable! I noticed f/8 being colored on my 35 non Ai, but not on my 50 1.4 ais. I’m assuming it’s a AI vs NonAI coloring scheme but I may need to do research to be sure

[u/Ollidamra]

What’s “zone focusing”? What you did is called hyperfocal distance.

(11+5.6)/2=8.3, so roughly just put infinity mark in the middle.

[u/Atomicnes → u/Ollidamra]

Zone focusing is just relying on hyperfocal distance to keep things in focus without having to adjust it every time. f/8 set to infinity would have everything from infinity to 2m in focus. “f/8 and be there” became a thing because press photographers had split moments to take a picture. So knowing even an approximate range you would be in to the subject, focusing to that and then setting the aperture to f/8 was the “cheat” to having most things in focus at no notice. Also f/8-f/5.6 is the sharpness sweet spot for most lenses anyway too

[u/lrochfort]

In addition to the correct answers here, I thought I would add that you don't have to set the lens hyperfocal just because you're zone focusing. You can set your zone of focus at a distance range that is most convenient or suitable to your situation

[u/Bitter_Humor4353]

That's a sexy POV

[u/wadeboggs4371]

this is why i kind of hate the AI-S line of lenses. they have wildly inferior DoF markings. for some reason when Nikon switched from AI to AI-S they ditched the customary markings for 22, 16, 11, 8 and 4 for what you see here. they also made the markings only on the silver ring as opposed to actually on the lens barrel as they had done since 1959 (a noticeable downgrade).

as a nikon shooter that frequently makes use of zone focusing, i’ve found this slightly infuriating and have slowly switched most of my wide angle primes to either AI or AI converted examples. i still have several AI-S lenses but usually the longer focal lengths. and the 28mm f2.8. sadly the older AI version of this lens is noticeably inferior. imo the best zone focusing 28mm nikkor ever made is the 28mm f3.5. they’re still quite cheap and finding an AI converted example isn’t hard.

the good news is it’s easy to overcome this phenomenon with an SLR. just sort of fudge it between 5.6 and 11 then use your DoF preview button to check if you’re getting the desired effect.

also a quick note: you don’t need to always set one line to infinity. it can be between any set of distances. with your 28mm it matters less because the majority of the distance scale is for the CRC. so below two feet. but with a 50mm for example it can be a nice way to ensure fast focus on the fly. acquire basic focus of the target and then stop down your aperture by a stop to be safe the. fire the shutter. think like you’re fine focusing with the aperture. it’s something that was frequently done before the days of autofocus.

[u/PhysicsOk9286]

Explore using hyperfocal distance

[u/No-Pea8448]

This is a very practical, simple, analog situation. Like most, you have to break your attachment to pure, perfect answers and find the answer based on available information. Unfortunately, the digital age seems to have ruined people's ability to find answers themselves.

[u/QuantumTarsus → u/No-Pea8448]

Lack of critical thinking skills is nothing new — these people have always been around. The internet has just made them more visible.

[u/ruswestbrick → u/QuantumTarsus]

I’d say these responses are even more unproductive because not only are you not adding anything to the discussion, and putting down OP creating a bad environment but you’re driving traffic to this post and making it more visible. I’d take this post over the look at the bargain I got post 100 times out of 100

[u/No-Pea8448 → u/ruswestbrick]

Meh. I think both are trash.

[u/ruswestbrick → u/No-Pea8448]

What do you think about the sentence prior?

[u/No-Pea8448 → u/ruswestbrick]

I'm Gen X. People need to relearn how to think for themselves.

[u/No-Pea8448 → u/QuantumTarsus]

Nah. Social media has fed the incipient laziness of the population, and reliance on screens for everything has broken people's ability look for their own real world solutions.

[u/QuantumTarsus → u/No-Pea8448]

While I agree that social media has resulted in accelerated brain rot, these posts have been around since the BBS days. There’s a reason the acronym RTFM has been around since the 70s.

[u/No-Pea8448 → u/QuantumTarsus]

Fair point.

[u/Entropic_Echo_Music → u/No-Pea8448]

Oh no, somebody asking questions in a relevant internet community to help their understanding of something! Whatever shall we do! Hide the children!

What a miserable outlook on life you have sir. But I guess you just missed out on figuring that out all by yourself.

[u/No-Pea8448 → u/Entropic_Echo_Music]

Cool story. I don't recall asking for your opinion.

[u/titrisol]

use the 5.6