Focus confirmation light, on which non-AF/manual focus medium format camera models?

[MARTIE]

Hi all,
I thought I'd throw this question out there as I'm having difficulty finding answers to this specific information;

Which non-AF/manual focus medium format camera models were made with a focus confirmation light in the viewfinder, please?

Thanks in advance.

 

[MattKing]

I would think that there are none.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I only remember seeing a focus confirmation light in Nikon AF cameras.

 

[Ben Hutcherson]

The only manual focus camera with this feature I've ever personally encountered is the Canon AL-1. There may be others, but that's the only one I know of.

I'm PRETTY sure my Pentax 645N will give focus confirmation with manual focus, but I've not actually tested that as I only have AF lenses for it. My 67-645 mount adapter did arrive today, so I'll see if I get it once i have a chance to test that.

On the whole, AF medium format SLRs are a pretty small subset of medium format cameras made. Offhand, there's what, the Pentax 645N, Rolleiflex 6000 series, Hasselblad H1, and maybe one of the Mamiya 645s? I feel like I'm missing an obvious one in there, and there are probably a few others I'm missing, but they're definitely not the norm, and all of them are pretty late to the game compared to AF 35mm(and about a decade behind on AF tech-the 645N is the only AF I've used, but that 1997-released camera has AF that reminds me a lot of the AF in the Nikon F4).

At the end of the day, focus comfirmation like on the Canon AL-1 uses I think a 5 pixel CCD(or maybe 3 pixel?) that sits under the reflex mirror and looks at contrast on the adjacent pixels. An autofocus system starts with that and sticks a motor on the focus mechanism to get it there on its own. Of course it's a lot more complex now(my D5 has I think 151 AF points?), but the focus confirmation system is really already 2/3 of the way there to an AF system. Pentax basically did the same think on the 645N as they did on the K mount(and Nikon did at first on the F mount) and stuck a screwdriver blade on a motor to crank the lens focus in and out. If such a beast exists I can't imagine the camera not just going ahead and supporting AF in some form or fashion. The only place I could MAYBE see it happening-and someone can correct me if this exists-would be on one of the lower end Rolleiflex 6000 models, but then from what I've seen that's not exactly a cheap system to get into with any body...

 

[xkaes]

The Minolta X-600 has this too -- but that makes sense since this model came out just before the first 35mm AF SLR -- the Minolta Maxxum 7000. I think a Pentax later had it, as well. MF? DUNNO.

 

[ic-racer]

The Rolleiflex 6008AF and HY6 have focus confirmation with manual focus lenses. In fact the HY6 (only) also has 'focus trap.' If you don't know what that is, it is a setting by which the shutter button is pressed and exposure is held until the focus sensor senses focus.

 

[dokko]

I seem to remember that the Contax 645 has a focus confirmation light in the viewfinder and the manual seems to confirm that.

 

[MARTIE]

Specifically, medium format and non-AF, please.

Ben, I'd appreciate the info on the Pentax N (ii).

Anyone got anything on the Mamiya series of camera's prior to the 'AF' models?

Likewise, any Bronica's?

I've also tried downloading instruction manuals and searching, but I'm hoping firsthand knowledge would be more beneficial.

Thanks again!

 

[ic-racer]

Hy6 and 6008AF with anything other than AFS lenses are manual focus.

 

[OAPOli]

Specifically, medium format and non-AF, please.

Ben, I'd appreciate the info on the Pentax N (ii).

Anyone got anything on the Mamiya series of camera's prior to the 'AF' models?

Likewise, any Bronica's?

I've also tried downloading instruction manuals and searching, but I'm hoping firsthand knowledge would be more beneficial.

Thanks again!

Are you asking if there is a strictly manual focus, medium format camera with a focus confirmation indicator?

 

[Sharktooth]

The Pentax 645N is an autofocus camera, but it can be used with manual focus lenses. The original Pentax 645 camera does not have autofocus, and has no electronic focus indicator, however it can be used with autofocus lenses in manual mode.

I'm not aware of any medium format camera, that is not autofocus capable, that has a focus indicator light.

 

[MARTIE]

Are you asking if there is a strictly manual focus, medium format camera with a focus confirmation indicator?

Yes.

If I went AF, it would leave the focus indicator largely redundant.

 

[OAPOli]

Yes.

If I went AF, it would leave the focus indicator largely redundant.

I'm afraid that there is no such camera.

An AF indicator is useful when using a manual focus lens.

 

[reddesert]

It might be helpful for the OP to explain what you are trying to accomplish, rather than asking for a very specific capability that is (AFAIK) rare in 35mm and perhaps not really existent in medium format.

A focus confirmation indicator more or less by definition requires an autofocus sensor. From there, adding a means to move the lens and a feedback loop, makes an autofocus camera+lens. If you want a camera that has autofocus sensing with an indicator, but where you can move the lens yourself in a manual mode, there are probably several candidates. If you want one where the manufacturer deliberately omitted the AF lens drive, there might not be any in medium format.

(In 35mm, someone mentioned a Canon, and I think the Olympus OM-30/OM-F has a focus indicator light with MF lenses. But the more mainstream approach would just be to use one of the many 35mm AF cameras that have a focus indicator, and turn the lens yourself in manual mode.)

 

[OAPOli]

Yes it's a feature that is quite rare in 135 format, and non-existent in medium format. The Minolta X-600 is one of them: it has an AF sensor but no AF drive.

There are very few AF-capable medium format cameras. Mamiya 645AF(D) and Phase One version, Contax 645AF, Pentax 645N(ii), Rolleiflex 6008AF and Hy6, Hasselblad H1 and Fuj GX645AF. Plus the Fuji GA-series.

I'm only (vaguely) familiar with the 645N, which can AF confirm any manual focus lens, native or adapted.

 

[MARTIE]

It might be helpful for the OP to explain what you are trying to accomplish, rather than asking for a very specific capability that is (AFAIK) rare in 35mm and perhaps not really existent in medium format.

Just looking for confirmation of correct focus.

 

[reddesert]

Just looking for confirmation of correct focus.

Ok, so use a medium format AF camera in manual focus mode. It would be better to ask the assembled forum, "Which medium format cameras have a focus confirmation indicator?" Because the original question has people searching for a unicorn, a medium format camera with an indicator but no AF; while it would be more direct to ask which ones do have the indicator that you seek.

 

[MARTIE]

If I knew I was asking for a unicorn, then I wouldn't have posed the question.

However, I have my answer, with the concensus broadly being, "No AF, no focus confirmation indicator."

 

[Pieter12]

Well the Rolleis are manual focus cameras when used with a manual focus lens.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Well the Rolleis are manual focus cameras when used with a manual focus lens.

As are any other camera brand.

 

[xkaes]

One reason to want viewfinder AF confirmation in manual focus cameras is because AF cameras typically do not have the regular focusing features of a manual focus camera -- such as a microprism or split range-finder -- in the viewfinder. That makes manually focusing lenses a little more difficult to use on AF cameras -- unless you use a "chipped" adapter which illuminates the focus confirmation LED.

But, as mentioned, there may not be any manual focusing cameras with focus confirmation in medium format. There are a few in 35mm, also as mentioned -- but just a handful of cameras.

But plenty of medium format, manual focusing cameras have viewfinder magnifiers built in.

 

[Pieter12]

As are any other camera brand.

But other cameras do not have focus confirmation, as the OP is asking for.

 

[MFstooges]

But other cameras do not have focus confirmation, as the OP is asking for.

Pentax 645N

 

[MARTIE]

I didn't know that focus confirmation was pretty much a product of auto-focus camera technology.

I was hoping that some late model medium format non-AF film camera's, may have had this particular focus aid capability. Clearly, I was wrong.

 

[Pieter12]

I didn't know that focus confirmation was pretty much a product of auto-focus camera technology.

I was hoping that some late model medium format non-AF film camera's, may have had this particular focus aid capability. Clearly, I was wrong.

Seems like the technology for focus confirmation goes hand-in-hand with autofocus, probably developed for it.