Shooting with a manual lens

[babaman]

Hi all,

I was given a 80-200mm/f4 manual lens by my relatives. I've taken a few shots with it on my nikon d50 but I'm having some difficulties focusing the subject I want, especially on moving subjects (p.s. I do use the green LED on the viewfinder as a focus confirmation)

My question is - how do you manually focus on a dslr? With my dad's manual slr it was easier with bright focus screen. Do you trial and error?

Cheers

[TenD]

The focus screens in modern DSLRs are pretty dark compaired to their film counterparts. You may want to look into a split prism focus screen for your camera, that will make manual focusing easier, but it will also make your wallet a lot lighter. https://www.photoproshop.com/product_info.php/products_id/390?osCsid=2616235377a4a565fac8e6f7d2572074
Otherwise, careful observation at the contrast you see through the viewfinder is the only way I know to manually focus on a modern DSLR.