Adjusting rangefinder on M8 was very easy!

[eleskin]

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I know I posted this on asking how and if anyone here has adjusted their rangefinder on the M8. With the help of members of this forum, I was able to adjust the roller on the arm that makes contact with the lens for focus. A few very slight turns with my 2mm Allen wrench, and ALL of my lenses are now in correct focus, including my f1.0 Noctilux at f1.0. This procedure was so easy, I now think it would have been crazy to send it to Leica for adjustment. The camera that I adjusted I just bought on Ebay for $2,350 USD, 4000 exposures on the shutter, purchased by original owner in 2009 as new, and it is still under warranty. I needed it as a backup for my original M8 which I have had since 2007 when I bought it. I was thinking about buying an M9, but I could not justify $7000 USD, especially to my wife!!!! Besides, the M9 I have tested twice and I still feel the M8 can hold its own very well. In many cases, I cannot tell apart files from the M8 or M9 (that is when the files are adjusted in Photoshop correctly, including resizing).

 

I guess I am getting off track here. My point is anyone who owns the M8, or even M9 would benefit from knowing how to make simple adjustments in the rangefinder when needed, especially when one is on location and uses these cameras professionally and cannot wait for Leica to fix thinks for weeks and weeks. A $1.50 USD Allen wrench is a very cheap alternative to having Leica adjust it. Now I do admit there may be reasons to send the camera in if it needed another type of adjustment on the rangefinder. But trying this first is really the way to go. You just have to be careful not to push at the rangefinder arm that holds the wheel. Just gently place the wrench in the hole and turn a tiny bit an thats it!

[kcchuan]

I have been follwoing your thread with interest, may I ask for your case do tighten it or loosen it.

 

alvin

[wstotler]

Glad to hear it worked for you. I, too, found the infinity focus an easy adjustment to make. You did focus on an very far away object (like the moon) when completing the adjustment? I found that using a nearer-distance-object (1km) wasn't enough to get it spot-on.

 

For the benefit of others that may find this thread in the future and think the process trivial--infinity focus is largely trivial, as you said, other adjustments not so.

 

Here's a link to the original thread, with comments and links about the infinity focus adjustment and also the more complicated RF adjustments that aren't really user-servicable:

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m8-forum/144114-anyone-attempt-adjust-their-m8-rangefinder.html

 

Cheers!

Will

[delander †]

Following the intro of the M8 it became apparent that the digital sensor required more focusing precision than film Ms. As a result Leica built and installed a massive new rig which enabled focus to be adjusted at a range of distances. Since that rig was installed and used during production the number of cameras needing focus adjustment seems to have diminished dramatically.

 

Personally If the camera was still in warranty I would send it off to Solms.

 

The rig is shown here: http://www.dpreview.com/articles/leicafactory2009/page2.asp

 

Jeff

[Guest mc_k]

How does this set up actually work?...I am still wondering. I can see how they focus by the rangefinder precisely, but how do they read off the error at up to 8m?

[giordano]

By the look of it they just aim the camera at each ruler in turn: focus on the focusing target on the ruler, make an exposure, examine the image at 100% on the monitor and note which markings on the angle ruler are sharpest. Note that the more distant rulers are bigger.

 

In a way I was surprised to see a lens on the camera. The procedure I've seen for setting the RF on the M2 (in a US military manual) used a special tool that fitted into the bayonet mount and had a movable cam that replicated the position of the focusing cam on a (correctly adjusted) lens focused at infinity, 10m and 1m. This was used along with a jig which from the diagram looks only a couple of metres long, carrying cunning targets. For the infinity setting, a pair of vertical lines with their centres 68.5mm apart is just as good as one vertical line at infinity; for 10m, the lines are a bit closer together; and for 1m of course the target is actually at 1m.

 

Doing it that way is so much simpler than using the jig in the DPR pictures that I suspect the latter is used for the final check rather than for the actual calibration of the RF. If anyone reading this has had a good look round the Solms plant I'd be interested to know if this is right.

[ramosa]

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bravo! i'm not sure if i would have been gutsy enough to do it myself--but, by reading up on your previous posts, it seems relatively straight forward.

 

pardon a basic question ... but how does one know if a lens is focused perfectly? yes, that's an odd question. what i mean is how would one really test this--other than shooting and noting a lack of focus? is there a way to use a ruler--or something like that?

 

pardon the question--but i suspect demonstrating a lack of focus has to be more complex than i imagine it to be.

 

 

I know I posted this on asking how and if anyone here has adjusted their rangefinder on the M8. With the help of members of this forum, I was able to adjust the roller on the arm that makes contact with the lens for focus. A few very slight turns with my 2mm Allen wrench, and ALL of my lenses are now in correct focus, including my f1.0 Noctilux at f1.0. This procedure was so easy, I now think it would have been crazy to send it to Leica for adjustment. The camera that I adjusted I just bought on Ebay for $2,350 USD, 4000 exposures on the shutter, purchased by original owner in 2009 as new, and it is still under warranty. I needed it as a backup for my original M8 which I have had since 2007 when I bought it. I was thinking about buying an M9, but I could not justify $7000 USD, especially to my wife!!!! Besides, the M9 I have tested twice and I still feel the M8 can hold its own very well. In many cases, I cannot tell apart files from the M8 or M9 (that is when the files are adjusted in Photoshop correctly, including resizing).

 

I guess I am getting off track here. My point is anyone who owns the M8, or even M9 would benefit from knowing how to make simple adjustments in the rangefinder when needed, especially when one is on location and uses these cameras professionally and cannot wait for Leica to fix thinks for weeks and weeks. A $1.50 USD Allen wrench is a very cheap alternative to having Leica adjust it. Now I do admit there may be reasons to send the camera in if it needed another type of adjustment on the rangefinder. But trying this first is really the way to go. You just have to be careful not to push at the rangefinder arm that holds the wheel. Just gently place the wrench in the hole and turn a tiny bit an thats it!