M9 and unsharp pics - HELP!!!

[Theodor Heinrichsohn]

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Keep the cat away, take a tripod, download, print and use this following the simple instruction on it :

[ATTACH]194328[/ATTACH]

 

Luigi just beat me to it.

Please go to <http://FocusTestChart.com> and read through carefully.

Follow the directions and you will find out whether something is wrong with the camera or the lens. If you test all your lenses and they are all off, it is probably your camera. If only one lens is off, it is probably the lens.

Good luck!

Teddy

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[gwelland]

Coming from a DSLR, getting used to rangefinder shooting can take a little bit of adjustment. There a lot more variables involved in shooting sharp images including the subject itself, the proficiency of using the rangefinder (needs lots of practice), but don't also forget the rangefinder accuracy, plus the accurate adjustment of the lens itself. (hopefully the sensor -> mount is correct too).

 

If you've focused correctly in the VF but either the finder or lens is off then you'll get a front/back focused shot - i.e. soft. If you're not comfortable with RF shooting and/or it's a new camera then it's even harder because you can't be convinced that it's just you. It's SO MUCH EASIER to shoot these types of pics with an AF camera and get sharp accurately focused images every time.

 

Like many here I've been using rangefinders for quite a while and even now I sometimes get caught up in the second guessing of me, the camera, the lens, etc etc. In fact after trading a number of lenses & adapting to the new camera I just sent off my M9 & four lenses to get calibrated together. Hopefully when it's back I should at least be able to remove a couple of the variables in getting sharp RF images and so it'll be easier just to blame the shooter.

 

Before long you'll end up shooting lot's of these pictures ... (I shot 150 like this with various lenses, focus points and apertures on Monday - in focus unlike the soft compressed upload here )

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[craig stanton]

Thanks everyone (well - most of you) that have given me positive feed back.

When youve got something new that your not used to the last thing you want is stupid comments from a few people.

I spent $7000 on a camera because:-

 

a) I can!!!!

i love photography

c) i wanted to learn something new - a challenge if you like

d) my back cant take lugging an SLR around any more.

 

I WILL learn how to use this camera, it just isnt coming as easy to me as it is to all the other smart alecs out there with their smart comments!!!!

 

Thanks Luigi, a nice piece of information - will be trying this later when ive finished work.

Thanks also Artz, nicely put - we CAN all learn.

 

I could do without the stupid comments from people like Dan - he is obviously one of those who knows everything and doesnt like to share things with others apart from putting them down!!!!

As i said, thanks to ALL the people who gave me positive feedback and help.

[gwelland]

Craig - keep at it ... it gets easier. Big thumbs up on (a) to (d) too!

 

I was amazed actually that you did so well to reach posts in the 30's before the snipers came out Just ignore 'em.

[craig stanton]

Thanks Gwelland, most people on here are great but you always get the odd few in everything you do i suppose!!!!

Appreciate the nice comments (from some). We cant all be perfect!!!!

[microview]

I think you might give yourself an ulcer if you worry over focus test strips for now. (For one thing, they are a b*gger to set up!) But yes go outdoors focus on some branches some 13ft away and see how sharp the images can be; it's easy to focus with twigs/leaves etc crossing the rangefinder rectangle. BUT you may as well cheat and pre-estimate the subject distance, set it on the lens marker and then look at fine tuning via rangefinder. Cat pics? One in a thousand!

 

[M8 + 50mm Summilux]

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[jaapv]

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Before long you'll end up shooting lot's of these pictures ... (I shot 150 like this with various lenses, focus points and apertures on Monday - in focus unlike the soft compressed upload here )

Not neccessarily - I've been shooting Leica M for nearly forty years now - and I have never shot a tape measure - I judge the sharpness of my photographs on real-life images.

[sanyasi]

As a new user myself, I think you are underestimating the learning curve. I've gotten a few good shots so far, but most of what I have been doing is practicing. I photograph light poles, signs, people out the window at Starbucks, brick walls, etc. I look at the photos--looking at aperture settings to see where I am focused and how quickly focus falls off. All of these photos get deleted. I've also gone to museums when it is raining on the weekend and practiced in there.

 

A. For me, whether you turn the focus ring to the right or left to get more or less distance is not intuitive since I have spatial perception problems. So I've been training myself regarding which way to turn the ring without looking at the lens. (for me if I am moving under the ring, that goes to infinity, if I am over the ring, that goes to shorter distance) That is individual to how I hold the camera and the lens.

 

B. I also have trouble estimating distances. So when I am on the bus or sitting in a restaurant by myself, I focus on different parts of the interior and people and look to see what the distance is. I am getting better.

 

C. I shoot entire cards of this junk and then review it in Lightroom under high magnification to see where I am in focus and sharp and where I am not.

 

D. I've been looking at depth of field charts, not because it is fun or because I love the technical, but because I am trying to better understand the relationships. There is a website that let's you enter variable and gives you depth of field information. Last week, I build my own chart for the 50mm. Boring, but as I filled in the numbers, I learned about more leeway in the back than in the front and how different aperture settings give more flexibility. I knew the relationships, but autofocus on a DSLR didn't make a deep understanding as critical.

 

I know why everyone loves 1.4 or 2.0, but if you are within 5 or 10 feet of the subject, you had better be spot on with your focus, or you are going to get face parts that aren't in focus when you want them to be--I am using 50mm as my base. That's true if you are 2, 5.6 or even 8. So then I set the aperture to 8, but the light is low, so to avoid camera shake, I need to think about ISO. All of this is about really thinking about what you are doing. People who are working with 21 or 24 will have a little more leeway. I suspect the reason the photo of your cat wasn't entirely to your satisfaction is because your lens is too wide open given your distance from the cat.

 

E. I have been shooting in A (aperture priority mode) to eliminate one variable for the time being so that I can concentrate on focus.

 

F. I've also been experimenting with zone focus.

 

G. Don't forget the minimum focusing distances with the lens. This may be another problem with your cat photo. It was when I was taking pictures of my wife across a restaurant table.

 

Everyone has to figure out how to master the focus. While I have no doubt that rangefinders do go out of alignment, as do lens, I have the sense from this list that some people are too quick to look to mechanical problems. Nobody said this was going to be easy.

 

I suggest more practice. This was not meant to be snarky or nasty. I just think some of the new users (such as myself) need to be realistic. In short, if you are taking the trip of a lifetime to some exotic location and are new to rangefinders, I also would take my familiar DSLR to make sure I get some photos that are keepers.

 

Good luck

[jaapv]

On focussing: There are three types of rangefinder focussing - the coincidence of lines. which is the simplest method, the coincidence of a pattern, which, once mastered, is the most used, and the maximizing of contrast, which is the most precise.

To the last: when you have focussed according to one of the coincidence methods, a minimal adjustment will cause the image in the rangefinder window to "snap" into maximum contrast. That is when you have achieved maximum focus.

[craig stanton]

Thanks snyasi. Points taken. Pics i took this afternoon were better. Didnt think your comments were nasty at all - i appreciate constructive criticism - just dont think that (some) other users that are more proficient need to take the p@£s!!!

Thanks alot!!!!

[craig stanton]

Thanks Jaapv - will give it a go tonight!!!!

[gwelland]

Not neccessarily - I've been shooting Leica M for nearly forty years now - and I have never shot a tape measure - I judge the sharpness of my photographs on real-life images.

 

But I don't have a cat (that's not a dig at Craig - LUF is the home of cat & dog shots!)

 

This was a sanity exercise to decide whether to send my outfit off for calibration really. I've finally sorted out my kit to a 21 'lux, 35 'lux, 50 'lux ASPH & 90 Elmarit-M lens configuration, some new and accurate but at least one of the Summilux's isn't quite where I'd like it (no prizes for guessing which). Some of my real world shots aren't coming out as well focused as I'd expected so it's time to at least reduce the nagging equipment tolerance issue so that I can blame myself solely for not shooting in focus all the time.

[Logic108]

I disagree formally. EVERYONE can use a rangefinder if he wants to do it. We all can learn. It depends only on you.

 

Broadly, I dislike that kind of theory of some people can do this while others can't. It's very reducting and discriminatory. Besides of artistics aspects maybe, I think we all can do the same things if we want.

 

Yes I understand what you are saying and I don't want to be discriminatory but I have met people who just seem to move faster and talk faster and walk faster than some and they are more suited to fast shooting with a DSLR.

It's a bit like rhythm in a golf swing. Some people swing slow because that is their natural rhythm but ask a golfer with a quick rhythm to slow down and they can't. I think this is what I'm alluding to. Focusing with a rangefinder is easier for some than for others and people go at it with their own rhythm. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I've heard many times that using a rangefinder allows photographers to slow down and think more. If you are not used to shooting like this then maybe there can be some period of adjustment.

[KM-25]

I could do without the stupid comments from people like Dan - he is obviously one of those who knows everything and doesnt like to share things with others apart from putting them down!!!!

 

Edited, other Dan, not me..yeah, he was not so helpful..

 

Did you do the test at infinity?

[gwelland]

Pretty sure it's the other Dan a couple posts before yours ...

[KM-25]

Pretty sure it's the other Dan a couple posts before yours ...

 

LOL, I saw that, made my edit..:-)

[craig stanton]

Sorry KM25 - didnt notice there were 2 dans either!!!! Thanks for reply!!!!

[KM-25]

Sorry KM25 - didnt notice there were 2 dans either!!!! Thanks for reply!!!!

 

Go figure, here I am trying to help you with focus issues when it is me that needs my eyes checked...

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[SJP]

I still think the lack of immobilisation of the feline test object is the problem

 

See! My initial cat pics are fuzzy as well!!

 

picture L000018

In retrospect in fact all my feline pics are fuzzy

[Bo_Lorentzen]

Craig,

 

Keep practicing. personally I always suggest setting the lens to infinity and pulling in, that way when you pull up the camera you know what way to go without having to think about it. eventually you will get tired of that and find that your mind have figured the right way out from the split image and you go the right direction without thinking about it anyway.

 

The other issue, the first images you showed looked low-light, start in good light, with a shutterspeed at leas equal to the focal lenght.. so for the 90mm use 1/90th sec or FASTER and try at f 5.6 which will give you a lot more room for error while still showing sharp pictures.

 

Stephen - Im still waiting to see a cat not being fuzzy, so by default they are not the right subject for non-fuzzy images.

 

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