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maybe a stupid question about frame lines


ppolla

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....as I said...probably a stupid question, but I thought I would ask anyway as I am strongly starting to believe something is wrong with my M9...I am not getting sharp images as I would expect....

 

Anyway, when I was doing some test images today, using a tripod of which none were in focus, I noticed for the first time that my frame lines were moving in/out, as I was focusing closer and to infinity....is this right? I can't recall seeing this before.

 

When I say non in focus, I really mean nothing was in focus...no front or back focusing...light was good, and test using f2 upto f11 on my 35mm Cron.

 

Please let me know.

 

Thanks,

P

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The framelines move to adjust for parallax, but there's no reason why none of your shots should be in focus.

 

How badly out of focus is the lens? Do you have another lens that you can use to test?

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What you observe is parallax correction. The viewfinder and the lens are "looking" from two different places in the image plane. An uncorrected viewfinder will cross the field covered by the lens at only one distance (if any at all).

 

Parallax correction corrects automatically the horizontal and the vertical discrepancy between the field covered by the viewfinder and the field covered by the lens by moving the framelines as focus changes. This feature is used on all Leica M rangefinders.

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P,

 

If you take your lens off you can see a round pin sticking somewhat down at the upper end of the opening, please see page 2 of the M9 instruction manual. If you now look through the rangefinder and carefully push this pin in and out you can see the bright lines move on a diagonal. Be careful, that you don't poke your finger into the shutter curtain. Do at your own risk.

 

Have you tried focusing on infinity and see what you get?

At least for me that rules out my eyes as a factor.

 

K-H.

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as far as infinity focus....I am not sure anymore...

don't know how it should be...

here are examples...

what do you think?

Paolo

 

This is the photo of the infinity focus

AmsterdamseBos02042010_-1-1.jpg

 

...and the crop

AmsterdamseBos02042010_-1-2.jpg

 

and this is the photo of this mornings test...form a distance of about 1meter

L1000704-2.jpg

 

...and the crop

L1000704-2-2.jpg

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Forr one thing, that church is not infinity. See these images using a 50 mm lens: One is focussed on the clock and one is at infinity. For comparison the whole frame:

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I see what you mean Jaap...

I think I was at about 300m from the church...so very close to infinity for a 35mm lens.

 

Your images are much sharper than mine.

Still do believe that there is a problem with my camera or lens...not sure which one.

 

P

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...

I think I was at about 300m from the church...so very close to infinity for a 35mm lens....

Don't confuse "optical infinity" with either the focusing mount's infinity position or the rangefinder's infinity position.

 

To check rangefinder-lens calibration, do through-focus tests at infinity, three meters, one meter. (Use a tripod, of course.) Do that with the lens wide open. Checking at each stop will just drive you batty.

 

You don't say which 35/2 you're using; there have been a number of versions of that focal length, each better than the previous.

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Actual Infinity will most likely be in focus - because you can't adjust that (I believe you would have to move the sensor for this)

 

The question is, to kick off with, is - when you are at infinity on the LENS does the rangefinder PERFECTLY overlap the object you are looking at. And I mean, perfectly.

 

Try a star. Try a mast in the far distance.

 

Until you have the answer to this don't be concerned shooting test shots of anything else because everything you shoot will alter when infinity is changed.

 

If infinity is set wrong on the rangefinder then the roller cam in the body must be adjusted.

 

Then, once that is set correctly, you can proceed to check close focus. See the recent thread on 'coincidence at infinity' for more detail etc...

 

Good luck.

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I'm not sure what it is that I'm looking for P, both photo's have areas that appear to be in focus, although its hard to be exactly sure from the low resolution examples. The church tower looks like its in focus, as does the dusty area on the table (although not the flowers in the enlargement). Forgive me if this is totally out of order, but you haven't confused narrow depth of focus by using a wide aperture for being 'out of focus' have you? Do you have any other better examples of completely out of focus images? Also check your lens has snapped properly onto the camera, wiggle it both ways.

 

Steve

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As an afterthought P I wonder if any previous camera you were using, like a point and shoot, is really at fault here? A P&S will have a far greater depth of field (depth of focus) so much more of the image will be focused for a similar f/stop compared to a full frame camera like the M9. In addition it will most likely be applying in camera sharpening far above any default settings on the M9. So f/2.8 on a P&S will render an image sharp almost foreground to background, where on the M9 it will be a narrow plain of focus on the subject only.

 

Steve

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OK...just to bring closure to the thread...

 

My M9 was adjusted and is producing very good and sharp shots now....problem was back focus of some 5cm at closer distances. Infinity was good.

 

Here is a test shot...

 

I am happy once again...

Paolo

 

L1000752-2.jpg

 

L1000752-2-2.jpg

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Luckily her teeth looks like they shouldn't need adjustment... so another lens maybe :)

 

this is my daughter you are talking about, and those are still her milk teeth...not sure if this is the right expression...I am sure nothing Jaap can't fix!

 

P

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