m9 focusing tips from M- masters

[stump4545]

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besides practice, does anyone have any focusing tips to suggest to speed up and make focusing with the m9 more accurate?

 

i have been shooting with the m9 now for about 6 months and while i have gotten much better and i am accustomed to manual focus from film days i know i could always learn from the leica M sages.

 

thanks for the help.

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[Jeff S]

So we meet again...

 

Try the M9 FAQ for guidance on this (post #9) and for many other issues.

 

Jeff

[akiralx]

Best simple advice I received is to leave the camera at infinity - then you only have to turn the focus ring one way.

[Anguish]

Leica Ak©ade(a)mie(y) instructor Tom Smith recommends getting to know one lens intimately, by using it and it alone for a long period. One camera, one lens, one iso, 10,000 pictures, he says. You should be able to automatically rack to 6 feet and 12 feet. Infinity is automatic, so is the close range of 28 inches or so.

[StephenPatterson]

Leica Ak©ade(a)mie(y) instructor Tom Smith recommends getting to know one lens intimately, by using it and it alone for a long period. One camera, one lens, one iso, 10,000 pictures, he says. You should be able to automatically rack to 6 feet and 12 feet. Infinity is automatic, so is the close range of 28 inches or so.

 

+1

 

As Tom likes to say, "learning to focus an M by feel, or muscle memory, is a crucial step in becoming a Leica Ninja..."

 

Walk around your home with your M9, pick an object, guess the distance, set that distance on the scale, and then check your results with the rangefinder. As you get better just guess the distance and set it by "feel". You will quickly improve your focusing speed and ability.

 

I would also add that I struggled with focusing before realizing that I needed a diopter correction lens. Not having a clear image caused me to "hunt" too much for optimal focus. Make sure you're not putting yourself at a disadvantage, as the -0.5 standard diopter of the M9 viewfinder isn't for everyone.

 

Stephen

[Michael Geschlecht]

Hello stump4545,

 

Welcome to the Forum.

 

You might try rotating your M about 45 degrees counter-clockwise as seen from the back before focussing in complex situations. When you focus the lines will move diagonally going up or down @ the same time they are going left or right. Then reframe & shoot. This orientation sometimes allows for more precise focussing in more difficult situations. It was a common way to focus rangefinders in the 1930's when they were somewhat more squinty. Works fine w/ any M range/viewfinder.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

[CalArts 99]

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If your lenses have tabbed focusing then you'll soon learn where the point of focus is by where the tab is positioned. Then you can almost focus perfectly by just feeling for the tab with your finger. That's part of why I really, really like tabbed focusing lenses. A small lens with a tab, and on a Leica body can be incredibly quick to use.

[bill]

+1 on the practice, the physical memory and the tabbed focussing. I focus by feel all the time, adjusting almost unconsciously as the scene unfolds, before ever raising the camera to my eye. It is then a simple matter to refine focus, rather than racking all the way from infinity every time.

 

What has this to do with the M9, btw? I use this technique on my II, let alone my Ms

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[lars_bergquist]

I'll second Stephen's advice about vision. You must be able to see the finder image (NOT the same as the framelines!) and the rangefinder image sharply in order to judge their degree of coincidence.

 

If you have a problem however, a correction lens in the eyepiece is not necessarily the optimal solution. Problems may be an indication of a general need to have your eyesight corrected, meaning either spectacles or contact lenses. With increasing age, most of us suffer a loss of accommodation, i.e. eye focusing ability. Most people get their eyes fix-focused somewhere near infinity. The modern solution is varifocal or 'progressive' lenses, which have a strength that varies from zero, or even negative, in the upper parts of the lenses, increasing to reading strength in the lower parts. To repeat, I am 75, I have no focusing left, and my eyes are firmly fixed way past infinity – I see even the horizon in a fuzz! But my varifocals solve the problem completely; I can use them for everything from reading fine print, to scanning the starry sky. In between lies my M9. So I can observe the subject, mount a 135mm lens, set ISO and focus without any optical ado, just as when I was that young man who once with his naked eye saw the planet Venus as a brilliant, minuscule half-moon in the evening sky.

 

Next time (or the first time) you visit an optometrist, bring your Leica. He or she will likely be interested in your odd problem. Just point out that though the framelines are at a virtual distance of 2 meters, the finder image is likely not but (optically) somewhat further away. He/she will likely agree that varifocals are the most elegant solution. Contacts of course cannot compensate for a lack of focusing ability, only for a consistent mis-focusing (general near- or longsightedness). A correction lens cures lack of focusing, but on the camera only.

 

The solution btw is also the best for binoculars. Modern field glasses (and eyepieces for telescopes) have a long eye relief and eyecups that are adjustable for specs wearers and bare-eye viewers both. A Leica Ultravid compact does often ride in my camera bag.

 

The bleary-eyed old man

[colonel]

practice & confidence

 

confidence that the first sweep is in focus and not that you can eek out slightly more gives rise to see-sawing

 

I can mostly focus at f1.4 at 50mm now with a single fast sweep. No idea how I am doing it though

 

In terms of eye-sight. No doubt having a diopter correction is good, but my right eye is not nearly as good as my left eye but I still focus fine with my right eye. Why ? because focus is relative not absolute

[Ellie]

"One camera, one lens, one iso, 10,000 pictures" - it might be a good thing though I'll be looking for a new lens around year 2017 at my current pace

[tobey bilek]

Start at infinity and move lens clockwise stopping when in focus. If this takes me more than 1/2 sec, it is a bad day. 1/4 would be normal.

 

with portraits, I set the lens to 5 feet and just move to get the near eye catchlights to merge.

 

If you are working a 5 foot subject, start at 8 feet.

 

The ways to use the RF patch are in the manual.

[microview]

+1

 

 

I would also add that I struggled with focusing before realizing that I needed a diopter correction lens. Not having a clear image caused me to "hunt" too much for optimal focus. Make sure you're not putting yourself at a disadvantage, as the -0.5 standard diopter of the M9 viewfinder isn't for everyone.

 

Me too, and Leica magnifier did not do the trick! (Besides costing a lot of money:eek:.)

[Jeff S]

At least somebody besides the OP cares about this thread.

 

Hate it when people hit and run, especially when it's only to get info., on many threads.

 

Jeff

[chris_tribble]

Me too, and Leica magnifier did not do the trick! (Besides costing a lot of money:eek:.)

Relatively speaking, Leica diopters also cost a lot of money - though I find mine absolutely essential.

WARNING - beware the moment you want to let someone experience the pleasure of RF focus, remove your diopter, and then either forget it / drop it / step on it or what ever. It happens, and it's an expensive mistake + means you're back to using glasses with your M - something I personally don't like to have to do.

[StephenPatterson]

Me too, and Leica magnifier did not do the trick! (Besides costing a lot of money:eek:.)

 

Using a Leica magnifier (especially 1.4X) without proper diopter correction will only exacerbate an out of focus viewfinder. I think many people first look to the magnifiers when experiencing focus issues, when the real problem is the need for diopter correction. With a sharply focused viewfinder image the need for a magnifier is greatly reduced or eliminated.

 

Stephen

[algrove]

All very good points. I have given up on magnifiers too and am now using the Walter eye piece which greatly aids me in rapid focus, but I do like the many suggestions here which I will start trying.