proper focusing technique for M Lenses

[stump4545]

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in a constant effort to improve my focusing on the m9, my current focusing process is to

 

1. leave my m lenses on the closest focusing distance as a default as i tend to shoot mostly under 10ft.

 

2. i also a lot of times guess the distance of my focus before lifting the camera to my eye and then i fine tune the focus by adjusting the focus back and forth to it seems perfect. i also try to limit how much i go back and forth with the focus ring. correct?

 

is there anything i should do differently or if this Leica ninja way.

 

thank you.

[Michael Geschlecht]

Hello stump4545,

 

Welcome to the Forum.

 

I hold the lens w/ my left hand under & the camera w/ my right hand.

 

My thought would be:

 

I would sit watching TV or whatever & practice focussing on the TV, on images on the TV & on everything else all around the room.

Again & Again.

 

Practice, practice, practice & the proper way for YOU will most likely come to you. Do the same thing around your home & walking around outside.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

[lars_bergquist]

I always set the lens to infinity whenever I am finished shooting a subject. You set it to closest focusing. In both cases, the object is to minimise hesitation about which direction the focusing movement should go, thus minimising focusing time. In this we agree.

 

But here I have before me a 50mm lens. (The focal length is actually immaterial because the following argument holds for all lenses.) The focusing movement from infinity to 3 meters /10 feet is 8.5mm. The focusing movement from closest focus i.e. a bit closer than 0.7 meters is – about 35mm. So even if you eliminate hesitation and fiddling, you have to focus longer from 0.7m.

 

For the rest I agree that technique is most important. What takes the longest time, except perhaps when working with superwides, which have some latitude, is fine-tuning the focus. There are basically two methods to achieve coincidence in the focus patch, 'split image' and 'contrast'. Split image is when we focus on a line that runs approximately parallel to the short edge of the format, and out of the patch. When the line inside the patch and its continuation outside it show no break, you are in focus (on that line – it is up to you to select an appropriate object to focus on). When you have no convenient line or contour, you have to make do with the somewhat less precise 'contrast' method: You simply go for maximum contrast in the focusing patch (or the target you choose inside it). This is normally when the two inages coincide. Be aware that a repeating pattern can fool you, however!

 

So, dry-focus again, and again, and again. With digital, you can confirm the result occasionally by taking a picture. But do not exercise with the easiest targets only!

 

The old man from the Age of the Contax II

[bill]

Some good advice here. I'll offer an alternative that works for me. With tabbed lenses when out and about I put the tab just off the 6 o'clock position. This puts the plane of focus at about 10-15 ft depending on the lens in use. DoF then 'covers" frame 1, and I fine-tune from there for frames 2 & 3. Using this method also means I can prefocus before raising the camera to my eye if needed.

 

All that said, there is no substitute for getting familiar with your equipment, and practice, practice, practice.

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[lct]

OK i "think" my left index finger as the center of gravity of the camera, then i put the focus tab of the lens on that point and i let the finger do its autofocus work, that's all.

[IWC Doppel]

It's woth experimenting with your eye to see which side of the focus you prefer to see before you find focus, this is true of projectors as well.