Enbee Posted December 26, 2015 Share #1 Posted December 26, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hello - I am trying to use the 15mm Asph III but having a very hard time focusing using the EVF 2. I have set the lens as 16-18-21 16mm f4.0. Any suggestions on how I can correctly focus or learn how to focus. Live View also doesn't help much. Last week when I took photos using this lens - things looked on when I reviewed them on the camera - as soon as I put them on Light Room - subjects were out of focus - I thought I had some brilliant photographs but not so! Thanks for your help in advance! Best, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 26, 2015 Posted December 26, 2015 Hi Enbee, Take a look here 15MM Voigtlander Focusing EVF2. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
250swb Posted December 26, 2015 Share #2 Posted December 26, 2015 It is hard to imagine how a 15mm lens can ever be out of focus given the immense depth of field it has even wide open. So the answer may be found in the usual basic photographic techniques. Focus using the EVF with the lens wide open, not stopped down. Set the hyper focal distance and aperture so the lens will be in focus from close up to infinity. Use a shutter speed sufficient to stop hand shake. Use a tripod. When viewing in Lightroom don't pixel peep at any higher magnification than 100%. Has the image been sharpened yet in Lightroom? All digital images need some sharpening from a lot, to not much at all, depending on the camera. But what sharpening can't do is overcome any faults caused by camera shake or the basic image being OOF. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted December 26, 2015 Share #3 Posted December 26, 2015 A 15 mm? you can just as well, or even better, scale focus. Actually I think you are running into a point I made in another thread. I think the EVF2 is not the optimal tool to use for wide lenses. Focusing with the camera rangefinder and using an optical viewfinder for framing (yes-it it is less precise than the EVF -but who cares, just crop a bit) works much better and gives you a far better feel for the image you are capturing. Even if you use the EVF to frame sub-28 lenses, use your rangefinder for focusing, it is the far more precise tool - easier to use too. Only long lenses and possibly one or two medium very fast ones are easier to get it right with the EVF. That is the concept of the camera Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted December 26, 2015 Share #4 Posted December 26, 2015 [...] Even if you use the EVF to frame sub-28 lenses, use your rangefinder for focusing, it is the far more precise tool - easier to use too. [...] +1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enbee Posted December 26, 2015 Author Share #5 Posted December 26, 2015 A 15 mm? you can just as well, or even better, scale focus. Actually I think you are running into a point I made in another thread. I think the EVF2 is not the optimal tool to use for wide lenses. Focusing with the camera rangefinder and using an optical viewfinder for framing (yes-it it is less precise than the EVF -but who cares, just crop a bit) works much better and gives you a far better feel for the image you are capturing. Even if you use the EVF to frame sub-28 lenses, use your rangefinder for focusing, it is the far more precise tool - easier to use too. Only long lenses and possibly one or two medium very fast ones are easier to get right with the EVF. That is the concept of the camera Will this work for non-Leica lenses as well? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted December 26, 2015 Share #6 Posted December 26, 2015 Of course, why not? Even the old Voigtlander 15 mm without focus cam is better off scale-focusing than attempting to do so through the EVF. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enbee Posted December 27, 2015 Author Share #7 Posted December 27, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) It is hard to imagine how a 15mm lens can ever be out of focus given the immense depth of field it has even wide open. So the answer may be found in the usual basic photographic techniques. Focus using the EVF with the lens wide open, not stopped down. Set the hyper focal distance and aperture so the lens will be in focus from close up to infinity. Use a shutter speed sufficient to stop hand shake. Use a tripod. When viewing in Lightroom don't pixel peep at any higher magnification than 100%. Has the image been sharpened yet in Lightroom? All digital images need some sharpening from a lot, to not much at all, depending on the camera. But what sharpening can't do is overcome any faults caused by camera shake or the basic image being OOF. Steve Thanks Steve - I tried that this morning with my camera and 15mm lens - that may actually work better. The problem is that the image was just out of focus - haven't happened to me in the past ever! It happened with all my images with 15mm - so I am thinking that I was doing something wrong. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Branch Posted December 29, 2015 Share #8 Posted December 29, 2015 I come back to a point I have made many times; lenses with focal lengths such as 15mm & 18mm do not have an infinite depth of field. With modern Leica lenses, (and those of some other manufacturers), and 24 M pixel sensors the film era concepts of hyper-focal distances and the related depth of field tables have become obsolescent. With my 18mm, even when stopped down to f/8, I can invariably see the point in the image where the lens was focused when viewed at 100% on a Dell U2713H screen driven at 2560 X 1440 resolution. Does it matter? If the image is to be viewed at web standard resolution on, say, an iPad the answer is probably no. If the image is viewed as an A2 print at 120 ppcm then the answer is possibly yes. As others have pointed out the answer is to focus with the range finder, which has no equal for focussing accuracy with wide angle lenses. Framing with an 18mm, and other VWA and UVA lenses, is best done with the EVF2 not least because of the availability of the artificial horizon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceVentura1986 Posted December 29, 2015 Share #9 Posted December 29, 2015 I have the 15mm. Assuming enough light, set it at f/8 and just scale focus based on rough distance. You don't need to be exact, close enough should be close enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JMF Posted December 29, 2015 Share #10 Posted December 29, 2015 Hello - I am trying to use the 15mm Asph III but having a very hard time focusing using the EVF 2. I have set the lens as 16-18-21 16mm f4.0. Any suggestions on how I can correctly focus or learn how to focus. Live View also doesn't help much. Last week when I took photos using this lens - things looked on when I reviewed them on the camera - as soon as I put them on Light Room - subjects were out of focus - I thought I had some brilliant photographs but not so! Thanks for your help in advance! Best, If it is a screw mount 15mm version, try change the M adapter ring . Best JM Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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