4 Leica lenses, all have back focus at a different rate.

[jaeger]

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It's the darkest Leica moment for me... all my gears cannot focus at all.  These are all new equipment and only few months old.  I notice the rangefinder has never been working properly, therefore I use EVF2 to work around it and doesn't want to deal with it now.  The damn EVF2 dies on me and it's on its way to Leica NJ.  I am very exhausted, frustrated and feeling dizzy... so I dropped the camera 5 mins ago, now it has a very nice dent on the top plate.

 

I have a Saturday shoot and I am forced to deal with it, I don't know if it was the camera or all these lenses are faulty. 

 

24mm summilux -> back 4 inches at f/1.4 @ minimal focus distant.

35mm summilux (used) -> dead on at f/1.4 @ minimal focus distant (just came back from NJ for loose barrel fix, it's not calibrated to M240P, it belongs to a M6 but I use it too)

50mm summilux -> back 1-2 inch at f/1.4 @ minimal focus distant (just came back from NJ for loose barrel fix and calibrated to M240P)

90mm summicorn -> back 1 inch at f/2 @ minimal focus distant

 

besides...

Voighlander 35mm f/1.2II back 2 inches @ f/1.2 @ 0.7M

 

in addition...

If I keep using the EVF2, it gives me 1 second lag per shoot.  Just because the curtain needs to close LV, then shoot, then open for LV again, that's 1 second.   The C mode gives me 4-5 shoot/second but the EVF2 is completely dark and I cannot follow my model's movements or adjust focus. 

 

I have tried everything but it's just not working!  Can anyone please shoot me?

 

 

 

[SMAL]

How do you test for focus issues? What´s your setup?

Can you maybe rent a Sony A7III somewhere and get a E to M mount adapter? Your lenses will work pretty fine on it and the focus peaking is reliable without lag.

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[adan]

Odds say that if almost all your lenses are off, then it is the camera adjustment that is wrong.

 

Have you made a check of the RF at infinity? Simply because if it off there, that can extend to all distances. And that is really easy to test for.

 

I know this because both my M10s have "drifted" a bit at infinity at one point or other, and that messed up the focus throughout the focus range. Fixing the infinity setting fixed all the other focus problems as well. Fortunately, correcting the infinity adjustment is almost trivially easy - requires a long-distance test subject, a 2mm Allen/hex tool, and 2 minutes. You don't even need to take any pictures (except as a "check of your work" after adjustment).

 

Go somewhere where you can sight on something at least a mile away (the farther the better) - set lens to the hard infinity stop on the focus scale - see if you are getting any visible "split" between the RF images. If they are not perfectly aligned at a mile, then the rangefinder's infinity adjustment is off.

 

BTW - if there is a camera error, it can show up as a variable error based on focal length. Because a 24 doesn't move as much as a 50 or a 90 to get down to minimum focus, and thus a fixed error of, say, 0.05mm in the RF mechanism will be a larger percentage error with the 24 than with the other lenses. Scales inversely with focal length.

[jaeger]

The M is mounted on a tripod and focus on a calibration card "alignment ruler" some very typical procedures.  Yeah, my friend can loan me a Canon D mark 2 with some nice L lenses too.

 

How do you test for focus issues? What´s your setup?

Can you maybe rent a Sony A7III somewhere and get a E to M mount adapter? Your lenses will work pretty fine on it and the focus peaking is reliable without lag.

[jaeger]

The infinity seemed ok but not crispy... I have a Leica R 180mm APO and it's infinity blown away all my other lenses (Leica or Japanese).  So I don't know what's the definition of being sharp at infinity anymore becoz are other aren't.  I know the focus block are aligned and image at infinity is not mushy, is it a passing grade?  I apologize for my ignorance...   

 

Odds say that if almost all your lenses are off, then it is the camera adjustment that is wrong.

 

Have you made a check of the RF at infinity? Simply because if it off there, that can extend to all distances. And that is really easy to test for.

 

I know this because both my M10s have "drifted" a bit at infinity at one point or other, and that messed up the focus throughout the focus range. Fixing the infinity setting fixed all the other focus problems as well. Fortunately, correcting the infinity adjustment is almost trivially easy - requires a long-distance test subject, a 2mm Allen/hex tool, and 2 minutes. You don't even need to take any pictures (except as a "check of your work" after adjustment).

 

Go somewhere where you can sight on something at least a mile away (the farther the better) - set lens to the hard infinity stop on the focus scale - see if you are getting any visible "split" between the RF images. If they are not perfectly aligned at a mile, then the rangefinder's infinity adjustment is off.

 

BTW - if there is a camera error, it can show up as a variable error based on focal length. Because a 24 doesn't move as much as a 50 or a 90 to get down to minimum focus, and thus a fixed error of, say, 0.05mm in the RF mechanism will be a larger percentage error with the 24 than with the other lenses. Scales inversely with focal length.

[adan]

Sorry - I probably didn't explain clearly.

 

Find a scene with a very distant subject. Mount a lens and set it to infinity by using the mark on the lens ∞.

 

Look through the viewfinder at the distant subject. (Forget about taking pictures for the moment).

 

If you camera is correctly adjusted for infinity, the rangefinder patch on a distant subject should look like the middle picture below. If you are seeing something like the first or third pictures (double-image, not "crispy"), then your RF is misadjusted for infinity, and that may be the source of your problems. Especially since you say "the rangefinder has never been working properly."

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

If the RF patch is correctly aligned - then take a picture of that subject, just to be sure the lens glass is correctly aligned with the lens focus mechanism.

 

If all of that is working, then you have a different problem that we'll have to figure out.

 

It is definitely true that the Leica RF/VF is very "steam-punk" - 25 or more moving parts that all have to be working with precision, and keep working with precision, to perform. And was designed in an era when: the only 21mm lens was f/3.4, a 35 f/1.4 was fuzzy at f/1.4 in any case (and only focused to 1 meter, as did the 50mm f/1.4) and most photographers had switched to an SLR if they wanted to use an 85/90mm f/2 quickly.

 

But it shouldn't be off by 2-4 inches!

[jerzy]

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just wonder what is the correct method of measuring the distance, relevant for close distances - is it the distance mneasured from the first optical element, from film plane or somewhere on the middle? At close distance it makes a difference when comaring real distance with what RF shows.

Btw - for analog Ms there are 3 check- adjustement points for RF: at infinity, at 10m and at 1m. Most common missalignemnt is at infinity and if camera has been properly adjusted in the factory adjusting at inifinity brings all other points OK

[Exodies]

Why doesn’t the M240 have a sensor plane mark on the casing?

[jaeger]

12 hours ago, adan said:

Sorry - I probably didn't explain clearly.

 

Find a scene with a very distant subject. Mount a lens and set it to infinity by using the mark on the lens ∞.

 

Look through the viewfinder at the distant subject. (Forget about taking pictures for the moment).

 

If you camera is correctly adjusted for infinity, the rangefinder patch on a distant subject should look like the middle picture below. If you are seeing something like the first or third pictures (double-image, not "crispy"), then your RF is misadjusted for infinity, and that may be the source of your problems. Especially since you say "the rangefinder has never been working properly."

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

If the RF patch is correctly aligned - then take a picture of that subject, just to be sure the lens glass is correctly aligned with the lens focus mechanism.

 

If all of that is working, then you have a different problem that we'll have to figure out.

 

It is definitely true that the Leica RF/VF is very "steam-punk" - 25 or more moving parts that all have to be working with precision, and keep working with precision, to perform. And was designed in an era when: the only 21mm lens was f/3.4, a 35 f/1.4 was fuzzy at f/1.4 in any case (and only focused to 1 meter, as did the 50mm f/1.4) and most photographers had switched to an SLR if they wanted to use an 85/90mm f/2 quickly.

 

But it shouldn't be off by 2-4 inches!

The RF focus patch are aligned just like the middle image.

Here is an example of 50Lux back 1-2 inch.  It doesn't allow me to upload more pictures... what's going on?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2018 by jaeger

[adan]

There is a 490 Kb limit on the total size of pictures you can put into one post. If you want to post 2 or 3 or 4 pix at one time, they need to total less than that limit (e.g. 129 Kb + 200 Kb + 150Kb). Set your jpegging settings to a higher compression rate. Or post each image in its own post.