Focusing the IIIf - Is it supposed to be easy?

[carbon_dragon]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I'm typically an M user, but I do own a IIIf BD. However, I have a heck of a time focusing with it. I'm not sure how hard it was to use when it was new and how much of my experience is just age. I do wear glasses. Should I try to find someone to rebuild/repair the rangefinder? If so who? Is it likely to make a big difference in how easy to focus it is? I've tried the little clip on orange lenses, but it doesn't help.

Thanks.

[Reini]

With glasses, it's hard to see through the tiny seeker of a IIIf. With or without adjustment.

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[luigi bertolotti]

Agree with Reini by personal experience : with LTM (I have both IIIc and IIIf) I prefer transfer the glasses on forehead for focusing… dioptre adjustment gives a little help…  I use left eye which in my case is a bit better… but frankly, truth is that M is all another matter.

Edited October 18, 2018 by luigi bertolotti

[pico]

Focusing them was not an issue for me until I became spoiled when  got an M2, but that was long ago. Today I use the rangefinder only to focus then shift my eye to a shoe mounted optical frame. The IIIG is good again for 50mm use.

 

[UliWer]

The rangefinder must be clear, if it isn't it can be cleared by a CLA. One often forgets the little lever to adjust for different focussing distances. Though otherwise I don't find it too hard to focus exactly with a screwmount body. The rangefinder window has a large magnification which helps a lot. I recently compared focussing with the IIIf and the Contax IIa. The Contax is supposed to be ways superior since the measurement by rangefinder is seen in the viewfinder like with the M and it has a huge base of measurement - much larger than even the M. But the viewinder only has a magnification of 0.5 which makes it hard to see the focus exactly. With the IIIf - notwithstanding it's "bad" technology - I was quicker and the results were not worse. 

[Reini]

If you absolutely want a LTM-Leica (Schraubleica) I would like to recommend the IIIG the viewfinder and Focuswindow are little bit larger.
The frame (from the IIIG) in the viewfinder window can be seen (without glasses) also from 5cm distance. In the IIIf and other ltm's , it gets tiny.

[pico]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

1 hour ago, UliWer said:

One often forgets the little lever to adjust for different focussing distances.

Then they don't understand their camera.

 

[TomB_tx]

Pico is right - if you don’t adjust the RF focus for the distance you are viewing it make focusing harder.

One of my IIIfs had a dim rangefinder until Youxin Ye replaced the beam splitter during a CLA. Now the image is much brighter and higher contrast, and is easier to focus than my other ltms.

I also wear glasses full time, which restricts the view significantly, but I still enjoy using the Barnacks.

[250swb]

I wear glasses and the focus is very easy on my IIIF, using the diopter adjustment lever. For general focus and if I'm using a small enough aperture sometimes I don't bother adjusting the diopter, the fuzzy focus is good enough, but with it set the focus is crisper than many an M camera I've used. 

Edited October 19, 2018 by 250swb

[UliWer]

vor 9 Stunden schrieb pico:

Then they don't understand their camera.

 

If everybody had full understanding of their cameras and other gear, we would not need a place like this forum.  

[jc_braconi]

Using an OKARO will help a little

[carbon_dragon]

13 hours ago, TomB_tx said:

Pico is right - if you don’t adjust the RF focus for the distance you are viewing it make focusing harder.

One of my IIIfs had a dim rangefinder until Youxin Ye replaced the beam splitter during a CLA. Now the image is much brighter and higher contrast, and is easier to focus than my other ltms.

I also wear glasses full time, which restricts the view significantly, but I still enjoy using the Barnacks.

Maybe I'll give him an email after my trip to see if he can work on mine. Note that diopters don't work with me due to my astigmatism. I'm stuck with glasses, at least until my inevitable eye surgery my doctor says is coming (whereupon he can ALSO adjust my eyes). Not that I'm looking forward to that.

[250swb]

30 minutes ago, carbon_dragon said:

Maybe I'll give him an email after my trip to see if he can work on mine. Note that diopters don't work with me due to my astigmatism. I'm stuck with glasses, at least until my inevitable eye surgery my doctor says is coming (whereupon he can ALSO adjust my eyes). Not that I'm looking forward to that.

The dioptre talk is of the adjustable dioptre that is in the camera, it's the lever underneath the film rewind knob with an arrow and infinity symbol engraved on the top plate.

Edited October 19, 2018 by 250swb

[carbon_dragon]

Yes I'm saying that diopters work only for nearsightedness or farsightedness. Astigmatism means EVERYTHING is blurry. Diopters on cameras can be adjusted and be better or worse for me but the result is still blurry without glasses.

[spydrxx]

I am near and farsighted and have astigmatism as well as glaucoma - so I need eyeglasses for almost everything. Having said that, focusing my iif is quite easy wearing glasses, excepting in dim light. What contributes significantly to focusing is the diopter (telescope) adjustment. I wish I had it on a couple of my other ltm bodies.

[carbon_dragon]

It's sounds like you're talking about magnifiers, not diopters.  For me it's blurry all the time without my glasses.

[schattenundlicht]

5 hours ago, spydrxx said:

I am near and farsighted and have astigmatism as well as glaucoma - so I need eyeglasses for almost everything. Having said that, focusing my iif is quite easy wearing glasses, excepting in dim light. What contributes significantly to focusing is the diopter (telescope) adjustment. I wish I had it on a couple of my other ltm bodies.

+1

[schattenundlicht]

Even as a full time wearer of the full monty eyeglasses (myopia, presbyopia, astigmatism) I still find all my LTMs joyful tu use.

Advantage IIIa onwards: focusing lever for RF eyepiece. Advantage IIIf: lever less easily maladjusted inadvertently. 

What I personally dislike on my IIIf is the close proximity of the VF and RF windows, which was hailed as an advantage in its time. With the viewing distance increased by eyeglasses, I always see part of the adjacent window, which detracts me. 

Best solution imho: focus with RF, frame with SBOOI!

 

Edited October 19, 2018 by schattenundlicht

[carbon_dragon]

Well mine must be really deteriorated then. All the more reason to try to send it to someone to rebuild the rangefinder. I’m OK on the Leica Ms, Contax IIa’s, and even my old Konica I though it could be that in that last case, the rangefinder could use some work too. 

I recently went out with my Contax Aria (film slr) and the relatively small microprism and the small left/right rangefinder was a bit hard to focus as well. I find the one in the Contax RTS III with its bigger image, bigger microprism and larger rangefinder patch that goes at a diagonal easier — almost as easy as the Leica Ms (including the M2s up to the M10). The image I have in the IIIf is very vague with a lot of difficulty trying to line up the two images. I need to be in a lot of light with some very hard and sharp lines to line it up. I’ve never seen one that is new or like new so as I said, I don’t know what is normal. From what you’re all saying, mine is not normal.

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[spydrxx]

9 hours ago, carbon_dragon said:

It's sounds like you're talking about magnifiers, not diopters.  For me it's blurry all the time without my glasses.

It is actually a telescope , not a magnifier, but is often referred to as a diopter.