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You must first focus in the center as you normally do, then "recompose" the image in the viewfinder before you take the picture. If you shoot with shallow depth of field, you must be careful so you don't move the focus plane when turning the camera.

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1 hour ago, evikne said:

You must first focus in the center as you normally do, then "recompose" the image in the viewfinder before you take the picture. If you shoot with shallow depth of field, you must be careful so you don't move the focus plane when turning the camera.

I tried like that before and I always shoot at wide open that make my focus isn’t the right point. :( I have to practice more.

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It depends on the type of focusing you are doing. If you are focusing with hyperfocal and small apertures (example: f/8) then you are not worried about your subject being in focus or not because the depth of field will be large. So it’s just compose through the viewfinder. But if you are using wide apertures for a portrait then focus and finally recompose. If your subject is moving (coming to you or going away) then is difficult because if you focus and then recompose maybe your subject is not in the same place. At first I failed a lot in this last example but finally I learnt to calculate the distance. The lens has a tab for your finger, right? Learn the position of the tab and the focal distance it represents. I hope it helps and sorry for my English!

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If the subject is moving focus on a structure on the plane of focus that you like and release as the subject enters into it. For static subjects focus-recompose, remember this will introduce geometrical focus shift. Lean backwards a bit whilst turning. experience will teach you how much.

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I assume you use the Noctilux? So do I. One trick I use is to limit the recomposing (which is the main reason for the focus problems). When possible, I first compose the image in the viewfinder as I want, and then I try to find something to focus at near the center that lays at the same focus plane as the area I actually want to put in focus. (You may need some practice to "see" the focal plane.) And you may have to recompose slightly anyway, but it can help a lot if the main focus should be far out to the corners.

If a subject is moving towards you, this is also a much faster way to photograph, because you save time with less recomposing.

Another simple solution is of course to crop the image in the post processing, or a combination: some recomposing and a some cropping. 

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I can try to explain my theory a bit further (in my very limited English):

Imagine that you put the spike of a gigantic drawing compass into the focal point of the lens and draw a big arc that touches the "point of interest", for example an eye. This arc is the focus plane. Now you can also focus on anything else that touches this line, and the eye will be in focus too, without recomposing.

Edited by evikne
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A small correction: the plane of focus is a flat plane that is parallel to the sensor. If you rotate the camera to recompose the center of that focal plane (I.e. the intersection of the optical axis and the focal plane) moves along the circle you described. Thus  the focus will shift, depending on the degree of rotation and focal distance. 

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1 hour ago, kangaroo2012 said:

Have you tried using the Visoflex (type 020)?

It works like an SLR.

 

I tried the visoflex on last Saturday at Shop but i don't like it because of the auto magnify and the focus peeking was different from SL that make me confused sometimes. 

However, this way is good for this time as well for shooting like i want to focus in other area. thanks for suggestion :) 

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8 hours ago, evikne said:

I can try to explain my theory a bit further (in my very limited English):

7 hours ago, jaapv said:

A small correction: the plane of focus is a flat plane that is parallel to the sensor. If you rotate the camera to recompose the center of that focal plane (I.e. the intersection of the optical axis and the focal plane )moves along the circle you described. Thus  the focus will shift, depending on the degree of rotation and focal distance. 

Imagine that you put the spike of a gigantic drawing compass into the focal point of the lens and draw a big arc that touches the "point of interest", for example an eye. This arc is the focus plane. Now you can also focus on anything else that touches this line, and the eye will be in focus too, without recomposing.

Jaapv's comment is correct in theory. However regarding the Noctilux F1 you also need to consider that the focal plane is not a flat plane but strongly curved towards you (at larger apertures). Therefore I find in practice that Evilne's working method actually works ok in real life thinking of your focal plane as an arc.

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@jaapv & @Bo-Sixten

I can’t understand how I could forget the fact that one can photograph a flat wall or something, and get everything in focus, so I admit my mistake, even though the f/1 Noctilux' focal plane isn't perfectly flat. 😊

But the shape of the focal plane doesn't really matter that much in real life, because it's impossible to "see" it that clearly anyway. Just imagine a flat focal plane, and the result will be the same.

Here is an example (and there are tons of more examples on my homepage). I wanted to focus at the girl's eyes at the very top of the image. But instead I focused at her mom's glasses, much nearer the center, so I only needed a very limited recomposing.

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!

Edited by evikne
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4 hours ago, Bo-Sixten said:

However regarding the Noctilux F1 you also need to consider that the focal plane is not a flat plane but strongly curved towards you (at larger apertures). 

Do you a reference to that, about the focal plane being curved? I dont use a noct but thay curved focal plane is really interesting.

 

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