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Please Help with Image Sharpness (new to this forum)


desert bee

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I'm sure I must be doing something wrong with my M8.  I recently purchased it but am having issues with focus and sharpness for some reason.  I use a Voigtlander, 35mm, and have used it at 1.4, 1.8, 2, 4, and 8 while focusing on the same point (a lens cap that i can't upload due to the .49MB restriction). 

1- the image is not sharp (VOIGTLANDER comes out slightly out of focus on all images, and I have a decent eye)

2-  i am about 0.7 meters away, so I am good there.

3- I have it set on A, with max ISO of 1250

***Any tips, or particular threads to get me up to speed on this gorgeous camera?  Thanks.

PS, I've been shooting a Sony A7 for about 4 years and consider myself slightly above amateur.

THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!!

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Welcome to the forum.

Without the images, it's hard to comment. Could you resize it in Lightroom then post here?

You must be very close to the minimum focusing distance, if you're at 0.7m? Have you tried increasing the distance?

Using the rangefinder images to manually focus can be difficult at first, are you sure that it's in focus when you view the overlaping images in the viewfinder?

Ernst

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vor 9 Stunden schrieb desert bee:

I'm sure I must be doing something wrong with my M8.  I recently purchased it but am having issues with focus and sharpness for some reason.  I use a Voigtlander, 35mm, and have used it at 1.4, 1.8, 2, 4, and 8 while focusing on the same point (a lens cap that i can't upload due to the .49MB restriction). 

1- the image is not sharp (VOIGTLANDER comes out slightly out of focus on all images, and I have a decent eye)

2-  i am about 0.7 meters away, so I am good there.

3- I have it set on A, with max ISO of 1250

***Any tips, or particular threads to get me up to speed on this gorgeous camera?  Thanks.

PS, I've been shooting a Sony A7 for about 4 years and consider myself slightly above amateur.

THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!!

As ErnstK says -  you might have been too close, Apart from that Voigtlander lenses can be quite soft wide open and suffer from focus shift - that is your image seems well in focus through the viewfinder, depending on the distance of your object, but not on the final photo. Aperture is also crucial.

Edited by EUSe
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Desert bee, you had pushed things too far with M8 ...

- as said above, the 0.70m is definitely not the best distance for M8 + Voigtlander at f/1.4 or even f/2

- shutter speed can be too low, etc.

 - maybe the lens and/or M8 is out of tolerance in focussing rangefinder coupling

- in my use since 2007, I've never had with M8 decent "sharp" pictures at 1250 ISO ( noise and "grainy pic" )

 

For more investigation in "sharpness", would you try another route with "normal settings" : 160 ISO, far subject (over 3m will be fine), close the lens more, fast shutter speed, etc.

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Thank, everyone.  I really appreciate your input.  Honestly, I lost the Photography bug since I returned to the United States 3 years ago.  I lived in Italy for four years, which was plenty of inspiration for photography.  But, now that I purchased the M8, I have renewed interest.  HOWEVER, I still need to purchase Lightroom :)

Thanks again.

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If your lens is a previous version of the current VM 35/1.4 ii, it suffers from focus shift i fear. My SC version has the same problem and Lighroom or other softwares can nothing against that. Only solution i know of, learn to use the lens in spite of its flaw, choose another 35mm (*) or use yours on mirrorless cameras. Mine works fine on my A7s mod BTW but i don't use it on my M8.2 and M240. 
(*) the current VM 35/1.4 ii has no focus shift problem AFAIK but i have no experience with it.

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Bought an M8 about 8 months ago, color images are great at ISO 160, good at 320, and acceptable at 640. With BW infrared, I use 320 and 640 and the noise, "grain", is nice so the image work well. I have never used 1280, but I barely accept the ISO 640 color images, so have no desire to go there. I bought the camera for its B&W infrared capabilities, but have quite a few good color images that I like.

Lenses are another thing I have mostly used the M8 with a 35 Summilux, 25 f 3.5 Canon and a 40mm Voigtlander. If I want to get close to a subject I use my CL with a macro lens, Leica rangefinders play better at general distances.  

M8 40mm f 1.4 Voigtlander

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On 12/26/2019 at 8:16 PM, tommonego@gmail.com said:

Bought an M8 about 8 months ago, color images are great at ISO 160, good at 320, and acceptable at 640. With BW infrared, I use 320 and 640 and the noise, "grain", is nice so the image work well. I have never used 1280, but I barely accept the ISO 640 color images, so have no desire to go there. I bought the camera for its B&W infrared capabilities, but have quite a few good color images that I like.

Lenses are another thing I have mostly used the M8 with a 35 Summilux, 25 f 3.5 Canon and a 40mm Voigtlander. If I want to get close to a subject I use my CL with a macro lens, Leica rangefinders play better at general distances.  

M8 40mm f 1.4 Voigtlander

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Is that Hanover?

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On 12/29/2019 at 12:17 AM, jaapv said:

You can easily go up to 1250 on the camera if you expose liberally and take some care in raw conversion- See the FAQ. Topaz Sharpen AI will do an excellent cleanup job as well I think you could manage 2500 with up to date software. 

Do you mean Topaz Denoise AI? I thought Topaz Sharpen AI was for sharpness only, but I may be mistaken.

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vor 6 Stunden schrieb jaapv:

DeNoise is only for noise.

Actually, DeNoise has also a slider for sharpness, but its function should not be overstressed, what the program really does well and almost perfect is just "denoise"

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