Interesting LFI article

[jaapv]

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I don't understand why it matters what aperture you use on an M camera as the rangefinder is simply working off the cam, there's no way of the physical aperture setting affecting the rangefinder??

 

No - the aperture affects the focussing of the lens.

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[modschiedler]

As for it not mattering 'cos its a reportage lens, well why pay 3 grand if you are not bothered about ultimate lens performance?

Guy

 

Well, maybe because there are other aspects to consider when your are evaluating a lens design, e.g. elimination of curvature of field or flare or …; or how about high contrast performance wide wide open with quite a large angle? Paying 3000 bucks for a lens actually doesn’t mean you get a perfectly-happy-piece. It’s all about dealing with compromises, isn’t it? This is an aspect one might have learned from this article. Lens design as the art of finding a "best" solution within constraints. Take Zeiss for example; they claim to have reduced focus shift to a minimum, but seemingly at cost of full aperture performance; they certainly will have their reasons why they have only one highspeed lens in their ZM product line

[modschiedler]

(off topic) by the way, Guy, I like your framing technique

[dhsimmonds]

James - the LFI article refers only to the users of the fast lenses reporting this focus shift problem. As for the V-Lux-1 article where it tends to autofocus on distant objects rather than where you might want the focus point to be, their recommendation of using the macro focus setting might also work on our LC-1's? Just a thought, I will try it out later today when it stops raining!

[guywalder]

(off topic) by the way, Guy, I like your framing technique

 

how I frame my comments, or how I frame my pictures?

cheers

[carstenw]

How you frame your victims?

[modschiedler]

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Apologies for my imprecision, Guy.

Fine pictures on your site, I meant.

[guywalder]

marc-jürgen, thanks

carsten, now dont go paying attention to any of those rumours....

[albertknappmd]

Now, can someone or a few of you tell me what to do with my M8 and the 35mm f/1.4 ASPH... Should I always focus at f/1.4 and then stop down or does it only matter in certain situations ? I understand the concept of focus shifting but am confused as to HOW TO PREVENT IT.... :confused:

[carstenw]

You can't prevent it. The camera doesn't know which aperture you are using, as there is no communication, so no matter at what aperture you focus, if the lens has focus shift, when you stop down, the focus will move. You can either learn to anticipate how the focus move, and personally compensate, or you can take it back, or you can send it to Leica and hope that it is one which they can fix.

[ho_co]

Albert, just to amplify Carsten's post:

If you were unaware of the focus shift before the article, don't worry about it; most people on the forum have never noticed it.

 

If you are aware of it and it bothers you, then either:

a) Shoot wide open (Leica lenses are built to be in focus at full aperture); or

Compensate as the article suggested.

 

"Compensating" means to turn the lens just a tad toward near focus after lining up the rangefinder. How big that 'tad' is will vary based on both aperture and distance.

 

My guess is that if you are just now becoming aware of the possible problem, it isn't something you need to worry about, either because your lens doesn't exhibit the effect as much as some, or because your style of shooting simply doesn't make it obvious. As I said above, to most people it isn't noticeable.

 

--HC

[albertknappmd]

thank you !

Albert:D

[total_recall]

 

M8 users are encouraged to use maximum aperture for focusing.

 

 

you (or the LFI writer) may have misunderstood something.

 

M users DONT USE THE LENS OPTICS AT ALL when focusing thus it is completely irrelevant which aperture the lens is set to.

[Lucklik]

As for the V-Lux-1 article where it tends to autofocus on distant objects rather than where you might want the focus point to be, their recommendation of using the macro focus setting might also work on our LC-1's?

 

Dave,

I tried it on my Vlux 1, in both AF and AF macro the Vlux focussed on the closest object.

Both object had the same contrast.

My D2 focusses on the object with the most contrast, I haven't tested this on the Vlux yet.

rgs

Luc

[modschiedler]

you (or the LFI writer) may have misunderstood something.

 

M users DONT USE THE LENS OPTICS AT ALL when focusing thus it is completely irrelevant which aperture the lens is set to.

 

Hi total recall,

 

may I correct you on this? M lenses are designed in a way to have the focus set spot on at open aperture. Or, to be more precise, this is how the mechanical transmission works when you focus with the rangefinder. If, for example, the aperture of the 35 mm f/1.4 Asph is set to 2.8, your image will be slightly defocussed although focus looks set correctly in the rangefinder window. This is the effect of residual spherical aberration causing focus shift with this lens. Thus it is not irrelevant at all which aperture the lens is set to. The experienced user will compensate for this in a way that he will slightly shift focus to the front after having focussed spot on with the rangefinder as soon as he is using the lens other than at full aperture.

[leicar7]

So, maybe we are really looking here at a likely new 35/1.4 ASPH WITH floating elements? It may be evolution time for that lens again. The current one has been with us a while, and now is the primary one blamed for issues with focussing shift in the new environment.

 

Anyone heard any rumors on what L may have up its sleeve for new R lenses beyond AF? Surely there should be about 3 to go along with an R10.

[carstenw]

I believe that I was the last one to hear rumours, but nothing about lenses, other than at least one Leica employee (who does not work on the ultra-secret R project) thinks that they will be auto-focus. I personally suspect that a standard lens will be released with the camera, ie. something like a 35-70/4 or 28-90 or similar with autofocus. A 80-200/70-180 also seems likely, as this is pretty much an industry standard, and Leica has two great designs just waiting to have auto-focus added. If there are three, the third one could either be a wide (21-35) or a faster, more expensive version of the standard zoom. I doubt that there will be an auto-focus prime released with the R10, but that is just my personal opinion.

[ho_co]

Your guess sounds good to me, Carsten. But I do remember E Puts remarking that Leica had an absolutely dynamite new Summicron up their sleeve that would be stunning but also expensive if they decided to produce it. Of course, it could be M or R or even an R zoom.

 

I don't see much need for a fixed focal length that slow with any new AF camera.

 

Unless, of course, the photokina interview report was correct and the format is larger than 24x36.

 

Since the latest LFI didn't promise any technical articles for the next issue (don't they always have at least one tech article?), do you suppose it might contain an introduction to the new camera? I mean, they've finally delivered DMR firmware 1.3 and got all the M8 problems taken care of--well, unless you count zebras, AWB, incompatibility with SDHC and minor stuff like that...

--HC

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Hallo,

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[carstenw]

The format being larger than 24x36 must be taken with a grain of salt. Leica practically invented the 24x36 format (movie cameras, where the film format came from, had the long side of the negative across the film), and has a strong historical connection to it.

 

My guess a while ago was that if this is really true, then of course given that the full negative must still be covered by the same range of lenses (anything else would be suicide), the only way to make the negative larger would be to make it more square, giving a larger area. If this is the direction they are going, then 4:3 instead of 3:2 would make sense. 4:3 is popular among photographers who work for magazines, due to the standard magazine sizes. The sensor could even be a little larger than both formats, to allow one to choose from 3:2 and 4:3 in firmware, without wasting a lot of area. At the time, some people thought that a square format could also be made choosable, but this would mean a wastage of 33% when shooting 3:2, so I personally doubt this direction.

 

Given that the deadline is Photokina 2008, I doubt that anything will appear anywhere until the spring, at the very least. Leica has already been bitten once by premature announcements. Besides, I am sure that they want to see the 1Ds3 and D3x specs before committing themselves to anything.

 

The 3:2/4:3 switch would be very cool, to be honest.

[Albert4321]

Can someone tell me which lens(es) has worst focus shift problem? For example, is the 35cron has less problem than the 35 lux, and the 50 lux has less problem because of the floating elements?

 

I am thinking to add a 35mm and/or 28mm lenses, and wondering which one is less problematic on the M8.