Focus shift

[Harpomatic]

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14 hours ago, Dennis said:

Is it different (about focus shift) to focus on the OVF or LV?

Yes, it is! The OVF is giving you a set focus distance regardless of the aperture of the lens, because the calibration of the lens and the rangefinder are not influenced by the aperture mechanism. So you will have focus shift with the OVF, not with the LV/EVF

 

14 hours ago, Dennis said:

And what about to focus wide open first then change to the given aperture?

That won’t work, it actually will give you focus shift even with the LV/EVF! For the OVF it will make absolutely no difference. 

Focusing wide open and shooting at closed aperture is what AF cameras do with most lenses, and that’s why they can show focus shift as well.

14 hours ago, Dennis said:

I prefer the OVF very much

I do as well. And the Leica M EVF, at least on my M240, is clunky to say the least - why so much lag and wait between shots?

You have to be aware of focus shift only with specific lenses that are affected by it. To be honest I was aware of it and then looked into it because I got “burned” quite a lot with the CV Nokton 50mm 1.1 and the Nokton Classic 35mm 1.4 ver 1 (my only two lenses at the time) and I wasn’t understanding the issue. Then I researched it further because I was really fancying the Zeiss C Sonnar 50mm 1.5 but did know there was an issue. That’s why I never bought it. I like lenses that just work without me having to go out of my way to work around their foibles. 

Apart from that, no other lens I have/had ever gave me any reason to be concerned, I never noticed focus shift on those: it is there, it just is irrelevant for practical shooting at any aperture.

My recommendation is to make sure your lens has no relevant focus shift and forget about it after that. And avoid the ones that have it to a greater extent, like I do, or use them only when you want to cope with it.

 

I hope this helps!

[a.noctilux]

Hello Harpomatic,

just curious ...

which lenses you ended up with ?

[Harpomatic]

45 minutes ago, a.noctilux said:

Hello Harpomatic,

just curious ...

which lenses you ended up with ?

Hi, I ended up with an all Zeiss kit: I really like the rendering and the ergonomics.

I have the 50mm Planar, 35mm Biogon F2, 28mm Biogon F2.8.

Having said that, I’m eagerly awaiting my copy of the new Nokton 50mm 1.5 II and that could become my main 50.

[Dennis]

8 hours ago, Harpomatic said:

I hope this helps!

Of course it helped, a lot. Thank you so much for taking the time to explain. Interesting topic.

8 hours ago, Harpomatic said:

I like lenses that just work without me having to go out of my way to work around their foibles. 

+1, totally agree. The M system has already some limitations, we don't need extra ones

8 hours ago, Harpomatic said:

My recommendation is to make sure your lens has no relevant focus shift and forget about it after that.

Absolutely

🙏