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Open Thread: Your favourite soft or missed focused shots


Lee S

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I’ve been reading lots of threads recently about struggling to focus with rangefinders or how lens sharpness is an important characteristic.

How about we appreciate some beautiful out of focus shots? Either purposefully or as Bob Ross used to say ‘Happy accidents’. 

I’ve taken some shots that are out of focus or blurry by accident and loved the results. I now sometimes take one shot in focus then try to move focus slightly to out of focus. 
 

Please feel free to post you intentional or accidental out of focus/soft lens shots that you love for artistic or emotional merit.

I will start with a very low bar and explain what happened. 

Missed Focus (accidental) M10, 50mm f1.5 Nokton VM II

Too slow a shutter speed for movement (accidental) M10, 50mm f1.5 Nokton VM II. 

Lee 

 

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I have a few. But this one came to my mind quickly.

My old dog Lola with her all-terrain boots. I didn't have enough time to focus properly. But I super love this photo. It's very OOF 😆

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1 minute ago, Dennis said:

I have a few. But this one came to my mind quickly.

My old dog Lola with her all-terrain boots. I didn't have enough time to focus properly. But I super love this photo. It's very OOF 😆

 

Dennis it’s a wonderful photo and understand why you love it. Loving the boots.

 

It’s a great capture regardless of focus. I wonder if blurred shots come across as much nostalgic or authentic, sometimes even more like a real memory. Memories are never perfect, they leave enough haziness for you to reinterpret them. 
 

 

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This photo is slightly OOF, so I have never published it before. But I like it nevertheless.

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M10, 50 Noctilux f/1

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Focusing on moving subjects at f/1 isn't always easy. Here I completely lost focus, but I still like the atmosphere.

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M10, 50 Noctilux f/1

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Here is how it was meant to be:

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M10, 50 Noctilux f/1

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Another portrait accidentally out of focus. But I still like it.

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M10, 50 Noctilux f/1

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As David Alan Harvey says: "Shot first, focus later"

I didn't do properly. I shot first, and I didn't think about focus, ever 😆 Any way, my wife's smile is still contagious ... 

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Edited by Dennis
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11 minutes ago, evikne said:

Focusing on moving subjects at f/1 isn't always easy. Here I completely lost focus, but I still like the atmosphere.

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M10, 50 Noctilux f/1

Evikne, what wonderful images and the slightly soft focus doesn’t subtract and no doubt adds to the atmosphere and feel of the photos.

They look like amazing family memories that I’m sure you will cherish. I would love to capture images like this of my family. 

I wonder how many amazing photos we haven’t shared here or others because in our eyes they are not technically perfect. 

 

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20 minutes ago, Dennis said:

As David Alan Harvey says: "Shot first, focus later"

I didn't do properly. I shot first, and I didn't think about focus, ever 😆 Any way, my wife's smile is still contagious ... 

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Wonderful image, I bet her smile lights up the room! 

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1 hour ago, Dennis said:

As David Alan Harvey says: "Shot first, focus later"

I didn't do properly. I shot first, and I didn't think about focus, ever 😆

Sometimes I feel that I absolutely shouldn't miss a shot. But things happen so fast that I just have to guesstimate the focus and take a picture in a hurry before it's too late. Then, if I have time, I take a new shot with a more thoughtful focus and composition.

The first shot may go wrong, but capturing the decisive moment is often more important than getting a properly focused image. 😉

Edited by evikne
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With pleasure I contribute... don't remember how this could happen...

M10-D, APO Summicron 50

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1 minute ago, AndreasG said:

With pleasure I contribute... don't remember how this could happen...

M10-D, APO Summicron 50

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At least you got some nice bokeh. 😄

I guess it happened because of the repetitive pattern in the fence. You probably put two rods on top of each other in the RF window, but not the same one.

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3 minutes ago, evikne said:

At least you got some nice bokeh. 😄

I guess it happened because of the repetitive pattern in the fence. You probably put two rods on top of each other in the RF window, but not the same one.

The rangefinder is a wonderful way to focus, but repeating patterns has caught me out a few times!!! 

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Backfocused on an Epson R-D1 with a Summilux 50mm pre-ASPH

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21 minutes ago, andyturk said:

Backfocused on an Epson R-D1 with a Summilux 50mm pre-ASPH

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I have this lens myself. It's known for focus shift when stopped down a little.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This picture works in a way for me, because when I look at the girl, I assume that the cat must be in focus, and when I look at the cat, I think that the girl is probably in focus. 😄

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M10 with 50mm Summilux pre-ASPH (E46)

Edited by evikne
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On 6/8/2021 at 8:47 PM, evikne said:

Sometimes I feel that I absolutely shouldn't miss a shot. But things happen so fast that I just have to guesstimate the focus and take a picture in a hurry before it's too late. Then, if I have time, I take a new shot with a more thoughtful focus and composition.

The first shot may go wrong, but capturing the decisive moment is often more important than getting a properly focused image. 😉

This is a really good point, especially true with family or fleeting moments and something I need to improve on! I like my CL but the main frustration with (any) focus-by-wire lenses is the sense of imprecise control. Focus > recompose and the moment is gone. Would much rather get an M and master the rangefinder.

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