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I'm Old!


AllNoAll

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Ok, I'm not that old, but my eyes are not what they used to be! ;) I was having a hard time focusing my M10-R at close to medium distances in low to medium light. I ended up trying out a few correction lenses for farsightedness (+.5, +1, and +1.5), and settled on a +.5 correction lens. It definitely helps at closer/medium distances, and in low to medium light (dusk), but it seems to slightly not help at infinity and longer distances. In addition it seems like it restricts the view through the viewfinder. Is there no perfect solution?...or do I simply have to live with this?

Allan

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Well, I am that old, and finally decided to have cataracts removed and replaced with Toric multifocal + astigmatism correction lenses. After 64 years of wearing glasses full time I'm still adjusting. The Toric lenses give images focused at far, mid, and close distances (3 overlapping images) and your brain & vision lock in on the sharpest. It works well in bright light with high-contrast subjects - not so well in dim and low contrast, especially close-up. Overall I'm very pleased, but keep reading glasses for dim conditions.

Camera use is pretty good: it's nice to be able to use my old Canon RF with the tiny eyepiece and see the whole frame.  Focusing an M or SLR is also fine without added corrections. I do notice my dominant right eye is a bit blurry. My retinal specialist said haze has formed in that lens capsule, but can be cleared with an in-office laser procedure. I'll check into that next spring during a follow-up appt.

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1 minute ago, jakontil said:

dang thought my RF was so misaligned, i was frustrated, dimmed light nail focus easily, but this afternoon things not so normal, i reconfirm many times using liveview to make sure RF was oke

reading above posts, i can say, i developed the same symptoms....

Yep! We’re old! At least my image files look great once I put my readers on! 😉

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17 minutes ago, Musky said:

I mean. At infinity I put the lens at infinity and it’s in focus. I don’t need to really focus it. All I need to do is worry about composition. 

There are 3 things I can think of that helps with focusing. 
 

1) contrast lens

 

2) magnifier

 

3) correction lens. this one is +0.5 but you can pick. maybe try +1?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/30065-REG/Leica_14350_0_5_M_Diopter.html?selectedType=Diopter&Diopter=%2B1.5

 

Now, Elliot Erwitt is no spring chicken. And a lot of those old guys still shoot their film Leica’s and some wear glasses and they don’t use any of this stuff. Because they Trust they’re in focus. Keep the aperture small. They don’t really care about 100% critical focus. 

It may be that some people get to the age when shooting a rangefinder just isn’t for them anymore and is better to switch to mirrorless. less of a hassle. 

YMMV

Thanks for the suggestions! I did get the +.5 correction lens, and it helps for close to medium distance subjects to focus. I did try the +1 correction lens and that was too strong.

 It is not accurate that you set a lens to infinity, and everything at perceived infinity is in focus. Infinity is not a perceivable distance. For example, a city in the distance, say five miles away, is not sitting at an infinite distance. It’s at a specific distance, and if you were to simply set your lens to infinity to focus on it, the city would not be critically focused. Usually you need to focus back a bit on subjects in the distance to be at precise focus.

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11 minutes ago, Musky said:

With my lenses if I set them at infinity (when the lens locks there and can’t go any further) they’re critically in focus to whatever is at infinity(certainly something that is miles away). Maybe yours needs calibration. 

When I take photos out my window I don’t focus on those buildings. I just put the lens at infinity. And everything there is perfectly in focus. Obviously with the quality here you can’t tell, but it is  

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Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Maybe the solution for you is the Visoflex if you pixel peep every single thing. 

I was simply explaining how optics work with infinity. Due to the depth of field that exists optically, at a lens set to infinity, objects in the distance will appear to be critically sharp even if that specific object is not actually at optical infinity. Stars in the sky are not optically at infinity.

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2 minutes ago, dbeids said:

Practice zone focusing perhaps? There are many explanatory threads on this forum. Once mastered, it’s the fastest focusing method  

Just a thought…

I think I might have been unclear in my post! I can’t imagine zone focusing for distant subjects! That’s a strange thought.
 

My issue isn’t focusing on distant subjects, with the +.5 viewfinder correction lens attached. My issue is that with the correction lens assisting focusing on close/medium distance subjects, distant subjects and scenes in bright sunlight are not as clear through the viewfinder as they are without the correction lens. In addition, it seems like the correction viewfinder lens is cropping in my view through the finder. I’m simply asking of this is normal?

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I wear glasses (with thin, flexible frames) to correct for distance and astigmatism (and for sun protection). When I approached 70 several years ago, I added a +.5 diopter (based on trial) to supplement my glasses.  M focusing (the focus patch is set to 2m) and distance vision are now optimized for my needs.
 

Eye conditions and viewing comfort preferences vary greatly.  Best to consult a good optician and to experiment.  But only after ensuring that both lens and camera are properly calibrated.

Jeff

Edited by Jeff S
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I am getting old too, approaching 60.

My eyes are not what they used to be. Using +1.5 for reading now for at least 5 years. And a few years ago, I noticed that infinity got blurry, especially in low light, driving in the dark. After a discussion with my specialist he tested my eyes with the internal lights turned off. Then I had -0.5 to get perfect sight at  >5m. So I now have driving glasses -0.5 to drive at night. 

Maybe if you wear similar - 0.5 or -1 reading glasses to see through the RF with the correction on, your infinity sight will be corrected? Not perfect of course. At least this is easier than taking the correction lens off.

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5 hours ago, AllNoAll said:

My issue isn’t focusing on distant subjects, with the +.5 viewfinder correction lens attached. My issue is that with the correction lens assisting focusing on close/medium distance subjects, distant subjects and scenes in bright sunlight are not as clear through the viewfinder as they are without the correction lens. In addition, it seems like the correction viewfinder lens is cropping in my view through the finder. I’m simply asking of this is normal?

I suspect your +0.5 diopter correction lens is slightly too strong.  I experienced the same problem when mine was. You might try a +0.25 which you can get from:

WALTER MAGNIFYING & DIOPTRE LENSES | Walter Leica

Is your current correction lens the model for the M10/M11? Earlier models had a slightly smaller eyepiece and their correction lenses can only be used on the M10/M11 with an adapter. This will slightly restrict the view through the rangefinder. 

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10 hours ago, AllNoAll said:

Trust me! I thought about it! I just can’t shoot M with an EVF 😉

stay RF, thank me later hahaha

i have the leica magnifier both 1.4 and 1.25 as well as few walter contrast lens, this is helpful when using outdoor daylight, it is just more contrasty, add a little more confidence to shoot

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18 hours ago, AllNoAll said:

Ok, I'm not that old, but my eyes are not what they used to be! ;) I was having a hard time focusing my M10-R at close to medium distances in low to medium light. I ended up trying out a few correction lenses for farsightedness (+.5, +1, and +1.5), and settled on a +.5 correction lens. It definitely helps at closer/medium distances, and in low to medium light (dusk), but it seems to slightly not help at infinity and longer distances. In addition it seems like it restricts the view through the viewfinder. Is there no perfect solution?...or do I simply have to live with this?

Allan

LASIK?

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19 hours ago, AllNoAll said:

I think I might have been unclear in my post! I can’t imagine zone focusing for distant subjects! That’s a strange thought.
 

My issue isn’t focusing on distant subjects, with the +.5 viewfinder correction lens attached. My issue is that with the correction lens assisting focusing on close/medium distance subjects, distant subjects and scenes in bright sunlight are not as clear through the viewfinder as they are without the correction lens. In addition, it seems like the correction viewfinder lens is cropping in my view through the finder. I’m simply asking of this is normal?

I don’t have the issue you describe and I use a diopter correction lens too…

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