Tips for nailing focus?

[lct]

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This book is from 1987 IINW. Would be interesting to compare EVF with focus magnification.

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[Jeff S]

First things first … be sure your eyes are corrected for distance and any astigmatism. I require glasses AND a diopter for optimal focusing with RF. 
 

After that, you can carefully compare RF focusing to EVF/LV to determine if there are any RF, and/or lens, calibration issues. 
 

The FAQ Jaap linked is very useful.

Jeff

[jaapv]

On 5/25/2023 at 1:34 PM, lct said:

This book is from 1987 IINW. Would be interesting to compare EVF with focus magnification.

Not much change in M rangefinders in the meantime. If anything, more precise.

[lct]

47 minutes ago, jaapv said:

Not much change in M rangefinders in the meantime. If anything, more precise.

One RF change has been introduced with the M10 IINW. 0.73x instead of 0.72x (film) or 0.68x (M9, M240) VF magnification. This way, the effective base length of the rangefinder is now 50.60mm instead of 47,09mm (M9, M240). Allows for critical lenses like 75/1.25 and 90/1.5 to be focused accurately under the old 0.03mm circle of confusion value which remains the only reference at Leica apparently.

[jaapv]

1 hour ago, lct said:

One RF change has been introduced with the M10 IINW. 0.73x instead of 0.72x (film) or 0.68x (M9, M240) VF magnification. This way, the effective base length of the rangefinder is now 50.60mm instead of 47,09mm (M9, M240). Allows for critical lenses like 75/1.25 and 90/1.5 to be focused accurately under the old 0.03mm circle of confusion value which remains the only reference at Leica apparently.

Indeed,as said, more precise. 
 

 

[lct]

More precise under old precision criteria.

[FlashGordonPhotography]

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Focusing an M isn’t rocket science. And it’s not a gift. It’s a skill. You learn it and then you practice it to get better. Stop practicing and you lose your edge.

1. You need to check your RF calibration. It doesn’t look right. Easiest way is to head into a Leica dealer and try a few other lenses and maybe a camera body with your lens. Trust your instincts. If you think it’s off it is. It’s an easy fix for horizontal and maybe worth learning how to do it yourself. But for warranty send it in. The RF is actually very precise. Also have a lens cloth with you at all times. You need to keep the RF windows clean. I just have a small one in every pair of pant/shorts I own. They go through the wash with them.

2. ALWAYS focus from one direction. Gear lash is real. The 135 is especially prone to it but it’ll be there at some level with others. Some so tiny you won’t see it. But it’s there. It’s also how you get fast at RF focusing. Racking back and forward will slow you focusing down.

3. Use a good stance. This will matter later. Feet spread a bit and at 45 degrees to your subject if possible. It’s the most stable platform. You’ll be rocking sometimes so stability of foot is important. For vertical shooting see whether hand over or under is more stable and stick with that.

4. Line up your eye. You need to learn to have your eye in the middle of the VF. Elbows under the camera etc. You don’t get the IBIS crutch here so it’s up to you to be steady. Also if you’re not right eye dominant see if you can learn. I’m left eye dominant but learned to shoot my M’s right eyed. Took about two months.

5. Start from infinity and turn in one smooth motion to your focus point. Practice. Practice. Practice. You can get VERY quick at this. At one point I could follow a bride walking down the aisle with a 90mm Summicron wide open. Can’t do that well now because I don’t use an M every day. Take your camera everywhere and practice focusing. Watching TV at home? Practice focusing during the ads. Practice in low light. Learn that you can tilt the camera to get a focus line and then until without moving.

6. If you miss the focus point slightly you then rock forward or back slightly to correct. Again, this will become instinctive if you do it often enough. But you’ll get good enough you do this less and less often.

7. Have a *start point* and return the camera to that after the shot(s). For me it’s infinity, f4 and ISO 200. When I raise my camera I know what my settings are and I can count clicks to get to where I need to be quickly and reliably.

8. Start learning stopped down and with a high ISO and progress from there. As above I start at f4. I’ll take a shot, knowing I can be slightly sloppy with my focus. If I want something faster, then I’ll open up. I can shoot those two shots in less than a second. Later you’ll get to a point where you can set the camera as you raise it for wide open shots and take a single frame. Generally though I still take two frames. One at f4 and the other….. As you get better drop the ISO until you reach your personal handheld speed. The speed you’re regularly getting no motion blur. It’s different for everyone. I used to be better than I am now. And I aim for 1 stop over that so I know almost all my images won’t be affected by camera shake.

9. F8 and be there. Zone focusing. If you stop down to f8 or f11 you should also learn some tab positions. With the tab at the bottom you have focus tab 1.2m and approximate DoF of 20cm at f11. Learn where 0.8 and 3 meters are. Then you don’t need to look to focus at all. I know that two arm lengths is about 1.5 meters. So I can guess my focus distances, mostly. So I know, even if I am focusing that a subject that close means the tab will end up somewhere down the bottom.

10. Leave the EVF at home. If your RF is calibrated you don’t need it and it’ll just slow down the learning process. I use my EVF for my WATE, 135 APO and if I’m shooting on a tripod. 

11. Have fun. That’s the whole point….

Gordon

[Jeff S]

12. Make prints; don’t pixel peep.  
 

Jeff

[hirohhhh]

I have to tell this story, it's related to the topic.

I switched from SL to M system around 3-4 years ago. Coincidentally, that was about the last time I did any studio portraiture work, which I was doing regularly before using strobes and SL. I simply lost the interest in that kind of photography and when I purchased my first M, my mindset completely switched to some more natural/candid work.

Few days ago, my friends asked me to make a portrait of them, her being 8 months pregnant, and although I hate that kind of photography, and being rusty in any type of studio/portraiture work, I accepted because they are good friends. For some reason I took my dusty SL and autofocus lens, because I always used SL in the studio before, and I was shocked how hard and slow it was for me to nail the focus. I felt like a complete amateur, taking the camera for the first time. I missed the focus completely several times, my Lightroom crashed while tethering after every single shot, and it was quite hard to judge the focus on a tiny camera screen, so I gave up after 5 minutes and switched to M, manually nailing every single shot at f/4-5.6.

I kept my SL/SL2 + many SL lenses for years, thinking it's a great camera for studio work, but now I see I can totally replace it with my M10-R even for that. Anyway, my point here is not comparing these two systems, but how easily you can master something that few years ago felt hard and unnecessary, such as manual focusing. I hated it, it felt like "why would anyone want to focus manually if auto-focus works great". And I remember people saying they can focus manually faster, and thought it's a complete BS. Now I understand.

[roofus]

This is an excellent thread. Lot's of useful explanations and tips!

I have found the Leica rubber eyecup helps me focus by keeping out stray light. Small difference, but everything helps.

I hope I didn't miss it, but did anyone mention the 1.25 and 1.4 magnifiers as focussing aids? The price is a bit crazy, but we are all somewhat used to that! I have a 1.25 magnifier but it didn't seem to make much difference on my M4, and M9. I have never tried it on my M11 (wrong thread) nor have I tried the 1.4 on any Leica. I would like to hear the experiences of others please.

Also I found in my "Abandoned Accessories" box, a rose-tinted viewfinder lens designed to improve contrast. I bought this years ago and if I remember correctly, the vendor had a yellow or amber version too. Again, its performance didn't make a major difference so it got put in the "Drawer of Shame" . . . now it won't fit my M11.

 

[Jeff S]

1 hour ago, roofus said:

 

I hope I didn't miss it, but did anyone mention the 1.25 and 1.4 magnifiers as focussing aids? The price is a bit crazy, but we are all somewhat used to that! I have a 1.25 magnifier but it didn't seem to make much difference on my M4, and M9. I have never tried it on my M11 (wrong thread) nor have I tried the 1.4 on any Leica. I would like to hear the experiences of others please.

 

 

Discussed in the FAQ that Jaap linked earlier….

My 1.25x magnifier has stayed in a drawer for over 10 years.  As the FAQ describes, it decreased contrast/brightness, didn’t correct eye issues (just magnified them) and otherwise didn’t do much.  My glasses and a +.5 diopter provide optimal RF focusing for my traditional focal lengths.

Jeff

[marchyman]

18 hours ago, roofus said:

I hope I didn't miss it, but did anyone mention the 1.25 and 1.4 magnifiers as focussing aids?

I used a 1.25 on an M 262 when using a 75 mm lens.  I found it helpful on that camera.   I don't feel the need to get an M11 equivalent.  I have no issues when using the 75mm lens on my M11.  I much prefer the 0.72 magnification M 11 viewfinder over the 0.68 magnification M 262 viewfinder

[Jeff S]

3 hours ago, marchyman said:

 I much prefer the 0.72 magnification M 11 viewfinder over the 0.68 magnification M 262 viewfinder

.73x on M10 and M11 bodies.

Jeff

[marchyman]

2 hours ago, Jeff S said:

.73x on M10 and M11 bodies.

Yes.  Typo in my post.  Sorry.

[rich_]

I used a 1.25 back when I was trying out f1 lenses. Also bought the 1.5x to try out 1:1 vf magnification.  Interesting expensive experiments but I sold all those parts long ago! The mag reduce too much contrast and light for my pref as others found. 

If it is the first time with a RF then perhaps the op could find another friendly Rf user to try out the camera or a shop. Just to ensure technique and baselines are constant. 
 

[SoarFM]

On 5/23/2023 at 7:43 PM, TheEyesHaveIt said:

Thank you all! Some great tips here - and of course, practice practice practice being the key. I think I'll also download PhotoPills as having that DoF chart will be handy (I've tried to utilize the one on the lens as well, but still getting used to it).

And certainly, for critical focus at low apertures, it seems that the RF likely won't work - the Visoflex plus zoom is critical as the following two test shots I just took illustrate:

50mm f1.4 - focused with RF (shot on tripod, so couldn't really do the wiggle technique, but tried covering and uncovering the right RF window with my finger to see if stuff moved). Front focused the target. Challenge with the RF is it is hard to know if you're looking straight on at the patch - there's a parallax effect within the viewfinder as well which throws off the alignment.

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50mm f1.4 with the Visoflex plus zoom

 

When you set lens to the infinity stop, do the rangefinder images align precisely on an object far away? The best test subject for this is often a tall building or antennas (cell phone towers work great). If your lens produces a sharp image at the full infinity stop but the rf images are not aligned it needs a simple adjustment. For me, my 50 summilux is my “reference lens” since it’s infinity stop is perfect.

A properly adjusted rangefinder is extremely accurate an often much faster to find focus that an an EVF. An EVF will obviously work better when your RF is all buggered up and is a good backup to always have in your bag. My rangefinder in both M11 and M10M have both been jiggled out of adjustment during plane travel but easily brought back to perfect within a few minutes.

 

 

Edited June 3, 2023 by SoarFM

[TheEyesHaveIt]

58 minutes ago, SoarFM said:

When you set lens to the infinity stop, do the rangefinder images align precisely on an object far away? The best test subject for this is often a tall building or antennas (cell phone towers work great). If your lens produces a sharp image at the full infinity stop but the rf images are not aligned it needs a simple adjustment. For me, my 50 summilux is my “reference lens” since it’s infinity stop is perfect.

A properly adjusted rangefinder is extremely accurate an often much faster to find focus that an an EVF. An EVF will obviously work better when your RF is all buggered up and is a good backup to always have in your bag. My rangefinder in both M11 and M10M have both been jiggled out of adjustment during plane travel but easily brought back to perfect within a few minutes.

 

 

Is the RF mechanism quite sensitive to shakes or air travel? Might need to grab a Q then for travel.

I asked this earlier in the thread but is the infinity stop on the lenses the infinity mark on the lens DOF lines or the hard stop for the focus ring?

[SoarFM]

4 hours ago, TheEyesHaveIt said:

Is the RF mechanism quite sensitive to shakes or air travel? Might need to grab a Q then for travel.

I asked this earlier in the thread but is the infinity stop on the lenses the infinity mark on the lens DOF lines or the hard stop for the focus ring?

The infinity stop I am referring to is the hard stop.

 

Use a lens where the hard stop is actually at infinity, verified by pixel peeping resultant image. It makes this all a bit easier to diagnose when the RF is slightly out of alignment. My 75 summicron focuses slightly past infinity which makes it harder to adjust the rf because the lens is not at the hard stop at infinity. So I use my 50. But when the rf is adjusted using the 50, the 75 is also spot on. 

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[RayD28]

On 5/22/2023 at 7:34 PM, TheEyesHaveIt said:

A few examples from the 50mm Summilux:

f8, 1/250s - I wanted to get the front bunch of tulips in focus. Maybe I was standing too close since it looks like the right side is in more focus than the left as it angles away from me. I thought shooting at f8 would give me more depth of field.

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f8, 1/200s - shot with the El-Pro macro magnifier with a Visoflex. Once again, I thought I'd get more depth of field to get the entire flower sharp, but I'm not sure any of this is particularly sharp.

 

f8, 1/125s - this whole image is blurry. I don't know if the shutter speed was too low (I would think on a 50mm, this is fine though) or maybe I moved. Or maybe something else?

Assuming the top two shots are 100% crop and the bottom is un-cropped.  Correct?

[TheEyesHaveIt]

1 hour ago, RayD28 said:

Assuming the top two shots are 100% crop and the bottom is un-cropped.  Correct?

They are all uncropped shots.