M11-P + Voigtländer Color-Skopar 50/2.2: RF patch stops at ~1.1m — normal?

[sunsetandlabrea]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi all, I’m using a brand-new Voigtländer Color-Skopar 50mm f/2.2 (VM) on an M11-P. The RF patch stops changing around 1.1 m, although the focus ring keeps turning to the 0.5 m stop.

My Voigtländer Ultron 35mm f/2 stays coupled on the same body. Should the 50/2.2 stay RF-coupled to 0.7 m?

Thanks.

[lct]

Welcome to the forum My  Skopar 50/2.2 stays RF-coupled down to 0.6m. You may wish to check that your lens brings up 50/75 framelines. If not, mount it again and make sure that you hear a click when doing it.

[GFW2-SCUSA]

I just checked my Skopar 50/2.2 on my M10R and it is coupled to about 0.6. Closer than that we must use live view, of course.  I think is fine lens but it doesn't seem to get much attention. I like the size, weight and rendering. 

 

[sunsetandlabrea]

2 hours ago, lct said:

You may wish to check that your lens brings up 50/75 framelines. If not, mount it again and make sure that you hear a click when doing it.

Thanks for the replies.

It was exactly this, I couldn’t see the frame lines and obviously hadn’t turned it fully until the click.

Thanks so much.

[jgeenen]

vor 4 Stunden schrieb lct:

My  Skopar 50/2.2 stays RF-coupled down to 0.6m

This looks true, but it might be misleading. The Leica Rangefinder coupling is calibrated for two points, one at close distance and one at far distance. In between, the coupling is approximate only (the error is within the margins, so no issue). The closer you get to the endpoint of the rangefinder coupling (or, in case of the Voigtländer lenses, beyond the 0.7 mark), the larger the error will be by design. I have not done any precise testing, but the error at 0.6m might already be outside of the depth of field limits. I don‘t say it is, but be careful if you use the rangefinder outside of it‘s spec. If you use Leica lenses with extended close focus, you will notice that coupling stops at 0.7m. In contrast to Cosina, Leica has designed the lens helicoids not to exceed the rangefinder limits.

[lct]

Thanks for warning but the RF looks accurate enough at 0.6m. Cannot beat the EVF though i suspect but i did not do the comparo.

[lct]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

The 0.7m RF limit seems somewhat theoritical on CV lenses. Focus on the bolt head at 0.6m here. M11, Skopar 50/2.2, f/2.2, crop. Another example with an even more critical lens here. Focus on the bearing ball at 0.6m. M11, Ultron 75/1.9, f/1.9, crop. FWIW.

 

[jgeenen]

Am 4.8.2025 um 17:55 schrieb lct:

The 0.7m RF limit seems somewhat theoritical on CV lenses.

It is indeed, because it is the camera that limits, not the lens. The lens cam in Voigtländer lenses are moving into the lens barrel when close focusing. At one position the arm in the M camera just stops moving. Regardless of precision, that is the closest point you can get to with the rangefinder. 

With my M11, the focus patch indeed moves closer than 0.7m and using a ruler the (measured) distance between subject and focal plane (sensor) is around 0.66m (+/-1 cm, since I do not know the exact position of the sensor within the body - it should be somewhere around the shutter scale marking). With my MP, the closest point the focus patch moves, is 0.7m (same disclaimer as above). (I took a 2.8/28 for this measurement). 

Certainly, your sample photos look reasonably sharp and I have no doubts on your measurement results, but they are not fully transferable.

But on MY M cameras, your lenses would never be able to focus down to 0.6m with rangefinder support. 

 

[lct]

I don't use rulers when i shoot but far as lens engravings are concerned, the RF patch moves freely from 0.7m to 0.6m on several CV lenses, and even closer on the Leica-M Super-Angulon 21/3.4.