Annibale G. Posted March 31, 2008 Share #1 Posted March 31, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi, now I'm becoming paranoid with this; I'm shooting with a M7 from 18 months. I collect a lot of picture and I notice that some of them, which I like for subjects have a problem. The plane of focus is not perfectly the one I want, I'm asking myself if it's a camera problem or it's my problem; I don't know which is worse. What do you suggest me to do? Please help me. Annibale Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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Guest Olof Posted March 31, 2008 Share #2 Posted March 31, 2008 Hi,now I'm becoming paranoid with this; I'm shooting with a M7 from 18 months. I collect a lot of picture and I notice that some of them, which I like for subjects have a problem. The plane of focus is not perfectly the one I want, I'm asking myself if it's a camera problem or it's my problem; I don't know which is worse. What do you suggest me to do? Please help me. Annibale Which lens are you talking about ? I had problem with the 50 LUX and bought therefore the Leica screw in magnifier, which worked fine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annibale G. Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share #3 Posted March 31, 2008 Mainly I work with the 35 f/2, I've got also the 50. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spydrxx Posted April 1, 2008 Share #4 Posted April 1, 2008 Go to Home, download the test chart and take a roll of shots using your different lenses. I tried it last year to see if my Visoflex needed shims. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
christer Posted April 1, 2008 Share #5 Posted April 1, 2008 Here is an easy and efficient way to check focusing: Get a Post-It sticker and cut off a small strip (20mm x 4mm) of the part which sticks. Using a very thin pencil, make seven parallel lines, no more than 2mm apart and equidistant. Make the middle line longer and/or thicker than the other. Place camera on tripod and focus very carefully on a fixed object, preferably at a distance you often use. Put the sticker on the distance scale, aligning the middle pencil mark with the "arrow" on the lens and make one exposure. You should use the lens fully open, or stopped down one stop, as otherwise the depth of field will cover up any distance setting weaknesses. Then make seven exposures, the first one with the distance set to the shortest distance indicated on the post it-sticker and then work your way up to the longest distance indicated on the post-it sticker. It would be a good idea to write on a piece of paper. "1st exposure as metered, the following seven exposures were made starting at shortest distance on post-it sticker" and to take a photo of that note. Then develop, enlarge as much as your enlarger will do, and analyse the result. You may find it helpful to photograph something like the USAF test chart, as the analysis will then be less subjective than may otherwise be the case. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rubidium Posted April 8, 2008 Share #6 Posted April 8, 2008 I went through this with my R9/DMR, to discover that removing and reseating the focusing screen was the cure to my problems. Although our cameras are different, the procedure I used should still be effective in your case. Go out to a hardware store and purchase a small, good quality, steel ruler with fine graduations on it (say 1mm). Mount your camera securely in a tripod. Support the ruler with double-sided tape on a stable object (like a brick or a weighted cardboard box), so that the ruler makes a 45-degree angle with the optical axis and the graduations on it are well-illuminated. Do something to highlight a single graduation mark on the ruler (for example with a colored marking pen), and focus on it carefully. Take a photo at the widest lens aperture, and repeat for a total of 5 frames without moving either camers or ruler - defocusing and refocusing each time to help identify human error. Repeat the 5-frame test for different ruler-camera distances to complete the roll. Develop, enlarge, and carefully review each frame to determine which graduation on the ruler is sharpest. If the "targeted" graduation is not consistently the one having the sharpest focus, then either the human or the instrument is at fault. If the sharpest graduation is consistently closer to, or further from, the camera relative to the "targeted" graduation then it is likely to be due to a bias with the camera/lens. Lack of consistency points to human error. With the ruler oriented at 45-degrees to the optical axis, and with 1mm graduations on the ruler, a shift in focus from the "targeted" graduation to one of the two nearest graduations on either side of it constitutes a 0.71mm shift in the plane of focus. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandokan Posted April 10, 2008 Share #7 Posted April 10, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) Annibale, With the 35/f2, the depth of field should be quite large on M7. Are you sure that you are not seeing camera shake (I know you say you dont like the plane of focus)? Take your photos with a tripod and cable release to check. Please show some examples. Ravi Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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