Adjust M3 min focusing distance ?

[hans voralberg]

OK afaik the M3 have a minimum focusing distance of 1m for the rangefinder patch ? I acquire 2 new lens which can focus below 1m, so how do I adjust the rangefinder or

1. I have to send it to pro, if so any1 recommend a UK specialist which dont charge thru the roof

2. have to buy another body ?

 

[Roger Hicks]

Minimum focus on the body is quite separate from minimum focus on the lens.

When the body focus stops, it stops: no adjustment possible. The lens can go on focusing as close as you like.

Is the minimum distance on the M3 that far? I seem to recall that it was like other Ms, about 27 inches -- which is closer than either Voigtlander or ZI.

Cheers,

R.

 

[hans voralberg]

Not sure, i remember reading it somewhere that is the case. Well the focus patch certainly wont align after i move pass the 1m mark :/

 

[lns]

I had this done in the US by DAG last year. He adjusted the minimum focus distance of my M3 from 1 meter to .7 or .68. Sorry I don't have anyone in the UK to recommend, but I would think any Leica repair specialist could do it.

 

[colyn]

Well the focus patch certainly wont align after i move pass the 1m mark :/

I just checked my M3's and they all focus down to .08m. Below that the rf does not focus..

 

[waileong]

x

x

1. There's not that many specialists, and it depends on how high your roof is.

2. What difference will that make? Unless you know it's been adjusted.

Usually, people time the adjustment with a CLA to save costs.

OK afaik the M3 have a minimum focusing distance of 1m for the rangefinder patch ? I acquire 2 new lens which can focus below 1m, so how do I adjust the rangefinder or

1. I have to send it to pro, if so any1 recommend a UK specialist which dont charge thru the roof

2. have to buy another body ?

 

[normclarke]

Hi Hans,
Peter at CRR if you phone him will be your best bet, don't bother to email as I have always found the phone to be best. The initial adjustment is easy but the length of the arm is critical. Malcolm Tayler is not far from you in Shropshire, he will also be able to advise you on the way forward should Peter not be available.

Cheers

normclarke.

 

[ferider]

While DAG, Sherry, Youxin, etc. can adjust the RF arm to allow you to focus down
to 0.7m, focus will not be accurate below the original min. distance of 1m.
This is particularly important for fast lenses like the 40/1.4 Nokton.

Roland.

 

[vrgard]

While DAG, Sherry, Youxin, etc. can adjust the RF arm to allow you to focus down
to 0.7m, focus will not be accurate below the original min. distance of 1m.
This is particularly important for fast lenses like the 40/1.4 Nokton.

Roland.

So, must one then rely on depth of field to cover the focusing inaccuracy?

-Randy

 

[ferider]

So, must one then rely on depth of field to cover the focusing inaccuracy?

-Randy

I usually use another lens. Like when I want to go below 1m with a 50,
I use an 85/90 instead

If you want to go close focus with M3 and 50 or wider angle, the goggled
lenses are good options, the 35s go down to .6m and the DR summicron
to a little less than .5m.

I do use the Nokton on the M6 to avoid close focus issues.

Roland.

 

[vrgard]

Okay, Roland, but what about a Rokkor 40mm?

-Randy

 

[ferider]

Only goes down to .8 and should be covered at f2, I would think.
The truth is in the pudding Try it out and let us know

Roland.

 

[laptoprob]

My Steinheil Quinon focusses down to 60cm. Problem is in the range of the rf arm.
I adjusted both camera and lens to achieve this: made room on both to give way to the rf arm.
The lens was made for Leica screwmount, but did not accomodate the rf arm to reach far enough.
The only remaining problem is parralax.

 

[hans voralberg]

Huhm, I got the DR with googles, I might live with it though, I dont think I will focus the 25/2.8 down to 0.5m anyway. Which M body has the lowest min distance, rf arm range wise?

 

[vrgard]

Only goes down to .8 and should be covered at f2, I would think.
The truth is in the pudding Try it out and let us know

Roland.

Okay, Roland, here you go. Here are a couple of shots taken with the 40mm Rokkor lens on my recently CLA'd and close focusing adjusted M3. Perhaps it's only depth of field covering any focusing deficiencies, but it sure looks to me like everything is focusing correctly. Both of these shots were taken at minimum focusing distance for the Rokkor 40 of about 30 inches. The focal point in the first shot was the 18 inch marker on the tape measure (where the sharpie pen is) and was taken at f2.8 @ 1/1000. I've also included a cropped version to provide a bit larger view of the focal point (still disappoints me when I see these uploaded images on the rff since there's so much digital noise not in the original scanned image). The focal point in the second shot was the stem of the front pear and was taken at f2.0 at 1/250 (This is obviously a crop. I didn't bother to include the full sized image. Wanted to clearly show the seemingly correct focal point). The net of it is, it looks to me like the M3 can definitely be adjusted to focus closer than 1 M with no focusing errors.

-Randy

P.S. In case anyone is wondering, Youxin Ye was the one who did the CLA and close focusing adjustment on my M3.

 

[ferider]

Looks good Randy. Seems to be a good combo.

Note that a {40,50}/1.4 at .7m (instead of the Rokkor's f2 at .8m)
would be more challenging.

Note also that Youxin was the one who told me that close up focus
on an adjusted M3 would not be accurate.

Roland.

 

[vrgard]

Looks good Randy. Seems to be a good combo.

Note that a {40,50}/1.4 at .7m (instead of the Rokkor's f2 at .8m)
would be more challenging.

Note also that Youxin was the one who told me that close up focus
on an adjusted M3 would not be accurate.

Roland.

Thanks, Roland. Sounds like I need to repeat the test with your Nokton 40/1.4. And yeah, Youxin warned me that while he could adjust the close focus on my M3 he could not guarantee its accuracy. Looks like I got lucky!

-Randy

 

[lns]

Mine seems accurate too, and I use it with a 50 lux.

Don Goldberg did tell me that not all M3s could be adjusted to focus more closely than 1 meter. But mine definitely does. I'm glad for my good luck.

 

[vrgard]

Mine seems accurate too, and I use it with a 50 lux.

Don Goldberg did tell me that not all M3s could be adjusted to focus more closely than 1 meter. But mine definitely does. I'm glad for my good luck.

Glad to hear that you had the same good fortune as did I. I'm curious, did Don give any hint as to why this would work for some M3s but not for others? (and before anyone asks, Youxin provided no further comment than I've already posted and I did not ask) Further, in case it's part of the equation, my M3 is a very late double stroke. What vintage is yours, Laura?

-Randy

 

[hans voralberg]

Seems like i made a mistake , my M3 can focus down to a minimum of ~0.75m and quite accurate. Pics are dodgy atm so I'll post when I can. Mine is DS converted to SS by the previous owner