G1 Focus Manual?

[squirrel$$$bandit]

I had been looking for a decent film point-and-shoot and finally came to the conclusion that I shouldn't have sold my G1. So I sold some stuff I never use and bought another one from KEH, this time with the 45mm Planar. (BTW, KEH is MUCH, MUCH cheaper than eBay for G-series stuff, I don't know why.)

My original complaint about the G1 had been the uncertain focus, and so I will ask here something I asked before: does anyone have a scan of the supplemental focus manual? If I can't find one this time, I'll buy one, scan it myself, and post it for all to have.

Thanks

 

[Highway 61]

AFAIK the "manual focus" of the G1 is a disguised version of the AF.

You set onto MF, aim the camera at your target, and turn the focus dial till the electronic rangefinder says it's OK, then you shoot.

This means, that you have to find a target on which the AF works. If your target is something in front of which the AF hints (reflective metal surface, glass, shining water, even black or white material) the MF won't work, either.

Using "MF" helps you not to lock the focus and exposure on the same target (you lock the AF on a target by using the MF mode, then reframe and lock the exposure, or the reverse) - but there is no actual MF. That is, you can't set the MF dial on "10m", quickly frame, and shoot if there is no target that the AF had previously caught at 10m...

This is why many people - included myself - sold their G1 out.

 

[uhligfd]

Wait a second, you may be right for the G1; I don't have one. But on the G2 you can set the focus to any value such as .53m or 8.5 m by simply turning the dial that is vertical beneath the exposure button and watching for the desired distance on the LCD at the top. I would believe that the G1 works similarly. And once you have set the manual distance (I do it often for infinity in landscapes or 4m in street shots from the hip) then with camera set to manual focus, any lens will focus to infinity, 4m or whatever I have set when I expose. The manual focus setting does not even shift when the camera is turned off, or used in auto focus intermittently! I have to reset the manual focus to focus manually differently.

Try it, please, everybody.

 

[Morris]

AFAIK the "manual focus" of the G1 is a disguised version of the AF.

You set onto MF, aim the camera at your target, and turn the focus dial till the electronic rangefinder says it's OK, then you shoot.

This means, that you have to find a target on which the AF works. If your target is something in front of which the AF hints (reflective metal surface, glass, shining water, even black or white material) the MF won't work, either.

Using "MF" helps you not to lock the focus and exposure on the same target (you lock the AF on a target by using the MF mode, then reframe and lock the exposure, or the reverse) - but there is no actual MF. That is, you can't set the MF dial on "10m", quickly frame, and shoot if there is no target that the AF had previously caught at 10m...

This is why many people - included myself - sold their G1 out.

You can.🙂
What you say about the electronic rangefinder in MF is correct,but the MF dial is also marked in meters.

 

[djonesii]

I would agree with Morris, I have done it a few times, and it works, with one exception, the distance wheel does not have sufficient friction to keep it consistently in "hyperfocal" mode. I do however recall reading a thread somewhere saying that it was a simple matter for a tech to swap out the washer for a bit thicker one, and that would give the needed friction.

Dave

 

[Bob Michaels]

<snip> - but there is no actual MF. That is, you can't set the MF dial on "10m", quickly frame, and shoot if there is no target that the AF had previously caught at 10m...<snip>

I have shot with both a G1 and a G2 for six years. On both you can set the manual focus to any distance <i.e. zone focus> and it will focus there. Did for many years. Did it 60 seconds ago.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

It's not the manual focus I don't understand. I scale focus on all my cameras. It's the autofocus.

After a day of messing with it, though, I can see why I occasionally messed up. I used to put one bracket over something close and the other over something distant...it gets confused. There's a knack to it.

 

[Bob Michaels]

<snip> I will ask here something I asked before: does anyone have a scan of the supplemental focus manual? <snip>

From time to time I have heard people refer to the mythical "supplemental focus manual" but I have never heard of anyone actually having seen one. It may have existed but I am not sure what it could have said that is not intuitive.

I have found that the biggest key to autofocusing with both the G1 and the G2 is having the viewfinder glass clean. It sounds overly simplistic but it is the case. That was a tip given me many years ago by a Contax USA service guy and it has always worked for me. But then again, I am just a pragmatist when it comes to things like this.

 

[djonesii]

I will add that I have more than a few of my shots that did not focus the way that I expected. My experience is with the Nikon D-SLR's, and the autofocus on the G1 is primitive by comparison.

For example, I was trying to focus on a child running between two cars, cars exactly in focus, child OOF, I would have got this one with the Nikon! I can see what OP means about the AF.

My learning curve is steeper with film as well! Waiting to get the first rolls back from a studio shoot.

Dave