Obtaining correct focus in low-light

Although slower and counter intuitive, the 75/1.4 is much harder to focus than your 50/1.1. Much thinner DOF and shorter min. focus. I also use a 1.25x magnifier with my 75, or an M3 (preferably the latter). The magnifier gives you somehow "tunnel vision", not as nice to use as a straight M viewfinder - suddenly the M feels more like an SLR.

You should be able to use your 50/1.1 on your classic M without magnifier. I recommend to try a few more times with a different technique.

Note that bracketing in a real situation - when you shoot a person instead of a cat - is very useful anyways - I often find that my subject has closed his/her eyes at just the right time.

That being said, an M3 and the 50/1.1 must be a killer combo.

Roland.
 
It seems that people tend to focus first, then move around to compose. Wide open... you need to compose first, focus, then make sure you don't change the plane of focus by recomposing.
 



I agree with most of what has been said in this thread. Cats are excellent subjects upon which to practise photography, not to mention they know who is boss 😛. And it's not us. I know some folks have a hard time with the rangefinder focusing patch but I just love it and have great success. I never miss an opportunity to shoot wide open with the Noct using 100/400 ASA so that stopping down is out of the question. Practice makes perfect. One thing I disagree with is the amount of depth of field when using fact wide open. IMO you nail the focus or you don't. Effectively there is no depth of field @ 1.0/1.2.



Gregory
 
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First make sure your lens is focusing accurately wide open at min focus distance, this will require some tripod and measuring tests.

Then I like to focus on the ears or eye slits to get in the range, then for the final shot, you have to think about what you want in focus and do a final adjustment without moving your camera from the cat.

Eventually your cat will get used to you photographing them and will start to "pose" for you, keep some treats handy for when they pose well.

Focused on ears first, then smudged a bit to get nose and eyes in focus at min distance with 1.4, portra 800, 50/1.4 lux:

902187280_oxXme-L.jpg
 
Here's focus on the eyes, with 75/1.4 lux @1.4, 1/60th, cat is moving (slowly), and light is low, but having pre-focused on the ears, it was a short move to the eyes. I have a 1.25x magnifier, but don't use it, I do need proper diopter correction for my slight myopia though, that is much more important for me, than magnification.

If I am going to shoot for an extended period wide open at 1.4 or faster, I will probably put the magnifier on, as well as using proper diopter.

902203094_UKtwR-L.jpg
 
put a piece of black tape (about the size of the smaller second window) in the middle of your viewfinder window... do this on the lens side of the camera...

what this does is allow you to see only what the second window (the window that projects it's image in the middle of ur rangefinder window) can see... try it out...

edit: here is a better explanation

http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-165.html
 


Thanks for the tip about the black tape; I'm going to try that.

Leica M3 with 50 1.0 Noctilux @ 1.0 on XP2 at 1/30 sec.


Gregory
 
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That's funny, in the past I've gotten him to say that. Or rather, I've gotten his finger to say that 😛. He has no idea of reference. He is really good at voice. And on a personal note, he just finished his first roll of film taken with a Nikon FM2 and a 50 1.8 Nikkor.











And he already has his eye on his dad's Leicas.

Gregory
 
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Thanks. I'm really proud of my little guy. This weekend he wants to use one of his dad's Leicas. I'm holding him back but it's only a matter of time.



Leica M3 50 1.0 Noctilux @ 1.0 at 1/30 second on XP2.



Taken with Leica M7 and 50 1.0 Noctilux ISO 200 at 1/4 @ 1.0 hand held.

Gregory
 
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in low light

in low light

and when all main subjects are equally unsharp, the image as a whole is perceived as equally sharp, if you can identify the scene as a whole, and it's not an abstract.

For example, rough paintings of common scenes aren't thought of as unsharp compared to a photograph.


mgilbuena said:
You shot the firefighters wide-open at f/1.0? How are you able to get such a great depth of field?
Click to expand...
 
Revisiting my old thread:

Yesterday I acquired a Leica M8. For the first time I was able to test the critical focus of the lens I used back when I first began rangefinder photography several months ago. As luck would have it, it has back-focus.

Aah, time to contact Adorama and hope they'll exchange the Nokton 50 1.1 with a working copy.
 
More cats

More cats

I fight off and on with low light focus. I think practice is the trick.....

Here are some cats from Mallory Sq in Key West. It was almost dark. First shot is with the Fuji 645 with 800asa at F4 I think 🙂, the next 2 are M8, shot using a CV 35/1.4 MC at 600ish ASA wide open.
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4937332717_a8dc084a11_b.jpg
 
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Last week I managed to shoot in a very badly lit music club - pushed Tri-x 2 stops and shot with the 50 Heliar wide open at f2: pre-focused as best I could on an area of contrast and waited until the dancers came into focus. (Worked most of the time except for one shot, which although out of focus, I still like)





 
I second the suggestions of the 1.4 eyepiece and to focus on the eyes not only a the most important motif, but if you are lucky, you can catch a highlight to focus on. With a cat you can't dither around, so rocking the camera to and fro around the point of focus is a good technique. With your M4 you have a better chance in low light as with almost any other camera.
 
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