Focusing with M6

[Gilo25]

I recently noted that the lines of the range finder get aligned at a distance which is not the actual distance. In other words, when the focus ring on the lens shows a distance of 1 meter and the actual distance from the subject is 1 meter (measuring from the front of the lens), the lines in the range finder are not aligned, but they do get aligned when the actual distance is reduced to about 88 or 90 cm.
At a distance of 3 meters the difference is more or less still there.
Above 20 meters, the lines seems to get aligned when the focus ring is set to infinity. I tried with a Summicron 50/2 and with an Elmarit 90/2.8 and the results are the more or less the same.
Is this normal or does it mean the range finder is misaligned?
Thanks to everybody

 

[presspass]

Keep in mind the focus should line up with the back of the camera - there's a line on the top of the camera. The point of focus is not the front of the lens, so measuring from there will give a different number than the lens shows.

 

[Ljós]

What the others said: you need to measure from the film plane.

And: the distance markings on lenses are not necessarily superprecise. It is always a good idea to keep checking whether distance markings and rangefinder-measured distances kind of match... but when it comes down to centimeters, you cannot really tell whether you're off, you need to make a focus test with film/digital.

Greetings, Ljós

 

[rogerzilla]

The lens markings on my lenses do agree with the rangefinder (and a tape measure) at 1 metre and 2 metres. It sounds like your RF horizontal adjustment is out - a 2 minute job for a technician.

 

[Moriturii]

Because no one has mentioned it yet. The marking of the film plane is under your "frame advance lever" (or what ever it's called) it's a circle with a line through it.

 

[bobby_novatron]

Under the main menu, press 'My Settings' and ensure you select the 'Happy Face' icon, and not 'Mountain' or 'Flower' -- then will be able to adjust the autofocus resolution.

Oh sorry! I blacked out there. I was having a bad dream about owning a crappy point-and-shoot digital camera!

 

[Gilo25]

Thanks all. Measuring from the film plain, the numbers more or less match, actually.