villain 2
John 3:16
How can I calculate the frame line when using a 90 mm lens on the R-D1 is there some special method to it can't seem to centre the subject properly? Which frame line do I use on the camera the 50 mm ?
Last edited:
sleepyhead
Well-known
I use a Leitz 1:1 135mm brightline finder with paralax adjustment. It helps, but I leave a bit of space around the subject (usually a head and shoulders portrait) for a bit of cropping later on.
'Hope this helps
'Hope this helps
jlw
Rangefinder camera pedant
villain 2 said:
There's no special method (unless you want to use an accessory finder as Sleepyhead suggested) and anyway, the surest thing is to find a way that works for you and will be easy for you to remember.
The way I do it:
1) Make sure you're doing this at a distance you'll typically use for your 90mm lens; distance affects angle of coverage somewhat.
2) Pick a subject that will make it easy to distinguish where the edges of the picture are. Indoors, I use a bookcase, because it's easy to say, "Okay, I've got the RF spot centered on this book, and the left edge is at this book, and the right edge is at this book." Outdoors you might want to use a big building with a lot of windows or whatever.
3) Center the RF spot on something you'll be able to find again. Take a picture. Look at the LCD and note where the picture edges are.
4) Look through the finder again and locate "landmarks" that line up with those edges. For example, you might find that the edges are in the middle of the spaces between the bright lines of the 50mm lens frame. If you have trouble finding "landmarks" in the 50mm frame, look at the 28mm and 35mm frames, too, but I think 50 is the easiest because it's closest to the 90mm lens' field of view.
5) Test your "landmarks" on a few other subjects to see how consistent you are. As Sleepyhead said, this is an approximate method at best, so you'll want to allow extra space around your subjects to avoid cutoff.
An alternative to this method, which works well for fairly static subjects, is not to use the framelines at all. Just center the RF patch on your subject, shoot a test picture, check it on the LCD, and note what parts of the scene are at the edges of the shot. Then compose your pictures against those reference points in the scene, rather than trying to imagine reference points in the finder.