Any way to DIY focus adjust on G1?

S

StuartR

Guest
I bought a used G1 a few years ago for almost nothing, and unfortunately, that is what it has been worth to me. The guy who sold it to me did not disclose that it could not focus properly (or he didn't realize). The lens backfocuses significantly (meaning the point of focus is behind where it should be), and every photo is out of focus. This is up close and at distance. I only have the 45mm lens. I live in Iceland and don't really want to spend the cash to send it out for an expensive repair, as I have many other fine cameras that work beautifully. That said, I would be very happy to have a working camera if there were some way to adjust it myself. Any hints?
 
I have bought a repair manual for the G2 (a copy of it) form e-bay some time ago and was able to repair my shifted G2 viewfinder (it was not horizontal).
I believe there is a possibility to fix focus if you get the repair manual for G1.

Andrej
 
I am not sure if you can adjust the focus on your G-camera yourself. From what I read the focus adjustment is somewhere in the CPU and you need dedicated equipment to have it adjusted. It is not mechanical as with the Leica M's.
 
Thank you both. I think I have kind of written off the camera. I have plenty of other rangefinders that work, and a G1 that does not focus is not really worth much these days. I will probably just sell the lens at some point and find someone who needs a parts body or wants to fix it.
 
G1 misfocus.

G1 misfocus.

Is the manual focus fup as well? I use my G2 for lot of landscape work, setting the focus to the hyperfocal distance. What would happen if you did that?
 
The camera can be manually focused just as it is. If you read the manual you can see how it's done. It's a bit fiddeley, but it works. If you do that and it's still out of focus then you may have a lens issue.

This may be obvious, but are you sure you're getting the two little focus indicators lined up w/ what you want to focus on? These are funny cameras to focus with until you understand what the camera is trying to focus on. Make sure your lens mount and the camera's mount are squeaky clean too. Any blue corrosion can really foul up things, so clean it all off w/ a bit of alcohol on a rag.
 
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vfrazz said:
...when I ran the first roll of film through my G1 it was all out of focus...but I found that I hadn't attached the 45mm lens correctly-- it seemed to be connected, but it wasn't locked...

http://www.vincentfrazzettaphotography.com
Click to expand...

I used to have this problem with G2. Now I make sure that the aperture ring of the lens being mounted is not all the way to the right on the, and sometimes past the smallest aperture. No problems.
 
Steve M. said:
The camera can be manually focused just as it is. If you read the manual you can see how it's done. It's a bit fiddeley, but it works. If you do that and it's still out of focus then you may have a lens issue.

This may be obvious, but are you sure you're getting the two little focus indicators lined up w/ what you want to focus on? These are funny cameras to focus with until you understand what the camera is trying to focus on. Make sure your lens mount and the camera's mount are squeaky clean too. Any blue corrosion can really foul up things, so clean it all off w/ a bit of alcohol on a rag.
Click to expand...

Also, it helps to clean the gold-plated contacts both inside the camera and in the lens. If using the contact cleaner, I spray lightly on a cotton swab and use that on the contacts. Regular eraser, pencil-type works great as well.
 
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