Bessa R2a and 25/4 Snapshot-Skopar-Newbie

[Spiff]

Hi out there.

I got my first rf camera this week. Almost everything seems to be fine and clear to me.

But....I have trouble focussing with this cam/lens. I tried as described in the manual but the picture in viewfinder remains "unfocused", no matter what distance i choose. What's the problem? Could give me some help?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

That lens is not rangefinder coupled. You must estimate distance yourself and set it on the lens. Depth of field is enormous so the focus is very forgiving and accuracy is not an issue.

The camera viewfinder is used only for setting exposure in manual mode. You don't use the camera viewfinder at all in automatic mode.

The camera viewfinder not only does not show you focus it also does not show framelines for a 25mm lens. For that you need an additional viewfinder that slips into the flash shoe. If the lens was new you should have got the 25mm viewfnder included with it.

If all this is too cumbersome change it for next year's R4A which will have 25mm framelines in the camera viewfinder and a widely anticipated, but not yet official, new 25mm lens which will probably be rangefinder-coupled.

 

[Spiff]

allright...that explains a lot 🙄...first I thought it was rangefinder-coupled. Yes, I've got the additional viewfinder. Then I should just dare to estimate the distance. 🙂

thanks a lot for the answer!

Cheers

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

Cheers mate.

There's always help in here, and tons of information at CameraQuest and Robert White who both advertise on RFF.

Have fun, and show us some photos.

And a belated Welcome.

 

[aad]

The lack of coupling on that lens is a fun thing. Learn the clicks, keep the aperture on the small side, and go wild.

 

[froyd]

Spiff, if light conditions allow, select an f stop of f8 or above. Then line up the infinity symbol with the far edge of the depth-of-field scale. Read the number in feet or meters on the other end of the DOF scale and you'll know that everything in between than number and infinity will be in "acceptable" focus.

Ona wide lens like the 25mm, you should have a pretty good range of in-focus areas. The closer your subyect is to the distances at either end of the scale, the less accurate the focus will be while still being acceptable for smaller prints.