Closer focusing ?

[dee]

It's something I kind of took for granted in that one of my Minolta 50mm would focus quite close , without being '' macro ''
My 50s Summitar and Elmar on my M 8 , don't.
Is there a lense that I can but which gets in a little closer , and will the rangefinder work OK ?
Sorry , I am a total beginner to rangefinder usaege !

dee

 

[jcline]

If you're using thread mount lenses, you can just screw them out a little farther. The rangefinder itself wont focus any closer though. Shoot stopped down for depth of field reasons, and and don't bother trying it with longer lenses. You might even have a hard enough time with a 50. I do it a lot with my CV 21/4 and CV 15/4.5 for the depth of field...

 

[Roger Hicks]

90/4 Makro Elmar, preferably with the accessory close-focus device that goes down to 1/3 life size.

Visoflex housing with 65/3.5

Cheers,

R.

 

[VinceC]

There were items call Auto-Ups popular before the SLR era. They allowed you to focus a 50mm down to about 16 inches by screwing on a diopter filter and adding a clunky-looking accessory prism to the rangefinder. I use one, but very close focusing is usually strange because of a severe 3D effect between the two RF images.

 

[vrgard]

If your Elmar 50 is an M-mount lens then all you have to do is find a Sooky-M (aka Somky) lens adaptor which will allow you to focus from something like 16 to 36 inches (not sure I recall the distance range correctly, but it's in that neighborhood). Works like Vince was describing in that it's an adaptor that goes between the camera body and lens and includes a prism located over the camera viewfinder.

-Randy

 

[dee]

... still using screw adapter for Summitar and Elmar [ ex-IIIc and IIIf circa 1950s ] and ex- USSR lenses , but I ''need '' a 90mm now !!!
dee

 

[jaapv]

Rahther close,imo: Elmar-M 50/2.8 on Visiflex III: