Disillusioned new M8 owner

[spikey]

I am glad that my standards are

I am glad that my standards are

whatever they are. I go through life, not experiencing quite a lot of 'issues' I see reported on the internet or by folklore.
My M8 does a great job for me, my few lenses are (obvoiously) better than my expectations. I just enjoy taking the M8 and 3 lenses and to rarry less than weight around than my 5D and a zoom (or even the 35/1.2 .. oops it's a 1.4 and weight more than my CV35/1.4)

Shot composition aside, my girlfriend seems to think the leica shots are looking better (and she does not care for cameras or technical things - she is a woman ...)

When I get a toy I enjoy it - sure I go to the internet (usually AFTER I absolutely have to have it) - and I read all the horror stories - I doubt myself for a moment, but then I just ask myself: Is it doing what I want it to, do I get enjoyment and service, and usually the answer is yes, and I go on my merry ways.

Hey, It's Friday afternoon, about beer o'clock!

cheers
Hans

 

[gdi]

Try all your lenses at infinity.

On a clear night try focusing on a star, or the moon. If the lenses aren't at infinity when the object is aligned, the RF needs adjusting (you can do it yourself if you like).

Of course you can do this during the day if you have a vertical target at a far enough distance - I use a tower on a mountain top about a mile away.

I have found that it has always been the far focus that is a problem with any Rangefinder I have, When I get that dialed in, no problem. Of course I have to adjust a few lenses, but that is a different story...

Good luck.

 

[Lance]

Many thanks for all your input. I have learned a great deal and I have been focusing (no pun intended) on what is causing the problem instead of just rubbing my head. I tried to do the focus test from focustestchart.com. And I had the opportunity to try a 35 Cron pre ASPH along with my 50 Cron and the 35 CV.

The 35 Cron was OK. I might have been a little off in focusing, but it was pretty consistent within about 2mm.

The 50 Cron was doing good. f/2 was a bit soft, but from 2.8 it was sharp dead center.

Now, the 35 CV was wacky. 1.4 was blurry and ugly, but focus was pretty close to center. But when I started to stop down crazy things happened. At 2.8 focus was at 60-70 mm back focus, and continued out that way until f/8 helped with DOF...

Somehow I suspect that something is completely screwy with my CV. 🙄

But now I understand why I could read the label in the back of a mans shirt instead of his eyes being in focus when I used 2.8. :bang:

I would be fine with the focus shift if the lens was at least sharp wide open, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Below is the test shots from my 35mm Nokton Classic.

1.4

2

2.8

4

5.6

8

I'll stop at f/8 as it just gets sharper from here. I'm sorry for all with a modem. 😱


I might still have a camera issue, but not as pronounced as I was afraid. I'll do a long distance test later.

 

[Roberto]

Many thanks for all your input. I have learned a great deal and I have been focusing (no pun intended) on what is causing the problem instead of just rubbing my head. I tried to do the focus test from focustestchart.com. And I had the opportunity to try a 35 Cron pre ASPH along with my 50 Cron and the 35 CV.

The 35 Cron was OK. I might have been a little off in focusing, but it was pretty consistent within about 2mm.

The 50 Cron was doing good. f/2 was a bit soft, but from 2.8 it was sharp dead center.

Now, the 35 CV was wacky. 1.4 was blurry and ugly, but focus was pretty close to center. But when I started to stop down crazy things happened. At 2.8 focus was at 60-70 mm back focus, and continued out that way until f/8 helped with DOF...

Somehow I suspect that something is completely screwy with my CV. 🙄

But now I understand why I could read the label in the back of a mans shirt instead of his eyes being in focus when I used 2.8. :bang:

I would be fine with the focus shift if the lens was at least sharp wide open, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Below is the test shots from my 35mm Nokton Classic.

I'll stop at f/8 as it just gets sharper from here. I'm sorry for all with a modem. 😱


I might still have a camera issue, but not as pronounced as I was afraid. I'll do a long distance test later.

Now this *is* focus shift, and I believe it is that bad because this lens is not ASPH.

 

[Turtle]

sean reid reported severe focus shift with the CV 35 1.4 on the M8. Its a product of lens design and wont go away no matter what you do with the M8. As for the others, I have no idea. I dont get focus shift issues with my lenses, but then again I shoot film

 

[Sam N]

It's important to me that I can focus on short distance. 0.7-1.5 meters for portraits.

I know this sounds like blasphemy, but if a majority of your work is at or closer than 2 meters, a DSLR might be a better choice. No parallax issues, lenses focus closer, and you can see what's in focus at any aperture with DOF preview.

 

[Lance]

I know this sounds like blasphemy, but if a majority of your work is at or closer than 2 meters, a DSLR might be a better choice. No parallax issues, lenses focus closer, and you can see what's in focus at any aperture with DOF preview.

I have DSLRs and use them. But I want my rangefinder gear for light asignments where small is just better. Close work is not the majority of what I do but I need it to work none the less.

 

[john_s]

Focus shift is generally much worse with f1.4 (incl f1.5) lenses than those that have max aperture of f2 (talking 35mm to 50mm). Some designs will be worse than others. The Zeiss Sonnar-C 50/1.5 has huge focus shift anomalies, and the sensor of the M8 would pick them up in a very obvious way.

With the test that the OP is doing, most lenses will show at least a little focus shift to the rear with smaller apertures, which you would not notice in ordinary photography, but the test shots of the CV35mm show a serious problem. It's made worse by his M8 focusing a bit to the rear at full aperture. From there it can only get worse. I'm lucky, my M6 focuses a little bit to the front (within normal tolerances, they tell me) so there is a bit of self correction.

 

[Makten]

Below is the test shots from my 35mm Nokton Classic.

Jesus! That is the worst focus shift I've ever seen, and it surely is focus shift. :-O
I've owned several very fast lenses for SLR, and I've experienced what I thought was "bad" focus shift. But it have not been like a tenth of what your photos show.

 

[ruslan]

Interesting, my Summarit-M has 0 focus shift and not ASPH

 

[baycrest]

Tried mulitple copies of the CV 35 f/1.4 at the store, hoping to find something smaller then my at the time CV 35 f/1.2.

I tried 4 copies and couldn't find one that would focus well on my M8 at 2 metres.

My CV 35 f/1.2 and Zeiss 35 f/2 focus extremely well. Of course I had to try the Lux, which was a mistake, its a very sensitive lens (yeah its like its got its own personality) with BF and I need to make small adjustments to my focus to actually hit it.

But I must say when I do hit it, it is very nice. For this reason, many get the Cron over the Lux.

I do enjoy everyting about the CV35 f/1.2 except for its size which is a bit of a downer.

However, the bokeh is great and there's no focus shift in my copy whatsoever. Its extremely easy to focus.

The Zeiss is a nice lens, with a bit more contrast than either the Nokton or Lux.

If you're into the 35mm range, try the CV 40 f/1.4 Nokton. The bokeh is a bit harsh at f/1.4, but if you can live with that its fast, sharp, and reasonably priced.

Best
Rob

 

[john_s]

........ If you're into the 35mm range, try the CV 40 f/1.4 Nokton. The bokeh is a bit harsh at f/1.4, but if you can live with that its fast, sharp, and reasonably priced.

Best
Rob

Would you expect focus shift like that of the CV 35/1.4? Aren't they rather similar in design?

 

[Lance]

Disillusioned new M8 owner (update)

Disillusioned new M8 owner (update)

Hey all,

Just wanted to tell, that I now have bought a Zeiss 28/2.8. And first impression is very good. I will make some real life tests very soon. I'm more or less done with the CV 35. I does nothing good for my mood. 😡 🙄