Focus Your Old Folder Accurately!

M

Monday317

Member
Local time
3:46 PM
Joined
Apr 5, 2015
Messages
30
I'll post this elsewhere on Photrio and it's also in the German Folders group on FLICKR.

The bulk of the fine old Tessar-equipped cameras are murder for modern work if you want to use them under infinity (∞) for the lens & aperture in use. I couldn't accurately tell the difference between 1.5 and 2.3 meters if my children’s lives depended on it! If you hop on eBay and get one of the old split-image optical viewfinders, you quickly find them tough to see through and dim. What to do?


Bosch tools (and others) offer small (about 1/2 the size of an old flip phone), handheld laser distance finders, for about $30.00 USD as of 12/2020. They come in different maximum ranges, so if your lens’ ∞ distance is, say, 10m or 33 feet, you only need that or slightly longer--12-15m and you can enjoy reliable & consistent focusing at shorter distances with your folder. That said, they often have a maximum distance far beyond that.

These are super convenient to use, as if they were specially designed for our needs! They calculate distance from the butt end of the finder, so you only have to plant that onto your lens, press the button and bingo!--you know how to set your distance. They can be adjusted to read in meters, feet, mm, or inches, which is a huge help is you like to fiddle with close-up filters like a Kodak Portra to get a true bust portrait instead of settling for the head and shoulder view you usually get at you 1 or 1.x-meter minimum focal distance typical for these cameras. The laser spot size is small enough to get the distance at the bridge of the subject’s nose without hitting an eyeball if used with care. It's a red laser than shouldn't cause retinal damage from an accidental, brief exposure.

I can also vouch for the accuracy of the laser detectors. I tried one at it's maximum stated range into a shadowed box with bright room light, no sweat. Outdoors in bright sunlight against a white wall, the ranger still worked fine. With automatic shutoff, the battery lasts forever.

Take your old folder out and get that image of your cat on the porch with ease!!

Bosch GLM 20 Blaze 65' Laser Distance Measure, $29.97 USD on Amazon as of 12/14/2029:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CG97GR2/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_glc_fabc_jqu3FbX8DF7SN
 
Monday317 said:
Take your old folder out and get that image of your cat on the porch with ease!!

Bosch GLM 20 Blaze 65' Laser Distance Measure, $29.97 USD on Amazon as of 12/14/2029:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CG97GR2/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_glc_fabc_jqu3FbX8DF7SN
Click to expand...

The laser distance finder is definitely quicker to use than my old Voigtlander rangefinders that can be attached to an accessory shoe, but there is more....

As much as I hate to say this, it would be useful in checking the accuracy of any older camera with built in rangefinder focusing. I don't think my 1932'ish Leica II is accurate to an 1/8".
 
I use a manual focus camera to determine the subject distance and then transfer the distance to the vintage folder.
 
markjwyatt said:
You can buy small accessory rangefinders on ebay. I have an old Kodak 110 camera (pocket Instamatic 60) with a decent rangefinder on it and I use that. You can get those for as little as $15.00.
Click to expand...
Yessir--and many do. This is just a handy bit of modern technology to make our wonderful old cameras easier to use.
 
narsuitus said:
I use a manual focus camera to determine the subject distance and then transfer the distance to the vintage folder.
Click to expand...

Many do. This little gimcrack I brought up is super easy to get good focus distances and maybe quicker than using another camera.

For instance, I have a superb Olympus 35SP that I can't use because my eyes can't use the viewfinder. Drives me nuts because the light meter is spot on and the lens is superb! Probably have to sell the thing.
 
I have been using a Bosch pocket laser rangefinder for a couple of years now, they were on special so I bought two of them, 60 feet maximum and that is more than enough. I have a couple of folders and the Perkeo 11 is a scale focus. Now I only use it for close stuff but more importantly the Perkeo is in meters, the Bosch converts to both feet and meters.
I reset the focus on this camera with a ground glass, tripod and the laser, total accuracy.
 
Forgot to mention, I use this more with my Hasselblad SWC/M to control out of focus on close subjects with depth of field. Great little tool.....
 
jmpgino said:
I have been using a Bosch pocket laser rangefinder for a couple of years now, they were on special so I bought two of them, 60 feet maximum and that is more than enough. I have a couple of folders and the Perkeo 11 is a scale focus. Now I only use it for close stuff but more importantly the Perkeo is in meters, the Bosch converts to both feet and meters.
I reset the focus on this camera with a ground glass, tripod and the laser, total accuracy.
Click to expand...
I did that with my Ercona 1, but decided just to go with the laser. Seems like it was made just for us old folder aficións!
 
@Monday317, When you write:

"...They calculate distance from the butt end of the finder, so you only have to plant that onto your lens, press the button and bingo!--you know how to set your distance..."

Do you mean rest the rangefinder on top of the lens, or place the back of it against the front of your lens?

Either way seems a little odd to me, as the first ignores the distance from the back of the lens to the film plane (where most camera-borne rangefinders are (more or less) ) especially on the larger folders, and the second ignores the distance from the front edge of the lens barrel to the film plane.
 
farlymac said:
I use a Rowi rangefinder.
Voigtlander Perkeo II Outfit by P F McFarland, on Flickr

PF
Click to expand...

Nice rig! Very much like my non-rangefinder folders. The real trick is to make sure that your rangefinder is in synch with your camera lens focusing ring. So, whether it is a laser device or an RF device, you have to go to the trouble of using a ground glass to line up your RF device whatever it is to your focusing ring using a ground glass at the film plane. Sounds complicated but it isn't that hard.
 
seany65 said:
@Monday317, When you write:

"...They calculate distance from the butt end of the finder, so you only have to plant that onto your lens, press the button and bingo!--you know how to set your distance..."

Do you mean rest the rangefinder on top of the lens, or place the back of it against the front of your lens?

Either way seems a little odd to me, as the first ignores the distance from the back of the lens to the film plane (where most camera-borne rangefinders are (more or less) ) especially on the larger folders, and the second ignores the distance from the front edge of the lens barrel to the film plane.
Click to expand...

If you looked at the picture of the finder on Amazon, the laser comes out of the top. The range is calibrated such that the ≈2” of the body of the finder is zeroed at the butt end opposite the aperture.

Since nearly all the old folders using range focus have a smaller size objective lens, the butt end of the finder rests nicely at the plane of the taking lens.

I can't say for certain the ranges for the lens focus are considered from the lens to subject, or film plane to subject. I believe it is the former. At almost any working lens aperture, the difference would be negligible, given the subject is usually going to be at least a meter and a half from the lens anyway.

My camera is set up to use Series VI accessories. I have a Kodak Portrar +1 diopter closeup lens which allows me to go from a head and shoulders portrait to a bust portrait without noticeable distortion. So far, I haven't had any issues with focus errors, even at maximum aperture. I have only casually checked things like iris sharpness in my subjects but again, results to date haven't warranted a lot of fuss.

FWIW, I’m getting great results in Acros II and FX-39; a match made in heaven. Tri-X looks great as well in the stuff.
 
Hello
I just received one of these laser rangefinders that will be used mostly with the Rolei 35

I am not sure how 2-3 inches, the difference between the base of the device and the front of the laser and the front of the lens or the film plane, is going to be critical unless you are close focusing???


Anyway, it is a nice little unit.


And here is the Perkeo II with its rangefinder.
414007092.jpg
 
45govt said:
Hello
I just received one of these laser rangefinders that will be used mostly with the Rollei 35

I am not sure how 2-3 inches, the difference between the base of the device and the front of the laser and the front of the lens or the film plane, is going to be critical unless you are close focusing???
Click to expand...
At one time, I lusted mightily for a Perkeo, then fell under the spell of the 6 x 9cm format. Got my Ercona on a nice deal. Your camera reminds me of the old flame... :eek:

The Bosch laser rangefinder computes distance from its base, so the tiny distance error would only be if it contacts the lens ring and not the front element itself; what, maybe a couple millimeters..?

I did a little research and found any closed box camera, i.e., not an SLR, TLR, or view camera, considers subject to camera distance as at the front lens element of the camera objective. So our old folders should be quite happy with the laser rangefinder--especially as macrophotography isn't really the folder’s long suit.
 
Monday317 said:
I did a little research and found any closed box camera, i.e., not an SLR, TLR, or view camera, considers subject to camera distance as at the front lens element of the camera objective. So our old folders should be quite happy with the laser rangefinder--especially as macrophotography isn't really the folder’s long suit.
Click to expand...

The heck with folders, I'm fine with my RF on them. I need a laser rangefinder for my SLRs and TLRs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom