Focusing with view/rangefinder

[blacklight]

Hi,

I'm new to RF cameras and I have only recently purchased Bessa R3M with 40/1.4 Nokton.

So far, the most difficult part for me is focusing. Zone or hyperfocal focusing is ok and when I learn to judge distance better there won't be any problems I guess. Not so with focusing in viewfinder - first, the eyes needs to be in quite precise position against the viewfinder so that the rangefinder would appear really bright and even then there need to be some clear vertical lines or something with clear borders so that I'd be able to focus precisely.

On the other hand, this is not that bad in daylight, but in this time of the year, when it gets dark really soon I shoot practically always in the lowlight and focusing then takes ages for me. There seems to be no way I could quickly focus with viewfinder some candid moment in this conditions. And the need for large apertures with very shallow DOF, when the focus needs to be very precise makes things even worse.

So I'd like to hear some tips and tricks on focusing, especially in lowlight - if there are any at all, maybe it just needs more practice.

Thanx

 

[RML]

Lights overlap eachother as you focus. Once they ovrlap completely they're in focus.

 

[Spyderman]

Only training can help.

you have to position your eye precisely to see the patch, and then try to find some lines on people's faces - for example nose is a good target 🙂

 

[wyk_penguin]

Just to disappoint you, the RF patch of the Bessas are already among the brightest and sharpest of all RFs (some say brightest, but I believe the Ms and the ZM in the same class); and the 1:1 magnification definitely makes it easier to focus than the competition.

Focusing at might for moving subjects needs practice, a lot of it.

 

[w3rk5]

Like Spyderman suggested.......practice, practice, practice. The "eye to viewfinder" thing will happen naturally in time.

This is just my opinion.......to me, a razor sharp shot is great, but it doesn't mean it's a good shot. Some of my best ones are soft. I know how you feel about low light shooting............. I shoot FSU's, and most of them have tiny viewfinders.

The important thing is to train your finger to press the shutter regardless if it's !00% in focus or not. If you get it 97% (give or take) in focus you'll get a good image. Also, don't get upset if you missed a shot or two. Something else is going to happen shortly after.

If you can do these two things I'll bet you'll catch more moments. The lack in sharpness will be made up by having a print in hand.

Good luck and have fun.

Oh yeah! I prefer to focus on the eyes.

 

[erikhaugsby]

Focusing on high contrast/defined patterns definitely aids in achieving proper focus, but as w3rk5 mentioned sometimes even if you know the image is not in focus it is still better to press the shutter button and walk away with an oof image as opposed to no image.

I love the finder on my M2, but the newer M's have a "crisper" feel to them, possibly due to the non-gold color of the framelines and RF patch.