how come my pictures look so bad ! ?

The third photo in post #33 shows that your equipment seems to work.

If you are not sure about it I recommend to shoot some test targets (like measurement tapes, etc). You know, there are lots of RFF members in the bay area and we do meet on occasion.

Best,

Roland.
 
b.espahbod said:
sorry but i have to disagree with that, I used 50 Noctilux f/1 and 75summilux for 6 years and never experienced any problem. always right on target. (on m6, m6ttl and m7).


For the defocused boy:

use a tripod, focus your lens at infinity, open aperture, use speed 1/1000, use a finegrain film like delta 100 ot tmax and shoot!! if the image is still out of focus go change your lens.

IMO i think u dont know how to shoot! why, because ,you scanner seems fine WHY? because all the dust and scratches on your pics are fine. it seems there is a lot of shake in your image and wrong focus.
Click to expand...

You obviously have mastered the focusing of these fast lenses. Plenty haven't though as is evident by out of focus images i've seen in the past made with the superfasts. They are not for everyone.
 
By the way, about camera shake: this last weekend I went out trying to shoot in a more relaxed way with my 15mm Heliar prefocused and at f/11 with APX100, without yellow filter, and shot the whole roll at 1/125th, WITHOUT composing, and hiding my camera, always down in my right hand, and just taking it up for a second to register all sorts of things and people...

I was very surprised after developing and scanning for a first look: more than half the frames were totally ruined because of camera shake... I thought with such a wide, 1/125th would be more than safe, but I was really wrong, and for the amount of shake, I guess I needed maybe at least 1/500... Then, yesterday, I found someone posting that to really avoid camera shake, he recommended 1/1000th for tests without tripod! Looks like slower speeds are just for the usual very controlled, still shooting...

Cheers,

Juan
 
considering "There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept." A. Adams

Yes 1/500 f/5.6 is my main preset through my photographic career. since most lenses have their best aperture at 4 or 5.6 1/500 f/5.6 seems to be a better option and openning the aperture is the priority cuz shake really destroys the image while corner softness at f/1.4 is negligible.
 
I lost my soft release button, I have to press hard now to shoot, maybe that contributes to the camera shake
"I still think the easiest thing is to get some minilab scans. I looked at your flickr feed, and you've got some sharp photos in there, some even from this same setup. You have a shot looking up a tree. Was that a minilab scan or a home scan?"
home scan with film holder (lower quality)
"sorry but i have to disagree with that, I used 50 Noctilux f/1 and 75summilux for 6 years and never experienced any problem. always right on target. (on m6, m6ttl and m7)."
how much time do you take to focus ? do you use a tripod ?

"You know, there are lots of RFF members in the bay area and we do meet on occasion."
keep me on the loop ! I'd love a meet up

". I thought with such a wide, 1/125th would be more than safe"
are you sure your camera actually shoots at 1/125? the blurry shots I took were at 1/15!
 
I think your technique is absolutely contributing to camera shake. You shouldn't have to press hard to shoot, even without a soft release. Many people do the same thing with guns. They strangle the gun with their whole hand instead of having only the index finger lightly pull the trigger. It takes a bit more finesse to get slow speeds sharp with no soft release but it's entirely possible. Leica would've built the releases with crowns if they thought it was necessary. That said, it's easy to "dip" your camera when you mash the release. With this new information, I suspect this is the main culprit to your softness problem.

And to the last point about 1/125, yes, as a recent poster pointed out, it's possible to get blur at 1/500 or even 1/1000 if the camera is moving enough. If the camera is absolutely still, 1/125 is generally thought to be about as slow as you can go to freeze people walking on the street. If you're moving at all it's recommended to at least double - if not triple - your shutter speed if you want to truly stop action. If you and your subject are moving, quadruple your speed. At 1/15 or 1/8 even your breathing can blur your shot. In extreme slow speeds I tend to shoot at the end of my breath rather than while I'm holding it. This is a holdover from my competition pistol/rifle shooting days. Works for me. Also, good point made about using your strap to help you tighten up your hold. Using pillars, fences and other nearby objects to solidify your frame are also invaluable.
 
anorphirith said:
". I thought with such a wide, 1/125th would be more than safe"
are you sure your camera actually shoots at 1/125? the blurry shots I took were at 1/15!
Click to expand...

Yes, thanks. I never changed speed in the whole roll (every subject under the sun), and a few shots were sharp: the ones not involving close people, and those times I took the camera up and had time to keep it still. I guess the worst cases were caused by my shooting just before the camera was totally up and still.

Cheers,

Juan
 
You are obviously in the Stanford area. I hate to be one of the brutal ones, but take one of the classes at Stanford, or Pacific Art League, or Keeble & Schucat etc.

Don't be one of those that wastes $2K on a Leica "because it's the best," and then sell it a month later because it "takes crappy photos."

Here's a photo I took TODAY at 1/15th:

20091017-118.jpg


You know where that is. It's not a Leica, but a Mamiya 7II, but I could have taken the same picture with my Leica M7 too.
 
didjiman said:
You are obviously in the Stanford area. I hate to be one of the brutal ones, but take one of the classes at Stanford, or Pacific Art League, or Keeble & Schucat etc.

Don't be one of those that wastes $2K on a Leica "because it's the best," and then sell it a month later because it "takes crappy photos."

Here's a photo I took TODAY at 1/15th:

You know where that is. It's not a Leica, but a Mamiya 7II, but I could have taken the same picture with my Leica M7 too.
Click to expand...
I used a Hasselblad 500 C/M for more than a year and I got great results from it
rangefinder just have a longer learning curve
and I certainly don't need to take a class

3910940709_7e01839657_b.jpg

3914312821_cd1490b53c_b.jpg

3914320733_92f3ac1d7f_b.jpg

3818070461_cabd3ab42d_b.jpg
 
Have you tried checking infinity focus? It's easy to knock out of alignment.

Go outside, focus on a tree 200 yards away thru the rangefinder, then check the distance scale on the lens. I should have the infinity mark on the index line.

Wide aperture openings and slow shutter speeds always make sharp pictures a little more difficult.
 
anorphirith said:
I used a Hasselblad 500 C/M for more than a year and I got great results from it
rangefinder just have a longer learning curve
and I certainly don't need to take a class
Click to expand...

My apology. Obviously you are a master of your craft.

I am sure there are good reasons why the Hassy pictures look so much different from the first set. We are all ears waiting to hear your explanations.

Are you doing a psychology experiment to see how people react on the internet? If so, you succeed admirably.

Humbly yours,
 
My wife just told me that Stanford students are masterful jokers. I know about the Tree pranks and such, but I didn't know Stanford kids pick on people like "Dear Abby" etc.

My legs definitely feel much longer now.
 
didjiman said:
My apology. Obviously you are a master of your craft.

I am sure there are good reasons why the Hassy pictures look so much different from the first set. We are all ears waiting to hear your explanations.

Are you doing a psychology experiment to see how people react on the internet? If so, you succeed admirably.

Humbly yours,
Click to expand...

True -- and I don't think it's an illegitimate experiment. How far do we take one another at face value? How far do we engage in status games? How far do we try to answer (a) the question that was asked; (b) the question that was unasked but implicit; (c) the question that was never asked but allows us to hop on our favourite hobby horse?

Would such an experiment 'waste' our time? Well, how much does the internet 'waste' our time anyway? What do we get out of trying to help people? Quite a lot of interesting questions.

Cheers,

R.
 
to simplify...

to simplify...

to simplify, if you shoot w/a 400 film,
use a shutter speed of at least 125.
be absolutely certain you are in focus, (sunlight).
shoot with a low f stop on a close subject.
you should be able to attain a sharp image.
use color print film if you want to avoid
questions about the scanner.
if it is blurry at this point it has to be the camera or the lens.
take it to a one hour lab to kill the suspense.
 
In some of the shots, I see blur from camera movement. In others, it just looks like the focus is off.

The myth of shooting wide open all of the time is that you'll get these fabulous shots. In truth, shooting wide open should be used in situations in which it makes sense.

For longer shots, use a smaller aperture.

Years ago, I read from a columnist that he'd rather shoot a faster speed film and accept the increase in film grain that shoot a slower film and get a blurry shot.

While this situation isn't identical, it's similar. Try some daylight shots wide open with faster shutter speeds, as well as shots with smaller apertures.

And also, for those photos that should be infinity, just put the lens at infinity and don't try to focus.

Also, I get very good scans from a flatbed. It's all about keeping the negative as flat as possible. Usually, the weak link is the negative holder.
 
No, I'm not playing, I wouldn't spend money and time on a roll for a game. In my experience rangefinders are totally different, and it's the first time I don't get results I expect. I just wanted to prove that I do know what I'm doing... to an extent
And I got some great advice in this thread to improve.
 
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