Minolta CLE @ Infinity focus help?

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Landberg

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Hi!

I just got a Minolta CLE in the mail. When i focus it at infinity things that are that fare away don´t align with the rangefinder. Is it suppose to be like that?
it seems to fokus right in short range.

Thanks for your help!;)

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You may have a misaligned rangefinder. But I think you should try focusing on something that's really far away, like the moon or a star. I believe the aerial in your picture isn't that far away.
 
That doesn't really look like infinity.

Infinity is well, infinity.

Look for something at least 3 miles away.

The moon at night is an excellent way to test this.
 
Landberg said:
Thank you guys. On my M2 the same distance will align at infinity. Is that normal?;)
Click to expand...

The antenna looks like it is 50 yards from where you took the pic, in which case I'd say that both the CLE & the M2 are off a bit; a bit short for the CLE and a bit long for the M2.

That said, I'm really hazarding a guess here.
I suppose the question is:

Does the image of the CLE rangefinder patch actually align with anything at a distance?
For sure if you cannot align it with the moon it requires adjustment.

Just remembered that another favourite target (when not the moon, say in daylight) are aircraft contrails. They are usually sharp enough to do the trick.
 
apostasiometritis said:
The antenna looks like it is 50 yards from where you took the pic, in which case I'd say that both the CLE & the M2 are off a bit; a bit short for the CLE and a bit long for the M2.

That said, I'm really hazarding a guess here.
I suppose the question is:

Does the image of the CLE rangefinder patch actually align with anything at a distance?
For sure if you cannot align it with the moon it requires adjustment.

Just remembered that another favourite target (when not the moon, say in daylight) are aircraft contrails. They are usually sharp enough to do the trick.
Click to expand...

My M2 always render sharp images so i trust that rangefinder. The store that i bought the CLE from are going to make a rangefinder check on the cle.

The patch don´t align with anything so a adjustment is in place i think!;)

Thanks
 
Landberg said:
My M2 always render sharp images so i trust that rangefinder. The store that i bought the CLE from are going to make a rangefinder check on the cle.

The patch don´t align with anything so a adjustment is in place i think!;)

Thanks
Click to expand...

True that, just bear in mind that at the distance you are showing there woul be no difference with anything longer than say 50.

Same goes for the m3. After a certain distance depth of field catches up and for such small errors you will notice nothing. At closer distances that sort of error translates to a couple of cm, so noticing it depends on how often you shoot close to the min distance (if you notice it at all).
 
From back in the day Photographic infinity was considered 500 X focal length, so anything more than 1000' is infinity. with a 50mm(883') lens. With longer lenses infinity effectively gets further away.
 
Repair of the CLE

Repair of the CLE

I've just stumbled upon this thread and I wonder: Where did you have you Minolta CLA'd? Would they be able to do a bit more thorough repair? Mine's exposure meter has gone crazy and the shutter speeds are inconsistent.
 
When the meter goes crazy and the shutter speeds are inconsistent, the first areas to check are the wiping contacts under the shutter speed dial. These can build up a layer of dust and grease and give inconsistent readings.

The CLE will also show odd shutter speeds and otherwise behave strangely when there is no film in the camera -- it makes its final exposure reading off the film plane.
 
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Well, that strange behaviour without film hasn't crossed my mind. Maybe it was the case. I hope I didn't acted too hot-headedly because I've already sent it to a repairman in Germany :mad:
 
Well, a good repairman shouldn't hurt it, and might clean it up a bit. Wishing you success and good photos. It's an excellent camera body and lens. My money is on the ring under the shutter speed dial.
 
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