Need some help; check focus

[Rhad the Man]

Hey. I'm leaving the country in a week, a year stay abroads in Spain. Heh.. I only got one camera and one lens (I'm a poor student, despite the fact that I have a long list of wants, can't do it..). Yah.. I figured I could spend 500$ and buy a 700IS, and take all the digital pictures I wanted.. but, for some reason, I just couldn't do it, I've become deeply attached to my bessa.. whether the pictures are good or not, I know that they are mine-- by choice and through some deliberation, grain, apeture, shutter, type of film, each variable able to be changed every 36 frames (at the most).

(To be honest.. the thing that bothers me most about digital cameras is the noise reduction software that so many cameras do internally-- since when did color splotches become more agreeable than grain? But this is a tangent.. heh).

Back to the help I need.. since I only have one camera, one lens, I want to make sure all is working well before I leave, or get it fixed once I get there.

I know one thing I should check is the accuracy of my cameras focus (at least I think this is one thing). But I don't know how to do this.. and, I never asked.

So, I call on the communal knowledge of RFF.. let me know what I should check, and whats the best way to do it.. down to the smallest detail (if you feel so inclined).

My bessa has already had its fair shair of bumps.... so who knows what going on with it.

Thanks for your help.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

You check the lens focus by setting it to certain distances on the scale and taking photos at exactly that distance. So, you set it to perhaps metres metres and measure off three metres with a tape and take the photo. Check your prints for sharpness. Although this focus should rarely, if ever, be off.

You check your rangfinder focus in a similar manner. Choose an object and align the rangefinder patches then read the distance off the lens scale and check that it matches. The commonest check is infinity focus which in real life is anything about a city block or more away.

Voigtlander is not supported in Spain. They list a stockist in Madrid but that place doesn't have any cameras or lenses so I guess that repairs are out of the question too. The best stockist in Europe is Robert White, and transit time from Spain/Portugal to them in Britain is less than 24 hours. There's no customs to declare and pay because Spain and Britain are both EU countries.

 

[Rhad the Man]

I'll be taking one trip to Britain to take the LSAT.. so I'll be able to get any repairs I may need then. Putting off law school for a year was a great idea.. I learn a seperate language and get to spend some quality time with my camera and a new continent.

Thanks for your help Jon. Any particular object that you (or anyone) would recommend? Flat object, standed vertically, focusing on the corners? Paper with text on it?

...because I'm assuming to get the best accuracy for this type of test is to make the DOF as small as possible and focus on something small enough to assess whether it's out of focus or not.

One last question.. I looked at a lot of 'lens tests' before.. and while I know that the multiple shots on multiple settings is meant to test multiple things.. is it possible for focus to be accurate at 1m but inaccurate at infinity? or accurate at 16F but inaccurate wide open?

Thanks again.

 

[lubitel]

Its possible that the camera is accurate at close focus and inaccurate at infinity and vice versa. (fsu cameras have that alot)

Check the infinity focus using the moon as an object. Dont use a tree which is 50 yards away.

put up an object (something flat is probably better) one meter away from the camera (start measuring from the filmplane! not from the lens), set the lens to 1meter, the focus patch should be right on.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

For infinity I use a flagpole on a distant castle, about 1km. It's handy because I can see it from my window.

With Voigtlanders people seem obsess about focus and about shutter noise. Stephen Gandy (CameraQuest) is very down to earth and says that both are exaggerated.

I believe that Leica technicians check focus at something like 1m, 5m and infinity. Seems a good protocol.

Can't you take your SAT in Spain?

 

[Rhad the Man]

LSAT (A standardized test for undergraduates planning to go to law school)-- SAT (A standardized test for high school students planning to go to 4 year colleges). And.. no-- the LSAT is only offered in two places in all of Europe: Paris and London. It's fine, I'm actually looking forward to the long trip for the sole purpose of taking a test.... and getting my camera fixed (if needed).

And.. yah, I guess I'm one of those people that is obssessed.. not so much with shutter noise, but focus, definitely. I take so many candid shots that are composed and shot quickly that, sometimes, I can't really know whether an out of focus shot is because of faulty equipment or faulty person.

Thanks for the help.

p.s. Focus on the moon? That's definitely a lot farther then 1km. Heh... but, it does appear to be flat.

 

[payasam]

With your camera horizontal, you must focus on something vertical, that is, at right angles to the lens and range-finder axes. A practical test will involve making test exposures. Place camera at one end of a long table, looking down it. Crank lens to closest focus, position something like a box of matches in middle of frame so that it is in focus. To one side of it, place a similar object, say, half an inch or an inch closer to camera; and on the other, yet another a similar distance farther away. Do the same at 1m and 5m: though in the second you should make the difference, say, four inches on either side. For infinity, the moon is ideal: depending on date in lunar calendar and those things called clouds and fog.

 

[kmack]

I set up about 15 to 20 playing cards on a table (I use clothes pins to hold them up) staggered in a line about 1 inch apart. Then I put my camera on a tripod and shot at about 3 feet to the card in the middle wide open. I will move the camera back to about 10 feet (about as far as I can go in my kitchen) from the middle card focus and shoot wide open again. Repeat as much as needed.

For infinity (If it not too hazy) I will walk down the road a bit and take a snap of a radio tower on a hill its about 15 miles away.

 

[Spyderman]

You can check infinity this way: http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-123.html

But you will have to rent or lend a SLR from someone.

 

[payasam]

Kevin, you, er, club my simple method to death.