Nokton 50mm 1.5 Focus shift?!?!?!

jsrockit said:
I guess I shouldn't have said specifcally wide open, but I meant from 1.5 to 2.8 or so. It's weird since its a planar design and this is the first documented sign of it having shift. Perhaps you have a lemon.
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... that, and below 2.8 it's hard to see how one would be able to tell, any shift would be lost in the increasing dof
 
And just to clarify...this is actually focus shift... not just my rangefinder or lens front or back focusing because they are out of spec. The center point of focus moves rearward as the aperture stops down until the original point of focus is out of focus even with the added depth of field
 
I own the Nokton 50.1.5 and never experienced focus shift and love the lens.

The lens has been used with my GF1, M8.2, M9, and MP without any issues.

Maybe I have been lucky but none of the Voightlander lenses I have purchased, all through CameraQuest, have had any problems.
 
My new (used) CV 50/1.5 arrived today and I'm noticing a definite tendency to back focus on my M8...I saw the same thing with my Jupiter 3 thrown onto the same adapter as well as both lenses on my 35/135 ltm adapter (both are the voigtlander brand adapters). I'm wondering is maybe this is an issue with the voigtlander adapters? Anyone else had similar issues?

No focus issues at all with my CV 35/1.2 M mount or my 40/2 'cron, so I'm reasonably sure that it's not a rangefinder issue. Interestingly, I didn't have an issue with my 35/3.5 Summar on either adapter, so I'm kind of at a loss, but think it must be a lens issue.
 
Chris Bail said:
I'm wondering is maybe this is an issue with the voigtlander adapters? Anyone else had similar issues?
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I have similar issues with my Ultron 35mm f/1.7 on a Voigtländer adapter. On original Leitz adapters there is no problem at all.

The Ultron just goes too far "in" the adapter. The focusing index passes the half-moon cutout on top of the Voigtländer-adapter a few millimeters wile it should stop exactly in the middle of it.

Erik.
 
I noticed the same thing on mine Erik. It seems to screw in a little too deeply.

I'll try shimming it with some scraps of paper and see if putting the focusing index at the top of the half moon cut-out resolves the issue.
 
I made it a rule - if I use a screw mount lens on M body and it shows some focus issues - check the adapter first. Using Leica originals usually works best, yet I do have some 3rd party ones that work fine as well.
 
You can easily adjust (a) adapter position and (b) RF cam in both 35/1.7 and 50/1.5:

100603988_tDWfE-L.jpg


(a) is changed by picking one of the 3 open screw holes you see in the above pic, that are used to attach the flange. (b) is changed by loosening the black philips screws, rotating the cam (typically very little), and tightening the screws again. When you are done, you might want to use some nail polish on the black screws.

(b) can only be used for optimization to a given focus distance (say 1m or infinity). Shift, of course, is not affected.
 
thanks for the info ferider and krosya. I'll have to do some more testing in better light tomorrow, but right now it looks like mine is back focusing at all distances.

will (b) fix that sort of issue?

Where would one find a genuine Leica adapter?
 
Chris...is it just your 50mm that is back focusing? If you find your other lenses showing this too, your rangefinder might actually need the adjustment instead.

This happened to me when I first got my M8. All lenses were front focusing on my body. The rangefinder needed adjustment. Everything was perfect after that. (though I have had lenses that also needed adjustment themselves)
 
I bought the lens from a used place that accepts returns, so it's going back.
My only other ltm lenses are an old 35/3.5 that seems to be just fine on the voigtlander adapters and a jupiter 8 and 9 that both have issues. The Jupiter 9 is way out of focus (which I understand is par for the course) and the Jupiter 8 seems to be backfocusing to about the same degree as the voigtlander ...not much of a smoking gun. The lens was graded "EX" and has a couple of pinpoint marks on the front element, so I don't feel bad sending it back.

Thanks for the help and advice, and any leads on finding original Leica adapters would also be greatly appreciated.
 
Irony, these lenses were introduced and discontinued prior to there being any digital rangefinder cameras.
 
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