So I got the 50 Summicron today...

[sanmich]

Is diffraction more apparent on digital than on film?

 

[ItsReallyDarren]

Looking at the EXIF info from the two photos the shutter speeds were 1/350 and 1/180. Both seem fast enough to avoid motion blur unless the OP was shaking or falling when he took the photo.

Have the lens checked out for focus issues. If your Rokkor 40/2 focus works with your M8 then something is right with the system. The new Summicron needs to be double checked.

 

[cnphoto]

The OP says it's happening at infinity so DOF has nothing to do with it.

@ animefx - Care to share some of the bad shots?

No, he says he is setting his lens to infinity and using hyper focusing - which I would take as he is setting the lens to infinity and shooting objects closer than infinity.

If you do this on an M8 at F11 everything from 9m to infinity will be in focus (or 27ft to infinity).

The children on the pier look like they would be closer than 9m (just), so by this method would be just out of the DOF and looking 'soft'. No?

The OP, if using scale focusing, would be better setting his lens to around instead of infinity so everything from 12ft to 117ft was in focus.

 

[cnphoto]

*setting his lens to 20-25ft I meant to type.

 

[leicashot]

Let me chime in here. Firstly, the focus is off, whether due to the operator or lens error is to be determined. It is focusing closer than it should and the f/16 depth of field is making it look a little better than worse.

Secondly, 180/sec is slow. I don't care how many people tell me it's fast enough, but it's slow. Even 1/250sec is too slow for action. Anything under 1/500-1/800 sec is too slow for action. The BIGGEST mistake made by photographers is to try and sacrifice speed for low ISO, and I see this happening all too often.

Ultimately, there is a problem with either the lens, rangefinder, or operator or even a combination of those.

BTW, for the OP, being as steady as a tripod won't freeze action, only faster shutter speeds will.

Here is one of the bad ones I was pretty angry it didn't turn out...

Here is the original size if you want to see it much larger (to see the softness everywhere) http://www.flickr.com/photos/animefx/6031764177/sizes/o/in/photostream/

It almost looks like motion blur but I promise you I was as steady as a tripod 🙂

 

[cosmonaut]

OP is shooting an M8...

Ooops. What was your settings? At f/11 that is a low light situation. Are you sure it isn't camera shake and motion blur. Try some shots with better lighting?

 

[ZlatkoBatistich]

Again: look at the large flickr shot, Ben, highlights in the background and front (pier close to water). They moved from left to right to my eyes. Combine this with one shot being sharp and the other one not under similar conditions. Means camera shake, simple as that. Plus, at f16, diffraction is quite significant.

I agree, there seems to be a slight, horizontal movement of the camera blurring everything, along with some diffraction. There may still be something wrong with the lens, but it's not obvious from this photo. If the only problem were a focus error, there would likely be some plane in the photo at which everything is very sharp.

 

[batterytypehah!]

No, he says he is setting his lens to infinity and using hyper focusing - which I would take as he is setting the lens to infinity and shooting objects closer than infinity.

If you do this on an M8 at F11 everything from 9m to infinity will be in focus (or 27ft to infinity).

The children on the pier look like they would be closer than 9m (just), so by this method would be just out of the DOF and looking 'soft'. No?

The OP, if using scale focusing, would be better setting his lens to around instead of infinity so everything from 12ft to 117ft was in focus.

Read the OP, please:

Sometimes I would set my aperture to f/11 and f/16 and set my lens on infinity so that between 25 ft to infinity *should* be acceptable focus but it was not even close.

Lens at infinity, buildings on horizon not in focus. Like I said, DOF has nothing to do with it.

 

[animefx]

Thanks for all the replies. I ended up sending it back yesterday and I'm asking for a refund. It's too bad because I love the way the lens renders the photos (when they are in focus).

Talking with the workers at the store It's possible my rangefinder needs aligned but I'm too nervous to do this myself, Leica's repair shop is closed for a month, and I'm not wailling to wait 2 months for DAG at the moment (or whatever the wait time is)

Of course if this problem presists on my next lens purchase then I won't have a choice, I'll have to send it in somewhere and get the adjustments made by a professional.