Leica LTM Working fast with a Barnack ?!

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
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corot

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Yes ... I know one answer is to use something else :D, but ...

The other day I was working fast with a IIIf and 50/1.4 wide-open and found it was much easier to simply use the range-finder window for approximate composition rather than the viewfinder as the subjects were moving too quickly to stay in focus for long

Does anyone else use the rangefinder instead of the viewfinder when necessary?
 
I use my Nicca 5L about as much as anything else. I find the two window system to be analogous to looking both ways at an intersection. It's habitual and fast. I also often one focus with it.
 
On the street, I zone focus with a 28mm lens set at a small aperture, so the camera goes to my eye just to frame and shoot. Since I don't need to fiddle with the rangefinder, this is very fast! With practice, you can get quite good at estimating distances, but this is obviously much harder if you like to shoot wide open all the time.
 
With the Canon 50/1.4 blocking a lot of the viewfinder, you can see just as much (little?) through the rangefinder! Usually I use an external v-f with the Canon, but it's a long way from the r-f window when it's dark.

It's surprising how little room for error there is, even at a moderate distance with a 50mm lens at 1.4, and how quickly it can be traversed by a fast subject in a dim environment.
 
Good luck !

It depends on what you mean by "working fast"... if you're shooting a scene where the camera to subject distance is constantly changing, your best bet is to stop-down as much as possible, so that DOF is helping ( w/o risking a visit from the Diffraction Fairy ), that way, you focus once, then just have to worry about framing, firing, and winding-on.

If I'm shooting a scene closer than "Infinity" , and I want everything sharp, I usually focus with the RF, then line-up my minimum / maximum distances that I want in focus with the f/stop on my DOF scale ( essentially using hyperfocal distance) to maximize sharpness. This becomes more and more helpful as you use longer and longer lenses.

If the light is changing too, well.... good luck squared ! Try and set your exposure combo up so that you're working with the shutterpseed dial, as opposed to the aperture ring... especially if you're working with a 3,5 Elmar !

I usually have a 35mm lens on my "daily driver" Leica III, so I leave my varifocal finder on-top the camera all the time. and frame with that... the only adjustment I have to make between lens changes is the parallax adjustment on the finder mount, and only if the camera/subject distance is 15 feet or less.

Have not tried using the RF for framing.


My biggest challenge for "working fast" has been changing film.

Certainly familiarity with the camera to the point of not having to "think about" how to manipulate it helps...
 
I sometimes used the R/F setting on my Canon VT Deluxe to frame also, as I did not have a 135mm finder. Parallax compensation by not so intelligent guess-work.
 
If judge distance then shooting 'fast' with even the oldest Barnacks is entirely possible. Scale focusing means that, albeit with a timely preparation, the actual picture taking is faster than many may think. Parallax is an issue obviously but not a deterrent-I have had some success with images that are the better for it encroaching!
David
 
I also recall a suggestion that it's often easier to judge a given distance and then move your body for focusing.
 
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