Zone Focus anyone?

[Ash]

Thanks to my somewhat idiotic choice of a Leica Standard (which, by the way, is lovely to handle) I need to learn how to judge distance effectively.

I know it's easier with faster film and smaller apertures, but other than http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/marine/569/rusrngfdrs/focusing.html are there any sites or books that I should be getting my teeth into?

Short of getting out the tape measure and memorising distance markers (and hoping my eyes can comprehend perspective), is there anything I can do to prompt my distance judgement?


Does anyone here even use hyperfocal distance for fun? 😀

Thanks all!

 

[back alley]

dof info


j

 

[back alley]

hyperfocal info


j

 

[BrianShaw]

Does anyone here even use hyperfocal distance for fun?

Yes, on occasion. Only with my Kodak Retina when trying to shoot quick moving subjects where focusing the camera might be too slow and cause me to lose a shot. For example, my kid's Little League baseball games. Actually, I used a combination of hyperfocal distance and pre-focussing. I can focus much faster with my 35mm SLR so don't use hyperfocal distance focussing with it.

 

[BrianShaw]

nice links, joe. thanks!

 

[mervynyan]

today's lenses are very sharp comparing to a decade ago, "acceptable sharpness" and "sharpest" can make or break a image. i found the sharpest pictures are almost the winner, thus I hardly ever using hyperfocal, always find a focal plane. - cheers,

 

[Ash]

ooo I outta download that program, I have a palm pilot somewhere!

 

[FrankS]

Zone focus, pre-focus, hyperfocus, alternative focus subject, sure! They are all great techniques to get pictures in situations where the normal focus procedure takes too long or is not possible, and the picture may be lost due to the short transient nature of the perfect moment of the image you intend to capture.

 

[BrianShaw]

Don't miss the version for Windows, Ash.

 

[Jocko]

Ash, I use hyperfocal focussing incessantly and have no problems. But, with regard to zone focussing: Sit indoors and guesss how far away the TV is. Focus your camera on it and see if you were right. Now, just carry on. Everywhere you go, estimate distances and soon you'll find that you're surprisingly accurate. There's nothing to it apart from simple observation.

Remember, the first Leicas had no rangefinders because most of the photographers who used them had happily gone around zone focussing 100mm plus lenses on huge old folders! The literature of the time often mentions the "extreme depth of field of a 50mm lens". Its not hard to estimate distance, as you'll see. And it even helps when you learn to drive!

Ian

 

[dreilly]

Ash,
Check out this link, which I originally found via Gordon Coale's blog. It's for a "human rangefinder card". I have on on a zone-focus Agfa folder ($7 special!) and it works well. You look a little funny using it but it works.

http://www.tomchuk.com/rf_hfd/index.php

It prints out a business card with markings that help you, using left-eye right eye, to calculate the distance.

Your eyes become the rangefinder, which is great unless your eyes start to desilver. There's a vertical alignment screw in your forehead, however.

 

[dazedgonebye]

Zone focusing is a fun excercise...but I can only take so much excercise.

 

[Ash]

Thanks for all the help and opinions!

Brian - I'm on a mac, so the windows version wouldn't help anyway 🙂

 

[Ash]

Oh and Ian, I'm hoping that maybe I can be one of the few of us to keep using that technique - it was good enough for the forerunners of modern photography, it should be good enough for me 🙂

I tried the guessing vs rangefinder, but then I found I wasn't totally sure of my camera's rangefinder accuracy!! I'm going to pop into Peter Gilbert's and buy a rangefinder to carry in my pocket - maybe I'll take it everywhere to practice technique, and use it in cases where I need 'correct' focus

 

[sbug]

Timely topic. I'd been thinking about focusing lately and what "acceptable sharpness" really means. Acceptable to who? This article (2 parts) was also recently posted and I found it very interesting. He talks about focusing on digital cameras but I don't tink there's much difference between digital and film for this discussion. I think it's also important to consider the importance of focusing accuracy as well as the window of time that you have to take the photo. As Ansel Adams said, "There is nothing worse then a sharp image of a fuzzy concept. "

Pt1: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/Digital Focusing.shtml
Pt2: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/digital focusing 2.shtml

 

[dazedgonebye]

Timely topic. I'd been thinking about focusing lately and what "acceptable sharpness" really means. Acceptable to who? This article (2 parts) was also recently posted and I found it very interesting. He talks about focusing on digital cameras but I don't tink there's much difference between digital and film for this discussion. I think it's also important to consider the importance of focusing accuracy as well as the window of time that you have to take the photo. As Ansel Adams said, "There is nothing worse then a sharp image of a fuzzy concept. "

Pt1: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/Digital Focusing.shtml
Pt2: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/digital focusing 2.shtml

Conversely, a fuzzy picture of a sharp concept is often considered "art."

 

[cbass]

Your eyes become the rangefinder, which is great unless your eyes start to desilver. There's a vertical alignment screw in your forehead, however.

Okay, this statement gets my vote for "RFF line of the week". 🙂 Excellent.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Zone focusing is a fun excercise...but I can only take so much excercise.

lol -- yes, it is an exercise.

Given that I like to shoot wide open, at reasonably "short" distances, zone focusing must be pseudo-precise at worst.

When I'm sitting around at home or at a cafe, I like to focus on a given point with my M6 (or Mx) or some other manual-focus camera/lens. I then look for similarly-far points and look to see if they're in focus. I of course, also then just look for other places and guess, aim, and then correct, and make note of how far off I was.

Like Math, language, typing, walking, and indeed, exercise, you must do it often if you don't want to forget.

 

[Bryce]

Zone focusing is necessary for "all sharp" images. How else? I end up doing some form of zone focusing nearly all the time, often establishing the near and far points with the rangefinder.
As for zone focus only gear, well... you'll have to make yourself proficient.

 

[FrankS]

When I'm sitting around at home or at a cafe, I like to focus on a given point with my M6 (or Mx) or some other manual-focus camera/lens. I then look for similarly-far points and look to see if they're in focus. I of course, also then just look for other places and guess, aim, and then correct, and make note of how far off I was.

So Gabriel, when you're at a cafe doing this focusing exercise, do you notice people slowly getting up and finding tables farther away from you? 🙂