Zone focus on 35mm skopar 2.5

[ped]

Hi guys

I'n getting my head around zone focusing and think I've got it.

Can anyone with the above lens confirm these settings for me?

- at F11, focused to infinity, everything from approx 3.5m to infinity is in focus

- as above but at f22, everything from approx 1.7m to infinity is on focus

- prefocused to 1m, at f11, everything from 0.8m to approx 1.4m is in focus

- prefocused to 1.2m, at f8, everything from 1m to approx 1.6m is in focus

Am I doing this right??

Cheers!

 

[Bob Michaels]

There are a number of free downloadable excellent DOF calculators based on MS Excel. I suggest using a search engine to find some and see which is most comfortable for you to use. A few minutes playing around with different factors will prove to be a great education for you.

 

[thegman]

Check this out, I find it very helpful:

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

Cheers

Garry

 

[BLKRCAT]

use the scales on the side of the lens. I follow them religiously.

 

[Nomad Z]

Sounds like you're using the scale correctly (your numbers match my Skopar). Another way to do it is to set the infinity mark to the aperture number on one side of the scale, and read off the closest focus distance at the same aperture number on the other side of the scale. This sets the lens to the hyperfocal distance for the given aperture.

 

[pjmacd]

If you have an iPhone, there is an app called Simple DoF which I find handy to have with me when I'm shooting.

 

[ped]

Great, OK thanks guys. That confirms my suspicions.

I have downloaded the iPhone app for calculating the hyperfocal distance, looks useful..

 

[furbs]

In my experience, setting the hyperfocal means simply putting the infinity mark at the far end of the (highly useful) DOF scale. No need for an app, those are for lenses without good DOF scales 🙂

I zone focus frequently, usually shooting at f/8 with 4 and 7 feet at opposite ends of the DOF scale. Adjusting focus range by feel with the tab becomes second nature with a little practice. Like all other lenses, the Color Skopar is limited by diffraction at f/11 and up, though you can always shoot at those apertures if you need them.

 

[ped]

In my experience, setting the hyperfocal means simply putting the infinity mark at the far end of the (highly useful) DOF scale. No need for an app, those are for lenses without good DOF scales 🙂

I zone focus frequently, usually shooting at f/8 with 4 and 7 feet at opposite ends of the DOF scale. Adjusting focus range by feel with the tab becomes second nature with a little practice. Like all other lenses, the Color Skopar is limited by diffraction at f/11 and up, though you can always shoot at those apertures if you need them.

Thanks for that. So if I put infinity at f11, everything from about 6ft is in focus to infinity, right?

Sorry to keep asking, I'm nearly there getting my head around this!

 

[furbs]

Thanks for that. So if I put infinity at f11, everything from about 6ft is in focus to infinity, right?

Sorry to keep asking, I'm nearly there getting my head around this!

Yep, that matches my Color Skopar. Hyperfocal sounds confusing on paper until you try it on a lens, after that it's a piece of cake.

 

[ped]

Great, I think that's done it - maybe now I can sleep!

Cheers

 

[Takkun]

The whole hyperfocal thing is a bit intimidating at first with a rangefinder, but if you stick to the DOF scales, you should be good.

An old professor of mine used to rig up some meter sticks to demonstrate the method, and jokes that he'll patent 'devices used for minimizing circles of confusion at hyperfocal distance focusing' someday for the sake of showing off the department.

 

[Moogie77]

Hi folks,

I would like to combine this thread with a similar one about the focusing tab of the different versions of this lens.

By your experience, for quick zone focusing for street photography, which focus tab is easier to operate? The LTM with the knob or M version with the concave tab?

Thanks everybody, Miguel

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

If you want to be doubly certain, read off the scale using f/8 and use the thing at f/11...

Regards, David

 

[tvdpid]

Since I've read "The ins and outs of focus" by Harold M. Merklinger, I never use any DOF app or DOF scale on lenses anymore. You can easily find a pdf version on the web.
I can highly recommend to read this book, where you will learn very different things than circles of confusion ... which give disappointing results.
You will also learn why using f/X with X>13 will never give really sharp images ...
And you will understand why David Hughes gives the advice to read off the scale using f/8 and use the thing at f/11 ...
So ... good luck!

 

[michaelwj]

Hi guys

I'n getting my head around zone focusing and think I've got it.

Can anyone with the above lens confirm these settings for me?

- at F11, focused to infinity, everything from approx 3.5m to infinity is in focus

- as above but at f22, everything from approx 1.7m to infinity is on focus

- prefocused to 1m, at f11, everything from 0.8m to approx 1.4m is in focus

- prefocused to 1.2m, at f8, everything from 1m to approx 1.6m is in focus

Am I doing this right??

Cheers!

I think you've got the basics, but take it one step further by feel;

I tend to get to know where 0.7m, 2m, and 5m is on the focus tab (0.7m and 5m are about equal movement either side of straight down). At f/8 it's not often I need any more accuracy than that and I can quickly grab anything. I find it easier to judge distance as 0.7m is arms length; 2m is where my head would hit if I fell; and 5m at f/8 covers so much ground I use it for "far but not infinity". For a long way away I can jam it to infinity.

So this question was from 2013. Oh well.

For the new question that dug up the thread, concave is my preference. I find it easier to move either way without moving my finger to the other side of the know.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Hi folks,

I would like to combine this thread with a similar one about the focusing tab of the different versions of this lens.

By your experience, for quick zone focusing for street photography, which focus tab is easier to operate? The LTM with the knob or M version with the concave tab?

Thanks everybody, Miguel

It is more like pimple, not a classic knob, IMO. 🙂

From my experience knob is not as good as concave, but superior to nothing for position focusing. Left - close, middle - middle, right - far.
Conclave becomes superior to knob if wearing gloves.

Cheers, Ko.

 

[Moogie77]

Thanks Michael and KO, so I will probably go for the concave tab of the M version.
Unfortunately the LTM "pimple" version is already on the way but after I discovered the concave tab on the newer version I already assumed that this would be more easy to quickly focus. Luckily I think the version would be easy to see again for the same price and get the new one instead.

Nice weekend, Miguel

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Miguel, it is not as easy as you think.
M-mount version is too small for quick street, in terms of how close aperture ring and how loose it is. I didn't have it ruined my precious moments 🙂, but it was necessary to look after it constantly and it was annoying.
LTM with tab might be better on this and LTM tabbed version hood is also better, IMO.
And M-mount version needs hood for sure.

 

[presspass]

You can also look in some of the early books about miniature - read 35mm and 120 sizes - cameras. At least one of them outlines what the author calls a snapshot system which uses two hyperfocal distances, one for closer shots and the other for more distant ones. As I recall, he used F8 and, with a 35 mm lens on a 35mm camera, claimed the distance setting would work for both. Learning to use the tab by feel works well and is a technique promoted by Mr. Eastland in his books on Leica rangefinders. You learn to go by feel and set the distance automatically. I've learned to do this with 35 and 50mm lenses and it works, at least on film cameras. Any system you learn will require practice and then judging the results. Have fun.