Leica M Rangefinder Focusing Tips and Tricks
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.ค. 2024
- Photographer and Leica expert David Farkas explains how rangefinder focusing works on the Leica M, then shares his top seven tips and tricks for mastering the technique. With a little practice, rangefinder focusing can become second nature, allowing you to focus on the other elements of your photography.
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Timestamps
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0:00 - Intro
0:22 - What is a rangefinder
1:15 - Tip 1: Keep things clean
2:15 - Tip 2: Use hyperfocal distance
4:33 - Tip 3: Try zone focusing
6:09 - Tip 4: Pick the right focal point
7:41 - Tip 5: Estimate distance
11:10 - Tip 6: Learn focus ring positions
13:52 - Tip 7: Use your body to fine tune focus
16:15 - Conclusion
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That is the most worthwhile quarter of an hour's tutorial video I have watched for a long time. All of it was useful but for me the back and forth movement to nail fine focus is going to make a big difference to the rangefinder experience for me. I must admit I have been struggling a bit but you have inspired me to go out again and use all of these techniques with more confidence. Great video, thank you for posting.
This was great, David! Hope this will become a regular series. It compliments the longer, deep dive discussions on the channel.
Thank you David. I enjoyed this very much. I have used a rangefinder for 38 years (CL, M5, M6...M11) and found it very reassuring that my experience as an amateur matches your professional insights. What I do as well with tip #7 with the M11, is that I take pictures while moving forward and backward like that - as a sort of insurance policy - one of them will definitely be perfect in focus.
Nice job! I'm definitely bookmarking this to help orient rangefinder-camera newcomers. (I know this is a Leica channel, but most of these tips will work just as well when using a Minolta CLE, a Bessa, or a Pixii…)
Here's my own mini-tip for subjects with repeating patterns, such as the wall example: try holding the camera at a 45-degree angle for focusing. Sometimes this makes it easier to pick up a “focusable” feature on the subject…
Thanks so much!
One of the best tutorial videos for the M cameras Very easy to understand and learn from
Wow, thanks!
1,000,000 TH-cam videos on this topic covered in one, clear video
Wow. So kind of you to say.
A nice summary indeed!
The other day, I realized that the minimum focus distance of 0.7 m is a great distance for taking selfie, so it's another way how to look at it :)
12:45 - Bambi's friends playing tag in the background. Found that rather amusing. And what a nice peek at how beautiful it is where you guys live.
Excellent video as always. As much as I love the long ones I think these short, to the point, single subject videos are the most useful. Let's see more!
Great feedback. Any topics you'd like us to cover in the future?
Say the distance to yourself in your head. That keeps the distance estimation separate from the tab position, which varies lens to lens and makes it easier to learn and remember. Best video on this subject I've ever seen. Way to go David.
Good tip and thanks for the feedback!
Great all-in-one lesson David! I've been using the M beginning with the M9 and now the M10, for me, I think the most valuable tip you've offered that was the greatest benefit to me was the rocking focus. Brilliant! I was guilty of trying to "fine-tune" the focus using the finger tab, but now I know better! I'll buy you a coffee the next time you're in Vietnam! Thank you David! As Josh said to you when reviewing my gear in the Show Us Your Kit episode last year, no, I do not have a farm! Hahaha! Cheers, Scott
Another fabulous RDF video with useful tips even veteran rangefinder fans can benefit from. Many thanks, David!
My pleasure
This instruction is EXACTLY what I have been searching for. Thank you, David.
So glad it was helpful.
Best tutorial I have seen. Being able to focus quickly is what keeps me from purchasing an M.
Glad it was helpful!
Excellent and I want to add one more item; when focussing, always start from one end - preferably from infinity. It avoids the back and forth of turning the ring.
Great tip!
Excellent tips for a more efficient and effective rangefinder experience..thanks!
Thanks David . You are a great pedagog. When the subject is moving, and to get the perfect focus is not so easy , I close a bit the aperture to get a little more depth of field and have a kind of automatic correction of the lack of perfect focusing with the range finder. It is "zone focusing" but in a particular situation.
Excellent tutorial on rangefinder focusing David. I use all of these but thanks for your reminder, I need to practice on the last one, rocking the body back and forth slightly for fine focusing with portraits. Cheers!
Really makes a big difference, especially for portraits!
Perfect timing. today I bought my m6. All thumbs up.
Nice 👍
Now that was a very useful video. Well done.
Great work as always!
many thanks, clear and concise tutorial
Great content David! As always, your knowledge and wisdom is something of legend to the Leica community. Would love to see more content like this of you, out and about doing what you do. Thank you!
Wow! Thanks.
Very nicely done, compiling many useful tips in one place. Practice practice practice.
Absolutely!
Nicely done, David. That's going to help a lot of rangefinder newbies. It's good to have some of the foundation knowledge in one place. Being able to break down techniques that we've taken for granted for decades into such easy-to-understand bites is a gift. Well done!
Thanks so much.
Great video David! Very informative and concise. More of this please!
Thanks, will do!
Great video and advice. Thanks so much.
Thank you so much for doing this! I usually fall back onto the Visoflex because I struggle with the rangefinder from time to time. Great content as always!
You can do it!
Great video thank you.
I’m also looking for tips on metering. Something that always trips me up with my M10-P.
Thanks for the suggestion. Will add it to the list.
Great video. Thanks for sharing
Very well made. Been shooting rangefinder cameras for more than 10 years, yet I still learned from this.
Awesome!
Great review, I'm in love with my leica m11 monochrom and sl3 can't be happier ❤
Awesome!
Thank you David that was wonderful !!!!
You're very welcome. Hope it helped.
Wonderful video David - watch you guys all the time
Appreciate it.
Nice job David. Keep the tutorials coming!
Thanks, will do!
Thanks for this great video David!
My pleasure
Don't forget to choose the correct diopter for the viewfinder. This can be a gamechanger
Great refresher of the basics. Well done.
Thanks!
These are great advice. I had to learn these tips the hard way through lots of trial and many errors over many decades. You did it in 17 minutes. Well done.
Very kind of you. I'm in the same boat. Been learning rangefinder photography for over 20 years and had to do it by trial and error. Hopefully, this will help those just discovering the Leica M to shortcut the process a little bit.
Nice job, David! Thank you.
You bet!
Excellent video for a new m owner
Hopefully, this will help people on their Leica M journey.
really impressive, thank you for the sharing!
My pleasure
world class video and communication, you are a master David
Wow. Thank you!
Thank you so much for all the tips. ❤❤❤
You are so welcome!
Thank you. Well put together.
Glad you liked it!
Thank you! I’m about 9 months in with the m10 and I’ve been working at it. The estimating the distance before focusing is what I think I was missing. Thank you! I really like rangefinder photography allot. I’m shooting the 35mm focal length 100% for probably at least 6 more month before adding a 50mm. I love the Leica glass. Appreciate you making this video.
So glad it was helpful. Stick with it and you'll be a amazed at how the rangefinder starts to become second nature. And kudos to you for really learning that 35 before moving on to other focal lengths. I did the exact same thing when I first started shooting all those years ago!
Thank you David this was very useful. Great video. Practice is the best training. 🤩
Absolutely!
These are fantastic thank you! Man I wish I didn’t have to figure all this out on my own years ago! This will surely be a huge benefit to anyone new to the rangefinder experience. Nice video
That's my hope. When I started out with Leica over 20 years ago, I also wish there was someone who could have just explained everything upfront, in a straightforward way. That has been a driving force in all of our content since we started RDF.
Loved the video, and the bump on the front of that FLE.
Hey, you gotta get out there and use the gear!
Excellent video!
Glad you liked it!
Well done!
Simply brillant, thank you very much
You're very welcome!
Great Video no doubt. Many thanks for the useful tips.
Glad it was helpful!
great video
Thanks!
Thanks David, that was very well done as usual. I wish I was able to find something like this to watch when I bought my first M camera.
Yeah, same here.😂
Very informative!
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks! Succinct, informative, and a good reminder of the best and easiest ways to maximize the benefits of. Rangefinder.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Such a great video. The arms-length=0.7m point is 🤯 and pre-focusing using estimated distance is a great tip. I put both of these tips to use today after watching the video and already feel faster at focusing. Thanks for the great content as always
Glad it was helpful!
Rocking back forward is when you hit the sweet spot. Clarity and common sense personified. A model of how it should be done.
Thanks so much!
Thanks
Very nice. Thank you
Most welcome
I shoot street with 28mm most of the time. The first thing I do every day I'm out is walk up to a street sign or other pole, estimate 6 feet, set and then hold to my eye..I shoot zone focus without holding the camera to my eye about 90% of the time, so i then adjust for the distance of the camera being a little closer to the subject.
That's what I'm talking about!
This video is so good it should be a charged lesson. Just got my Leica M and been practicing the last 8 hours and you've made my life so much easier. THANK YOU.
That's great!
thank you..
Great video. Thanks for all the tips. Does your comment of never shooting at F16 also apply to film cameras? I didn’t quite get that one.
You could probably get away with f/16 on film. On high resolution digital sensors, as the pixels get smaller and smaller, you can't stop down as much without suffering from diffraction.
with the range finder patch approaches to match, start to squeeze the shutter. repeat practice then you can synchronize the focusing and releasing shutter - this saves a split of second that is crucial taking moving subject.
Great tip!
A nice, comprehensive set of helpful hints. Maybe next time add a short view of the lens barrel with the distance scale explained? And how about giving distances in meters and feet for those of us who use the latter? Thanks for your post!
Yeah, during editing, I had wished that I covered the depth of field scale a little more. Hopefully, the visual explanation of hyperfocal and zone focusing still made sense. As to the feet/meters, I did use both several times, maybe not every time talking about distance.
David, thank you for this tutorial. Hope to see one on improving composition. Btw, is there a big jump in going from M10 to M11P? Would you sell your M9P plus M10 for M11P if u were thinking of upgrading to M11P?
Composition is big topic! Will give that some thought.
Yes, there is a big jump from the M10 to M11-P. I'd suggest you check out my full M11 review, where I run down every improvement from the M10 to the M11: rdf.to/M11-Review
As to your specific question, yes, I'd definitely make that trade. I know the M9-P has a cult following right now, but the M11-P is just a superior camera in every possible way, both to the M9-P and the M10. From the 15+ stops of dynamic range to the insane resolution and vastly better low light performance to the gorgeous EVF, live view metering and in-camera USB charging, the M11 is the way to go.
@@RedDotForum , thanks so much for your reply and keep up the great content. Look forward to your next Leica video..
Hi David can you do video on Hasselblad X2D and 38mm and 90mm
Any devices you can recommend to assist focusing under low-lighting situations?
The M viewfinder is extremely bright. Best tip is the first one I covered in the video. A clean viewfinder and clean rangefinder window makes all the difference especially in low light situations.
This was pretty good... i still think i'm doing it wrong though.. Can i use the same technique for my MP and Film?
Definitely. Rangefinder techniques are the same for film and digital.
Yes!
@@mgscheue Thank you very much! After spending what we all do for our Leicas... you'd think i'd know this already.
@@gewglesuxWe are all learning. Keeps it fun!
@@mgscheue Agreed.
I'll give you the number 1 tip for best way to manual focusing Leica M. If you are using Glasses, get a Leica Correction Lens. Go to a Leica store and try what works best for you. Or, you just get rid of the M and get a Q :) I never looked back after I switched to Q. Great image quality with the 28mm Summilux plus the Macro capability.
Definitely a good tip on the diopter. Just remember that the M viewfinder has a projected distance of 2m / 6ft so go to your optometrist and get a correction value for that distance. Then subtract the standard built-in -0.5 correction to determine which diopter you need. And hey, the Q is awesome, especially if you like the 28mm focal length. It can truly be a one camera solution.
@@RedDotForumWhenever I get a new spectacle prescription, I take that along to my Leica dealer and they ensure I have the correct correction lens. Thankfully I only have to buy a new one every 2-4 years.
I go to infinity automatically every time after taking a photo. So i only move the focus to the left.
No EVFs please in the M12.
You like the screen in the rear?
Leica has stated that an M camera isn't an M camera without the rangefinder! The option to add an EVF is always welcome though, especially if you want to use wider and longer focal lengths.
@@RedDotForum Visoflex3 is fine, but no built-in EVF. The engineering compromises to put it in would not be worth it. Make a smaller SL or a interchangeable-lens Q, but a built-in EVF doesn't make sense.
I needed to understand the difference between the OVF/EVF now i'm clear.
For estmating the middle distances I imagine a person laying down and call that six feet. Then I stack laying down persons.
Why compare depth of field of a 50mm to 21mm? How many people have a 21mm as a standard lens. A 28 or 35 would have been fine for illustration.
Even a 35mm is challenging for hyperfocal. A 28 would have been ideal for demonstrating zone focusing (as I mentioned in the video), but I don't have one in my regular kit.
I think a hybrid EVF is coming and will be welcome in an M12 - I have an M11 and M11 mono and do love it, but I think an EVE can help shave focus time and ensure greater accuracy... not sure what this will do to battery life!
Your explanation makes me think using a rangefinder would be easier to nail my focus. Unless I’m misunderstanding something.
That's the idea, since rangefinder focusing is more objective than subjective. It either matches up or it doesn't.
God bless you hahah
Make sure that Pat Kay watches this video
I didn’t knew that Leica didn’t really change this technique since the M ones after WW2. The Fuji solution to this problem is much more elegant, more intelligent… and more 2024….😮
This is great, but a ton of people will likely be using liveview if they have an m11 🤣
Nothing wrong with live view. I often use my M11 with the EVF. But even then, the same tips on rangefinder focus like estimating distance, focus tab position, pre-focusing, and leaning in/out also speed up focus using live view.
@@RedDotForum I agree, it's great practice!
Thank you, it was fun and interesting. You forgot about measuring distance in steps. Clients are simply crazy about this technology. You just need to go funny. Seriously speaking, tricks can only be done with wide-angle lenses. In all other cases, this is work with a patch.
While hyperfocal and zone focusing are really only useful on 28mm and wider, a lot of the other techniques are helpful for any focal length. In fact, I use these all time with my standard 35 and 50mm lenses.
@@RedDotForum thanks for answer. I think 35mm lenses are fairly easy to use. 50mm and above require exceptional precision.
Manual focus is so much better with a mirror less camera and so much more fun too 😂
Leica is mirrorless.
There's a much, much better way to focus using Leica lenses. As long as they don't contain moving elements, I just mount them on the TZM-02 on my Z8 and press the shutter button. Focus is done.