Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/12/17

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: Re: [Leica] Focusing difficulties
From: Mark Rabiner <mrabiner@concentric.net>
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 16:16:19 -0800

Jeff Moore wrote:
> 
> 1999-12-15-23:14:33 Julian Koplen:
> > I find I can focus on something with shine or
> > glimmer to it, but a child's face is more difficult to hit spot on.  I often
> > vary by a foot or two when I try to repeat focus on the same face from about
> > 12 feet.
> 
> So... let me be really annoying and suggest that you give up focusing
> on faces and try something more Ted-like: focus on an eyeball within
> the face!  There's that nice sharp pupil-to-white transition you can
> concentrate on...
> 
> If it seems impossible... practice some more.

I think lots of people go for eyelashes or eyebrows in that order. They are the
easiest and most needful of being sharp in the first place. When I check
sharpness with a loupe I check for individual eyelash hairs instead of a fuzzy
line of all of them. The forest for the trees you might say except the other way
around. That is what I think I am focusing on. In a full length shot when I get
individual eyelash hairs I think I am doing pretty well. I expect than from
Leica and get it. On a 105 2.5 Nikkor I get it. And I get it with Delta 400 in
Xtol but can just about get it from Tri X in Xtol or Rodinol. (Full length
shot). With slower films I want to see the spit ends on the ends of the
eyelashes (exaggeration!).
Mark Rabiner