Re: [Leica] Focusing the M6

[ksherman <ksherman@cottenmusic.com>]

simon,
that's a beautiful image.  thanks for sharing it!
kim

At 11:21 AM 10/25/00 +0100, you wrote:
>Jesse
>
>I took the attached picture with a 90mm AA at f/2 on an M6 at the closest
>focussing range possible .  I focussed on the child eye nearest the camera,
>recomposed and took the picture.
>
>Even at the closest focussing distance and the widest aperture the depth of
>field is enough to keep the eye in focus when the cameras is moved to
>recompose with the child at the edge of the image area.
>
>http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo.tcl?photo_id=81039
>
>Simon
>
>Jesse Hellman wrote
>
> > What is the best way to solve the following: you are shooting close-up,
> > say at two feet, at F/2 or wider. The closer eye of your subject is
> > off-center. There is nothing dead-center on which to focus. So you focus
> > on the eye and then swing the camera back to frame. Now, obviously, the
> > plane that passes at a right angle through the eye intersects the lens
> > axis at a distance closer to the film plane than the distance from the
> > film plane to the eye. The farther the eye is towards the edge of the
> > film the greater this becomes. With a reflex you can avoid this problem
> > by focusing on the groundglass.
> >
> > At wide f-stops the depth of field is very small at close distances.
> > What is the best way to handle this? A lens with a curved field might do
> > better in this regard than one with a flat field. So as the lenses get
> > better, this effect has become greater. My own solution is, if it is
> > possible, to try to set up something (like the subject's hand) where I
> > think the center would be. But with quick action and more candid shots
> > that simply is not possible. Or, you could focus a bit closer than
> > indicated, but that seems like guessing.
> >
> > What do you do? I have never seen this issue discussed.
> >
> > Jesse
> >
> >