Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/08/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Tony Rowlett wrote (6-8-98): << I don't think I've got the focus of my V35 calibrated correctly. When I raise it to the top 16x height and calibrate according to the directions given in the manual, and then lower it to the bottom (minimum 3x), it falls slightly out of focus to the point where you just have to turn the focus ring slightly to get it back. This makes me want to focus manually for each shot. I think I'm probably doing something wrong.>> I have used a V35 for some years. I found exactly the same problem when I first bought it, second hand. So I took it to Leitz at Milton Keynes (UK) for them to check and adjust. I am sure that they did all that they could or should, but afterwards I could see little difference. The origin of the problem may be our perfectionist expectations. Thus, having got a needle sharp grain enlargement at maximum aperture at one distance, I naturally expected it to be the same at any position to which I moved the enlarger on its column. But it was not. So I gave up. But it has not in practice mattered at all. Whatever the magnifier may say, I still get superb enlargements, so even if this is because I rarely use the maximum aperture, I am a happy man. The V35 with Multigrade black and white head is as good as you will ever get. Incidentally, one perceptive Lugger pointed out quite rightly that the Leitz Focomat 1C is not a thing of beauty. But for those who want top quality, it is still outstanding optically. The only snag is the multigrade question - you have to use filters (or you did during the five years when I used one.) Inconvenient, but still marvellous (as good as the V35, I suggest) for black and white. Moving to the possibly less sublime, I got only one response (thank you!) to my request for views on the Leica compacts, but I was pleased to see some comments beginning to appear on the Minilux zoom. Any others would be welcome. As for the Minilux, the Leica literature describes it as a "rangefinder" camera, but this seems a terminological inexactitude, since apparently you select the distance which you think you want on a dial, which presumably instructs the AF mechanism to focus accordingly. Not quite what I understand by "rangefinder". But I could be wrong. Incidentally, a Leitz sales department spokesperson on the Leitz (Milton Keynes) phone line (very smooth, knowledgeable and helpful, I hasten to say) said that M. Cartier-Bresson now uses a Minilux. This must have been one of his most decisive moments. Regards. JH