Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/04/02

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Forget about depth of field scales
From: "Tom Schofield" <tdschofield@email.msn.com>
Date: Sun, 2 Apr 2000 20:25:21 -0700

I too have been disappointed often with infinity sharpness at hyperfocal
settings.  Softness in trees on the horizon, and the edge where the mountain
tops meet sky, becomes soft.    I also suspect that with designs with
floating elements, when you set a shorter distance than infinity, you just
optimized the lens for that distance rather than infinity -- I suppose that
is why Hasselblad's first floating element designs had manual setting of the
floating element.

A while back, I picked up a used Leica Way from the 50's, which had an
interesting section on depth of field.  All the technical specs aside, for
improved sharpness go one stop more conservative when setting a hyperfocal
distance on the DOF scale, and for very high sharpness at infinity, go two
stops more conservative.  But, then again, those are 50's standards.

Tom Schofield

- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Mitch Alland" <malland@mac.com>
To: "leica-users" <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Sunday, April 02, 2000 8:52 PM
Subject: [Leica] Forget about depth of field scales


> >>>>> Timothy R. Kuntz
> >What about the 'focus about 1/3 of the distance into the
> >picture"?
>
> The Merklinger articles show convincingly that focusing at infinity will,
in most cases of "general landscapes" lead to much sharper pictures.
>
> --Mitch
>
>