Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/08/31

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Subject: [Leica] Clarification of DOF pre-exposure visualization, magnifiers and pass the cake
From: "Birkey, Duane" <dbirkey@hcjb.org.ec>
Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 12:11:31 -0500

One of the things I don't like about using Leica M for portraits or many
other subjects for that matter is I never know how out of focus the
background is going to be.

Realize that I do a lot of portraits and I'm using the the DOF preview on my
slrs to see whether everybody in a family looks sharp yet confirm how soft
the background is going to be....   I'm often using less than perfect
outdoor backgrounds or shooting pictures in urban settings.  It has been my
experience that no amount of experience is going to tell me exactly how out
of focus it's going to look using DOF scales....    

So I use DOF preview every time I take a portrait outdoors.   I'm only
stopping down to f/4 or f5.6 normally anyhow... so it is not that dark.

As far as not being able to use a "loupe" to focus on your SLR. 

Actually you can...... but it is generally referred to as a magnifier and
virtually every if not all manufactures make them for macro work and other
critical appplications..  Leica's angle finder for the R cameras also has a
1 or  2x magnification adjustment.

I have a flip up magnifier for my EOS that I use occasionally for long
telefoto shots on a tripod where focus is extremely critical.  

So..... pass the cake.....You might want to take your foot out first
though...  : )

Duane Birkey
HCJB World Radio
Quito Ecuador
Duane's Photographs of Ecuador
http://duane_birkey.tripod.com

Replies: Reply from Jesse Hellman <palio@miata.net> (Re: [Leica] Clarification of DOF pre-exposure visualization, magnifiers and pass the cake)