Re: [Leica] Fast M6 Focusing - Was Something Else!

[Five Senses Productions <fls@5senses.com>]

Even if you have a 25 foot zone of apparent focus, there is still only a
sliver
of that zone that is in perfect, super sharp focus, right?

At 03:05 PM 5/23/98 -0400, AJSymi wrote:
>In a message dated 98-05-23 02:11:37 EDT, you write:
>
><< How do you focus so quickly with an M6 on the street when a scene
> comes up out of the blue? >>
>
>I first pre-focus the camera using the focusing scale on the top ot the lens.
>For example, with the 35mmf2.0 asph lens, I set the aperture on f8 and set
the
>"30" foot mark at the f8 mark on the right side of the lens. Now everything
>from about 5 to 30 feet in is focus. I then take an average meter reading (if
>the light changes with cloud cover or something, I"ll do this more often) and
>set the shutter speed (1/500, thereabout).  Mind you, I'm using black and
>white film, with plenty of latitude.  So if the exposure isn't dead on
>perrrrfect, we correct that in the darkroom.
>
>Also, shooting at f8, f11 or f16, shows the background of the pic in
focus, or
>at least you can see what is in the foreground and background.  IMHO, I think
>this is important in street photography...showing the "man in his
>environment." 
>
>Now the fun begins.  The shots are merely a matter of composing and squeezing
>the trigger.  This, I beleive is faster than AF.  The only possible delay is
>between my brain and my finger :), which I'll admit, is slower on some days,
>depending on how much sleep I got or how much I had to drink the night before
>:)!!!  The only way I could improve my method would be to perhaps add the
>motor-winder, maybe - I would like to try the winder on a trial basis
before I
>bought one.
>
>Does anyone have ideas for fast street shooting??  Or tips on faster
focusing?
>
>Cheers,
>
>Arturo
> 


Francesco Sanfilippo,
Five Senses Productions
webmaster@5senses.com


http://www.5senses.com/