Re: COPY: Re: [Leica] First week of shooting with my new R7 - HELP!

[Five Senses Productions <fls@home.com>]

There IS in fact, something sharp on ALMOST every slide, and 
it is usually a part of the model's body just inches out of the plane 
of focus I desired.  Maybe my diopter is out of alignment.  I followed
the directions to set it to my eyes (put on 100mm lens, focus near,
look at infinity against a bright surface, turn diopter wheel until the
center ring is crispest and black diamonds show up most defined).
I also notice that the shots at 5.6 were much nicer than my shots at
2.8.  Does this imply my focusing or handling techniques are poor?
Since I am not on a tripod, I hold the R7 with my right hand, and 
hold the lens with my left.  I focus first, set the metering, then
fine focus if necessary, then move my hand off the focusing ring down
to the base of the lens for support, then fire.  I think I notice a bit of 
movement when I move my hands after focusing, and this may be 
where (at 2.8) I lose my plane of focus.  I will have to try some tripod
shots and see if this takes care of the problems.  If I am forced to use
a tripod to get the best results from the R7/100 combo, I will be inclined
to use my M6 much more!  In fact, I got better results shooting models
with the 90/2.8 on the M6.......very sharp, perfectly focused images.....
all handheld!

Since I do not intend to drag a tripod, even my carbon fiber Gitzo, all over
Paris and Provence, I think I will be taking my M6 to France.  With Velvia
for the day, and E200 (nicely pushable to 800 or even 1000) and TMax for
the night, I think it will be a wonderful experience!

Francesco





>Francesco,
>
>You should be able to diagnose your own problem. If there is "something"
>sharp, "somewhere" on any of the slides, then your problem is your eye,
>diopter focus, or GG screen improperly installed. If nothing looks if
>focus, then suspect camera movement. Fuzzy camera movement looks
>"different" than improper focus.
>
>I have been using R camera since 1976. M cameras for less than a year. I
>RARELY EVER use my R camera hand held. It's like it is permanently attached
>to a tripod. I bought my M camera FOR THE SOLE REASON, I wanted a camera
>that I could hand hold. I photographed a grape harvest last year hand held,
>35-70, 24, and 15mm lenses. Two R7's. That's about the extent of my
>"professional" R7 hand holding over the past dozen years.
>
>You need to run some careful experiments. The M camera hand holds very very
>well. Remember, there's a lot of mechanical stuff going on inside the R
>camera. Stop down, mirror up, shutter. Cams, levers, solenoids. I think you
>should try a monopod.
>
>Jim
>
>
>At 10:57 PM 8/28/98 -0700, you wrote:
>>Since I got my new R7, this week I experimented shooting models
>>with it and the 100/2.8 only.  
>>
>>Any ideas as to why I got generally poor results?  I mean, under a 4x loupe,
>>almost every shot looked as though I had moved or not focused properly.
>>
>>Francesco 
>>
>