Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/12/20

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Focusing difficulties [was Lens choice--sole lens for M6]
From: "Julian Koplen" <jkoplen@mindspring.com>
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 14:15:36 -0500

I assume as you do.  Of course, the next chance I get, I will pay special
attention to be sure I am not overlooking an opportunity to improve quality.

Maybe these folks who are so good at focusing on eyeballs were photographing
Carol Channing or Marty Feldman (while he was still with us).  And for you
real old-timers, I would say Eddie Cantor, but he may have antedated the
SLR.

Julian

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Lee, Ken <ken.lee@hbc.com>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Monday, December 20, 1999 10:04 AM
Subject: RE: [Leica] Focusing difficulties [was Lens choice--sole lens for
M6]


I am assuming that the "focus on the eyes / eyelashes" people have super
human vision or are talking about closeups. At a distance of 6 feet or more
indoors with my M6 or an slr with a 50mm lens on it, I can't see the eyes. I
tend to focus on the eyebrows if it is bright enough to see them, otherwise
the ears win.

Ken

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Julian Koplen [SMTP:jkoplen@mindspring.com]
> Sent: Friday, December 17, 1999 10:05 PM
> To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Focusing difficulties [was Lens choice--sole
> lens for M6]
>
> OK, I'll give it a try, though it certainly makes mush of some of my
> presuppositions.  As I try to make sense of the difference between what
> you
> say and what I thought was possible, may I assume you are talking about
> fairly close-range eyeball focusing, or are you really saying you can
> achieve this from 12 feet or so with a 50mm SLR (R8) lens indoors, using
> wide apertures?  No matter what
> the answer, I shall try it at various distances with my R before taking
> the
> coward's way out and falling back on an M. If my ideas were wrong,  it
> won't
> be the first time.
>
> I never was a graceful child..............Julian
>
> Regards......Julian
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Jeff Moore <jbm@oven.com>
> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
> Sent: Friday, December 17, 1999 6:30 PM
> Subject: [Leica] Focusing difficulties [was Lens choice--sole lens for M6]
>
>
> 1999-12-15-23:14:33 Julian Koplen:
> > I find I can focus on something with shine or
> > glimmer to it, but a child's face is more difficult to hit spot on.  I
> often
> > vary by a foot or two when I try to repeat focus on the same face from
> about
> > 12 feet.
>
> So... let me be really annoying and suggest that you give up focusing
> on faces and try something more Ted-like: focus on an eyeball within
> the face!  There's that nice sharp pupil-to-white transition you can
> concentrate on...
>
> If it seems impossible... practice some more.
>
> (And now I'll start the timer on a moratorium on showing the LUG more
> of my pictures until you've forgotten this note, lest you remember
> to look extra-hard at my photographic eyeballs...  :-) )
>
>