Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/10/25
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Tina and Mark etc..... First, "vibration" shouldn't affect RF alignment. The inertia of a hard "whack" will, usually vertically, but not horizontally. If a slight bump affects the horizontal adjustment and therefore accuracy, then the RF assembly is probably not tightened down properly. I.E., the RF "moved" as a unit, not the adjustment. The vertical alignment, however, is held only by friction, though it is VERY tight. (in a properly assembled body, I guess)--if slight bumps are affecting your RF, it is NOT normal...my cat (twice) has dragged an M off my desk and through the room, banging it on the floor and furniture (don't ask).....only once was there SLIGHT mis-alignment (vertical).... Also, some folks are pickier than others. unless you use a 90 f2 wide open at 4' all the time (not really "leica" territory),it just don't matter!!! As Ted has stated, the photographic results will not suffer unless the RF is WAY off (horizontally). Slight vertical misalignment affects nothing, but some are REALLY annoyed by it (me). I am also annoyed that the only way to adjust it on post-M4-2 cameras is to remove the top or use the silly little "tool" (which I have stated was created AFTER the fact--I will NOT argue this point anymore, for the record) A good rule of thumb is that if the infinity is very close (the width of a street sign pole at a couple hundred yards) and if the vertical is TOLERABLE to you, don't bother messing with it...it ISN't gonna matter...get it adjusted the next time you drop it in a ditch, Tina, when they have it apart anyway! We just have to accept that Leica owners are concerned about more than the photographic result. The RF is capable of WAY more precision than necessary for 50 and shorter lenses, even noctilux, and fast wide open have too damn little DOF anyway... My wife NEVER notices vertical alignment on her cameras, I notice it but don't give a damn if she doesn't!...one of mine is VERY slightly out...(vertically--cat incident)--few non-geeks would EVER notice, and I haven't bothered to mess with it. Walt Quoting Nathan Wajsman <wajsman@webshuttle.ch>: > Tina, > > I am with Mark here. Maybe your camera bag is well padded, or perhaps > you have > simply been lucky. But if you use a Domke or an M-Classic bag or some > other > non-padded bag, then vibrations on a plane or in a car can be a real > issue. I > usually travel in my Domke and make sure that either the bag is on an > empty > seat in the airplance (easy to find these days...) or is on top of > something> Nathan > > Tina Manley wrote: > > > But, Mark, my cameras ride in airplanes all the time and on the floor > of > > jeeps crossing dry and wet rivers and mountains and on my shoulders > > bouncing along on donkeys and I've never had them re-aligned that I > know of > > - I wouldn't recognize it if they needed it. All of the screws > vibrated > > out of my Noctilux mount once in a jeep in Honduras, but the > rangefinders > > still seemed fine. How can you tell if they are misaligned? Should > I be > > getting them realigned after every trip? I usually just send in my > Leicas > > after I've dropped them in a river or something. > > > > Tina > > > -- > To unsubscribe, see > http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html