Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/08/21

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Subject: Re: [Leica] focusing (was zone f.)
From: Ernest Nitka <enitka@twcny.rr.com>
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2003 08:23:58 -0400

Chris - a very interesting question but not unlike those math questions 
about two trains heading towards each other at different speeds and the 
teacher wants to know where and when they will collide?  Fortunately I 
was always in the bathroom when my kids had this type of homework.  I 
look forward to some optics genius to help here.

ernie
On Thursday, August 21, 2003, at 07:01 AM, animal wrote:

> I think you,d have to focus on the father because of the flat field as 
>  you
> say.But i,m not sure.
> simon
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Christer Almqvist" <chris@almqvist.net>
> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
> Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2003 12:43 PM
> Subject: [Leica] focusing (was zone f.)
>
>
>> (resending this message)
>>
>> OK, I  know the answer to this question could be: 'go and do some
>> test shots', and also that the question may be slightly on the
>> theoretical side, but anyway, here we go:
>>
>> Imagine for a second that you want to make a picture of three people
>> standing on the other side of the street. The street is 4 meters
>> wide. One of the people, let us call him 'the father' stands directly
>> opposite you on the curb, four meters away from you because you also
>> stand on the curb. Also on the curb on the other side of the street
>> from you, but three meters to the left of the father is his son, and
>> similarly, three meters to his right is his daughter. Obviously the
>> children are five meters away from you.
>>
>> In this situation most people using an M will focus on the father
>> because he is so conveniently located  right there where the little
>> yellow window is, that we use for focusing. Others will focus on the
>> father because they have heard something about flat film plane and
>> they take that to mean that everything at a 'picture plane' paralell
>> to the film plane will be at the maximum sharpness if the distance
>> set equals the the minimum distance from the film plan to the picture
>> plane (i.e. measuring at 90° from camera to picture plane).
>>
>> Now imagine you want to take a picture  of just the children, but
>> with the children remaining in their original position. In this
>> situation, most people would focus on one of the children (and thus
>> set the distance to 5 meters) and then reframe the picture to include
>> both of them. With the flat film theory as I understand it, the
>> children would not appear as sharp on the negative as they would had
>> you not refocused, i.e.  they would have appeared sharper on the
>> negative had you not changed the distance setting from 4 to 5 meters.
>>
>> Please tell me what is right and wrong in the above. Please do not
>> tell me that it does not matter because it will be covered by depth
>> of field, because I know that is not true, at least not for large
>> lens openings.
>>
>> Rgds
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> Christer Almqvist
>> D 20255 Hamburg and / or
>> F 50590 Regnéville sur Mer
>>
>> please look at my NEW  b+w pictures at:
> http://www.almqvist.net/chris/dozen/
>>
>> old pictures still at:     http://www.almqvist.net/chris/new
>> --
>> To unsubscribe, see 
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>
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