Re: Rangefinder M-Mount Shooters: How Do You Nail Focus With a Fast 75mm Lenses?
retrofocus wrote: ZdevilH1 wrote:
A lens tab is critical for me. I also focus in one direction, from infinity. My base lines are 3m and 5m, I know exactly where these are on my lens w/o looking at it and I also have become very good at reading distance to subject where I can can start to pre focus by feel.
If a lens tab is not available on the lens, I have added aftermarket ones. Not the best as factory (feel) but it has worked for me.
Likely reason why I never like tabs is due to the times when I started in photography in the mid 80s - used manual focus SLR lenses for a long time which only have a focus ring. I became very proficient to accurately focus with all kind of thicker and thinner focus rings and transferred this when starting to use M lenses. Half of my M lenses have a focus tab, the other ones don't. I got more used to the focus tab now, but I often in practice don't remember which position is for which kind of distance .
That is a big advatange you have there w/ SLR lenses, I only started using M lenses 4 years ago and while I have purchased other vintage manual focus glass in the likes of Minolta, and carl zeis (pancolar) that I use with my SL3-S, those lenses forces me to slow down even more because I dont know where I am in the focusing approach which is kinda the opposite of you :-)
I have committed to learning the range finder and lens scales to a point where I can quickly change my appreture to say f2.8 - F4 and set the distance scale on the lens to between 3m and 5m and I can cover that spread while shootong from the hip. Like all others have said, practice practice practive. My grounds were my kitchen where I would spend time understanding what 3m and 5m looks like when learning to close in more at 1.5m and so forth. Its been very therapeutic and very rewarding at the same time. Cheers!
Jun 06, 2025 at 10:25 AM
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