[UncleVanya]

He shoots with his phone. He lines things up level enough, but when he presses the shutter release he stabs it enough to tilt the photo towards that side.
I don’t think he’ll change, it’s just worth a smile and a headshake every time I see him post photos to his facebook page. It’s one of those “his purpose is to serve as an example for others” situations

Is he aware of the built in editing and the easy fix to level a shot after the fact? Lol.

On film cameras I’ve seen misaligned focusing screens but very rarely. The Precision seems to be high enough for film once calibrated even if the screens are swapped as long as they are OEM. Shims were available “Back in the day”, but I’m not sure who could fix Focus calibration today.

[ffking]

Hopefully not relevant, but I had an LX where the mirror became marginally misaligned giving a false sharp focus through the viewfinder. Definitely worth eliminating other possibilities by use of a tripod etc as suggested.

[owenhu]

Going from f/1.7 to f/1.4 does not make the focusing any easier, but going from f/1.7 to another aperture, with a bigger number, that gives more DOF, will increase the chance of subject in-focus. (f/1.7 ---> f1.4 is the wrong direction, f/1,7 ---> f/5.6 is better)

It just happens that minutes ago I was playing with an 85mm f/1.2 manual focus lens and nailing focus is much harder when the depth-of-field (DOF) is very thin. When hand-holding I probably move very slightly when pressing the shutter, possibly missing the spot I was in, at the time when I thought that the focus distance was right. Using a tripod and a shutter release cable eliminates the chance of such small position changes but hand-holding requires a good camera-holding technique, similar to how a sharpshooter does. See Clacker's tips for handholding and this PentaxForums article.

Another resource: build a DIY lens calibration tool and see the actual depth of field on the slanted ruler, at different apertures, to get an idea of how thin the DOF is.

Thank you! Very helpful. Regarding going from 1.7 to 1.4, I was more thinking of the viewfinder being in a shallower DOF hence it looking more "obvious" whether u nailed focus or not. But I do understand that a shorter focal length makes it more forgiving.

---------- Post added 01-01-23 at 08:22 PM ----------

The split prism is a godsend for manual focus, I really missed that when I went digitial - 100% use that to help focus
If your eyeglass prescription is off, yes of course fix that (and set the diopter back to zero)
Aside from that look at the photos, if the focus is off then usually you will see that **something** is in focus. If nothing is sharp, then look at camera movement. Try some test shots from a tripod or with the camera body on a table to verify if you have a focus issue or a stability issue

At that point, if your eyes are “fixed” and the camera is bolted down, if you still are out of focus it might be the camera, but with a manual / film camera that’s (almost) not a thing - if it’s focused in the viewfinder it should be sharp on the film, as long as the film plane is lined up. If that’s off though you’ve likely got bent components in the camera back (very unlikely but I’m sure it happens), you might be cheaper off to find a new camera body, or a parts body to swap out the back.

---------- Post added 01-01-23 at 07:42 AM ----------


He shoots with his phone. He lines things up level enough, but when he presses the shutter release he stabs it enough to tilt the photo towards that side.
I don’t think he’ll change, it’s just worth a smile and a headshake every time I see him post photos to his facebook page. It’s one of those “his purpose is to serve as an example for others” situations

Good plan, thanks!

[Just1MoreDave]

What you see in the viewfinder depends on the focus screen and the way it was ground. A camera with autofocus is always a little compromised here because some light is diverted to the AF sensors, and the screens try to make up for that light loss. For those cameras with factory screens, you won't see any difference in viewfinder brightness or depth of field between an f1.7 lens and an f1.4.

For a manual focus film camera, you might see a difference, still depending on the focus screen. If you look at the available focus screens for the MX or LX cameras, the options are meant to overcome limitations in focus screen design.

So how can you even focus wide open if the viewfinder won't show the true wide open DOF? You have to see the distance that is in focus, then hit the middle of that. What I have found personally is that accurate focus is easier with a lens that is sharp wide open. That makes the sharp region pop, and estimating the center easier. A lens that's kind of soft wide open will have a soft viewfinder image. I think you might be better off with an M50/1.7 than an M50/1.4 because of that theory.