A quick question to anyone using Leicas for street photography & grab shots -- who's using hyperfocus versus manual direct focus when taking quick, spontaneous shots? I've been shooting w/ the old hyperfocus technique for many years -- usually set the lens at f/11 or f/16, set infinity at whichever stop I'm using & quickly memorize the closest distance based on the scale. Then I essentially point & shoot, conscious of my focus limitations (which aren't much to speak of--usually I'm in focus between 8-10 feet & infinity).

Every now & then I come across comments that imply some good photographers are direct focusing, which seems a time drag & one more strike against a rapid point, frame & fire...

Comments?

-- Patrick C. Garner (pg@patrickgarner.com), August 08, 2001

Answers

I use hyper focus or zone focus all of the time in the correct situations. Yes it is essentially taking the sophisticated M camera into the realm of a P&S, but the optics are so much better. In crowd situations, I will set my lens to a distance that I anticipate will produce a good subject (depending on the environment and the lens), close down to a moderate f-stop to assure errors would be covered and shoot blind.

I mentioned this before, but something I learned from the book, "Leica M The advanced school of photography" from Gunter Osterloh is in regards to street shooting with the 35mm lens. For the coverage of a 35mm lens, the long side of the negative is equal to the distance from the subject. This little bit of information can change your percentage of blind shooting to a more productive effort. If you can eye ball a distance, and can mentally pivot it 90 degrees, you can be very accurate with your framing, without even lifting the camera to your eye. If your lens is set for 6 feet, your negative will cover 6 feet on the long side. Shoot vertical at this setting and you can cover a full shot of a man effortlessly... no guessing.

When the lens is zone focused and the photographer is knowledgeable about the field of view from the formula above, the M Leica is really a very fast camera in operation. of course if you have the time, using the rangefinder and visually tweaking the composition is desirable, but I love seeing the candid shot for the first time when the film gets back from the lab.

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), August 08, 2001.

Every time someone brings up the issue of how to use the Leica for quick candid street shooting, the answer in most cases that I've heard invariably involves fairly wide-angle lenses and, not hyperfocal distance, but rather zone focusing. Set the distance and aperture for a range of distance covering at least a few feet. Some people practice guesstimating distance and turning the lens to that distance while bringing the camera to the eye, then just touching-up the focus with the rangefinder when the subject is in view. My hat is really off to anyone who can shoot candid grab-shots with a fast 50 or longer, wide open on a Leica rangefinder. I've tried, I can't do it. Can't do it with anything but autofocus. That's why I stick to travel and landscapes.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), August 08, 2001.

I've often set my lens for hyper-focal distance and stopped down. In daylight and with 400 speed film I usually get away with f/16 or f/22 with a fast enough shutter speed.

If your lenses have focusing tabs, it's helpful to get a feel for the location of the tab at your favorite distances. With my 35mm, I find that about 75% of my street shots are with the focusing tab at about 6 o'clock. When I want to make sure something is tack sharp and I'm working quickly, I'll start at that position and make a very small adjustment, turning either to the right or left.

-- JM Woo (wooismyid@yahoo.com), August 08, 2001.

I have noticed that everything intersting happening in front of me is usually at 10 feet. So I practice taking shots from exactly 10 feet away. :-)

This works OK if you have a lot of depth of field. But for quick shots in low light, IMHO AF works better.

-- Pete Su (psu_13@yahoo.com), August 08, 2001.

Hey, for all you guys so enamored with MTF and worrying about the infinitessimal differences between two different Leica lenses, have you ever thought about what happens to the MTF when you use the hyperfocal shooting technique? When you use the hyperfocal technique, only one distance is exactly in focus. That means that you get that absolute best MTF for objects at that exact distance. All other distances are technically out of focus and the MTF is degraded but the images look great because you're still close enough to focus for a pleasing effect. So for all you lens collectors who argue the difference between a lux and a cron in what ever focal length your considering (yes I too collect lenses) forget it. Buy the Leica lenses because they're solid and will maintain their image for many years even with hard use.

-- mark (mramra@qwest.net), August 08, 2001.

Most of the time I focus on my subject. (For candid photography, I usually shoot at f4 or wider with a 50.) I'll have the focus set approximately before raising the camera to my eye, so it only takes a small adjustment to put the focus right where I want it. If the subject is close (less than 5 feet or so), I'll fine tune the focus by leaning forward or back. I probably look ridiculous bobbing around, but it works.

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), August 08, 2001.

Al, Good advice. I'd forgotten the basic rule about distance=width. Went back to the Leica M book last night to find your reference (it's on page 78 for those who are interested). Good general knowledge that's probably become intuitive for many of us, but good to refresh. And yes, my pages are falling out of the damn book as well! Regardless, it remains an excellent & amazingly objective reference (particularly regarding lens circa '85-'90)... Thanks.

-- patrick C. Garner (pg@patrickgarner.com), August 09, 2001.

Mike,

Your advice is really helpful. I never thought of bobbing my head. I too like shooting candids with the 50 (summicron.)

-- David Enzel (dhenzel@vei.net), August 09, 2001.