Hi all,
I recently bought my first brass lens, a beautiful 16" RR from a very worthy forum member.
My inexperience with old, shutter-less lenses has prompted me to post here, mostly because I find it difficult to focus this lens properly.
I am, admittedly, used to modern lenses, which seem to "snap" into focus, leaving little doubt about when one is properly focused.
The brassie has a more "open" approach, whereby focus seems to be proper across a much wider range of distances.
Consequently, I have maybe one shot out of every four that is close, but not quite perfectly, focused.
I hope that made sense.
Here are some photos taken a few days ago; at the time of exposure, I was sure that each shot was properly focused, but I was quite a ways off in three of the examples.
The first one is probably the best.
The photos might look reasonably ok to you in internet-land, but the negs, under scrutiny of a loupe, are soft, especially the last two.
All were done with quite a bit of camera extension, requiring 1 or two seconds of exposure using a lens cap for shutter.
My wife can hold still quite well, and the camera/tripod/ball head combo is rock-solid.
My question is: is this my doing, or is it my inexperience with a different way of working (i.e. lens cap shutter, 2-3s exposure)?
Or are lenses of this vintage (75-100 yrs) known for being difficult to focus?
Thanks in advance
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