Focusing question Rolleiflex 2.8f

[rahul_deshpande1]

I just shot my first roll of TMax400 on a newly CLA'ed (Krimar)

Rolleiflex 2.8f. A focusing question - while shooting hand-held, is it

acceptable to focus with the magnifier and shoot while still looking

through it?

Or should I be checking the composition with the magnifier folded away

after focusing? I suspect when I pull my head up after focusing to

check composition, the focus distance may be changing.

How do you guys do it?

Help...

[robert_marvin]

Perfectly acceptable--FWIW, I've been doing thatb most of the time with my 2.8E for the last 40 some-odd years. Of course, with 61 year old eyes, my options are limited, but I frequently shot that way even as a teenager. One of the nice things about a WLF is that you have several viewing and focusing options.

[richard_oleson]

It depends on your shot: sometimes you're trying to get a very precise composition involving elements that are out toward the edges, in which case it's probably better to fold the magnifier back down to compose the shot. In those cases, things probably aren't moving around much. For shots with more flexibility away from the center, it's easier to shoot through the magnifier, and that helps you keep track of your focus too.

[paul_neuthaler]

Rahul, I recently got the Prism Finder for my 2.8F -- the difference is amazing: first of all, there is no need for any magnifier; secondly, everything is right side up and unreversed. I also use a Maxwell High-Lux screen -- all the difference in the world.

[h._p.]

At first I thought this was a daft question and then I realised that it's actually a very sensible one, it certainly made me think. The thing I've found about using the magnifier is that there's a tendency to concentrate on detail at the expense of the overall composition. It's especially noticeable where there's something that's interesting of itself in a bigger image. So it does make sense to fold down the magnifier, once you've established the point of focus, and view the image on the screen in its entirety.

[bernard_frank]

How much do you think the "focus distance may be changing" when you pull your head

up? From 0 to 3 inches? If that. You don't really think this will make much of a difference

with the 80 mm lens on your 2.8F, even wide opened, do you?

 

Don't worry about that.