igor_osatuke Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Inspired by Vuc's images by Jupiter I decided to try a Zorky with it 3.5 Industar 50mm collapsible lens. I picked up this camera for 20 bucks in Moscow this summer. Bought it as a decoration, then decided to take it for a walk to see if it would stun me with super crisp images. Surpize, they are all fuzzy. Looks like the focus is way off. The camera went back to its decorative duties. Here are a couple of fuzzy picks I'dlike to share with the world just for the heck of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igor_osatuke Posted November 21, 2002 Author Share Posted November 21, 2002 And one more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igor_osatuke Posted November 21, 2002 Author Share Posted November 21, 2002 Hmm, something did not work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igor_osatuke Posted November 21, 2002 Author Share Posted November 21, 2002 Here is one the second one. I guess Photoshop 7 does not convert the file exptention even whe saved as jpeg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_bender Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Do you expect us to pronounce general opinion on the camera based on hopeless beginner pics of someone so fumbly with things he could not even post properly?? The camera in god knows what condition (50 years old, or so?) Why not to learn to photograph and process first? At least on the average level? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igor_osatuke Posted November 21, 2002 Author Share Posted November 21, 2002 Mike, I can't but appreciate your impeccable niceness. Back to photography: would you mind sharing your secret method of improving image sharpness of slide film through processing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
film rules Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 The rangefinder is probably off, not the lens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip_williams Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Igor, Regardless of Mr. Bender's mean-spirited remarks, I think that the lens produced an OK picture of the single leaf, except for the focus. We welcome your input, no matter how much of neophyte you are. The ability to post a picture isn't an indication of your competence as a photographer, and neither is one image. Try this: Set the camera on a tripod and focus on one object at say 2 meters or 10 feet, depending on what distance scale is on the lens. Compare the actual distance to the object with what it reads on the lens. If those two are equal and the picture is still in poor focus, then the lens is bad. If the measured distance and the lens distance read-out are different, then the RF is out of whack. Skip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Mr. Bender, I hate to disagree with you, but IMHO these pictures are every bit as good as 90% of the other photographs posted on this forum. In fact, make that 99%! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam_portera Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 I agree with bill about the photos.. Mr Bender should perhaps keeps his infantile comments to himself. Igor you may want to try to focus on a far away object such as cloud to see if the camera will focus at infinity. this solved my problem with my Fed 5B and Jupiter 8. FWIW the Jupiter 8 really is a great bargain. I have prints from it that are every bit as good as my Nikon 50 1.8. If your infinity focus is off its very easy to re-align Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igor_osatuke Posted November 21, 2002 Author Share Posted November 21, 2002 Ben, Skip, Bill, Samuel, Gentlemen, thanks for your comments. As for Mr. Bender's remakrs: the tone of his comments is common for a Russian with a hangover (I am Russian myself so it is not my first, or my last encounter with his type). I am not a neophyte in photography either - this is all I do for a living, however, rangefinders are my most recent passion. As far as posting messages: I have switshed to Photoshop 7 from 6 a month ago. I noticed that it does not convert files to jpeg if asked to do so, it compresses them but keeps the .tif extention. So I used the Save for Web feature the second time, and it worked. Now, you gave me an idea: is it possible to adjust the rangefinder DIY? If so your advice or references will be greatly appreciated. This Zorky is a neat camera, and I would like to use it more photographically, rather than as a paperweight, but would rather not spend any money to have it overhauled. Cheers, Igor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_schauss1 Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Igor, FWIW, there is a Russian camera group on www.beststuff.com/forums. You can learn a good bit about these cameras from them. If your only problem is the range finder, adjustment is quite easy.Remove the screw on the silver part of the camera, front side,above and a bit to the left of the center of the lens. Underneath,you will find a small screw which adjusts the range finder. Setthe lens to infinity and point the camera at a distant object, the moon works well for me. Turn the adjustment screw until the two images in the range finder converge. As a sanity check, focus the camera on an object 2 meters away and check that the pointer on the lens scale is at 2 meters. If you can't get the range finder and the lens scale to agree at both 2 meters and infinity, you will have to adjust the little foot which rides up against the cam on the lens. Folks on the Russian cameras list can help you with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsbc Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Igor: Photos are fuzzy but as you found out, it could be a matter with the camera... Anyway, in your second photo, there are 4 very thin black horizontal lines - not sure whether those are very thin wires (which would be in sharp focus!!) or more likely scratch marks coming from your camera. So if you are taking your camera apart please take a look. At least the shutter speed of your camera is reasonable! Johnson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyboy499 Posted November 22, 2002 Share Posted November 22, 2002 Igor I got all four of your picture postings with no problem. Looks to me like fine horizontal lines behind tree shadow are overlapping siding edges on the building catching the shadows and maybe your focus is not so bad afterall. Nice pics. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igor_osatuke Posted November 22, 2002 Author Share Posted November 22, 2002 Ladies and Gentlemen, (Well, "ladies" was wishful thinking) I went throught the roll of film I shot that morning once again and discovered that my focus was not as bad as I initially thought. Obviously I was too hard criticizing the camera. While I have not had a chance to check the accuracy of the rangefinder, it seems that lens itself is on the soft side, but not bad for its 48 years. The focus seems to be a bit behind the object. I made 6x9 inkjet prints, and they show it. But a bit of unsharp mask improves the overall impression. I will check the alignment of the rangefinder this weekend, following your advice. Other than that it is a very pleasant camera, and a useable toy at the same time. Thanks a lot for all your advice and comments. Here are two more scans from that film. While not super contrasty, they are not much worse than those that come out of my Kodak dcs 620 camera. Thanks for your very helpful advice and comments. Cheers.<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igor_osatuke Posted November 22, 2002 Author Share Posted November 22, 2002 The last one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igor_osatuke Posted November 22, 2002 Author Share Posted November 22, 2002 Error? I'll try again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pshinkaw Posted November 22, 2002 Share Posted November 22, 2002 Igor: What did you do to the last picture? It shows a marked improvement over the first. Did you do anything to the camera? These cameras are relatively easy to adjust, and there are many adjustments that may need to be done. There are 2 rangefinder calibration adjustments and one back-focus/lens register depth adjustment. As long as your shutter and rangefinder don't have any serious defects, you have the beginnings of a pretty good camera. -Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_bender Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 Over the last few months I bought 8 rangefinders (with 10 lenses; I keep and use all of them), and so checking the rangefinder adjustment is a kind of routing test one is supposed to do upon getting the camera/lens. What I usually do is photograph a ruler with a plastic thingy from a bread bad to the middle of it. In a room with semi-closed blinds - to be able to use the widest aperture at 1/125 or so - I carefully focus on the plastic bit. One immediately sees the rangefinder misalignment. The second test - photographing something at infinity. Third test - after making sure I can focus properly - is photographing a double newspaper page at several apertures starting from the widest. Shows how contrast and resolution improves with aperture and whether it is sufficient on the first place. No one needs to teach such techniques - it's really common sense. My offhanded dismissal of the poster's whine is for the reason that he did not even think of photographing a ruler before hanging God knows how obtained bad quality images, expecting us to blame the lens or the camera - but not himself for unwillingness to think for a moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_bender Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 Hell, routine, bread bag. Sorry Also, the third test shows how resolution/contrast change from the centre to the edges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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