Subject Sharp in View Finder, But Out of Focus on Negatives

[bjorn_chong]

<p><img src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1585/25925124585_12dde2eb9b_z.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>I'm having problem with focusing on my 503cxi. The camera was is flat on the marble floor and at f2.8. The subject appear sharp in the viewfinder, however it went totally out of focus on the negative as seen above. This happened also at f4 and kinda ruined my entire roll. There was minimal movement of the camera or the subject. <br>

Could this be a lens and/or body problem? Can I still trust my viewfinder?</p>

 

[iangillett]

<p>How have you scanned the image? The sides look sharp but it is the centre which is soft. Maybe it is the way your film has been scanned? Another thing to check would be the distance indicated on the lens when focussed; if this matches up with the actual distance then it may be your focussing screen is slightly out of alignment.</p>

[bjorn_chong]

Yeah the sides are sharp. Is there a way to

sharpen it using the scanner? Am using an Epson

v800. Is the center suppose to be soft?

[michael_darnton2]

<p>The sides look farther away, which would indicate back-focusing. This is common with SLRs as they get old/wear. Will your camera focus to infinity? If not, it needs to be repaired. The problem is in the body, not the lens.</p>

[bjorn_chong]

<p>Hi Michael,<br>

Thanks for your insight. Now that you mentioned about back-focusing, i noticed that 80% of my shots are all back-focused. I guess that requires some serious servicing? </p>

[bjorn_chong]

<p>Another question that I have is:<br>

This room is suppose to be entirely white. Is there a reason as to why there is some vignetting at the corners? Is it part of film photography? Is there anyway to ensure the background is white, without losing the details? </p>

[SCL]

<p>If the background is indeed white, and your negatives (not the scan) confirm something else,your exposure may be off. How did you meter, and did you compensate your exposure (if you metered off the white) by adding 1-2 stops of exposure? If your negatives are fine, then you need to adjust your white point in the scan or post processing software.</p>

[john_wiegerink1]

<p>I'd say you have a mirror problem or focusing screen problem. Is this a new camera to you?</p>

[bjorn_chong]

<p>Stephen: Point noted with thanks. I will try adjusting the white point. And I did not compensate the exposure.<br>

John: I just recently started playing with medium format cameras. This camera is a second hand piece I bought from a local guy.</p>

[pavel_l.]

<p>Vignetting that you see is normal for all MF lenses especially fully open. Take a look on "Relative illuminance" graph (http://www.hasselbladhistorical.eu/pdf/lds/CF80.pdf). You need to step down diaphragm to avoid this.</p>

 

[bjorn_chong]

<p>Thanks for the link. It was indeed very helpful.</p>

[bjorn_chong]

I just reviewed my shots at f11. And they seemed

all in focus (f11 does have a very large depth of

field). I'm only having problem at lower f stop

values.

 

So that's a focusing issue as well?

[peter_langfelder]

<p>First, get a loupe and small light pad and examine the <strong>negatives</strong> directly. Are they sharp (in which case you have problem with the scanner film holder not holding the film flat while scanning), or blurry? If the negatives are blurry, my guess is that the film is not flat in the film back, which would explain why the middle is blurry but the edges are sharp. Make sure the film is loaded properly, all rollers are in place and keep the film flat in the film gate. Search the net for how the film should loop over the rollers. If this does not solve the problem, shoot some test exposures against a flat wall, make sure the image is sharp in the viewfinder across the screen, and see what comes out on the negative. Hope this helps and enjoy the camera!</p>

[bjorn_chong]

<p>Hi Peter<br>

Thanks for the very comprehensive reply. Would like to clarify that the two side pillars are further back as compared to the subject. I will try to look at the negatives again to see what comes up.<br>

Just to help with the discussion, here is a shot at f11 (Pardon the light leak at the right corner - my fault). Relatively in focus<br>

<img src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1578/25854130532_343679f47a_z.jpg" alt="" /> <br>

Having said that, does that eliminate problems with film back and scanning? Can it be conclusive that the problem is with the camera? </p>

[patrik_ros_n]

<p>Hi Bjorn! <br /><br />I'm a bit late into this thread, but I recently got my second Hasselblad together with 110/2.0 and 50/2.8 lenses and I'm doing alot of testing atm when it comes to focusing.<br /><br />Regarding your focusing issues as other has said, you should do some simple tests. Put the camera on a tripod, against a flat wall with some good patterns, like a brick wall. Use a wire shutter, pre-fold the mirror, and expose both F2.8 as well as 5.6, 8. See what you get. You need to think about that F2.8 on Middle Format is a very large aperture opening, I would say close to 1.4 in the DSLR world. My 110/2.0 I'll compare to the Leica Noctilux (f0.95) when it comes to nailing the focusing. And you don't have any fancy autofocusing features to trust. So it could just be a matter of that you don't really nail it when you shoot wide open.<br>

I've had rolls where I've been very careful when focusing, and when developing some is bang on target while others are out of focus. (attaching an example)<br>

<br />So I would recommend some more testing! When you've shot your wall I would recommend to shoot along a fence or similar, to see if your focusing point is where you aim. <br /><br /><br /></p><div></div>

[lee_j1]

<p>The single best investment for this problem is a focus screen with a split prism and then using the magnifier in the waist level finder. Also double check that you don't have a diopter adjustment magnifier as i have seen many cameras on eBay where this is included in the pictures but not listed. Ditto if you're shooting with a 45 or 90 degree prism - check they too don't have +/- lenses.</p>

<p>Hasselblad focus screens on the V system unequivocally suck, nothing really snaps into focus, the only ones where you can be sure things are in focus are those with a split prism; and then if you focus + recompose (especially with the 110/2) then you need to compensate. If you get a split prism screen and you still find things out of focus shooting wide/near wide open then your camera needs a service and calibration.</p>