I have one more question for the folks here.
So I did get another lens, a 90mm f4 because my existing one has pitting on the inner element that shows up esp at stopped down apertures.
Meanwhile I found that the infinity focus of my 50mm was catastrophically off, as in no infinity. This explains why all my images with that lens were focused far closer than the subject.
So I took a good guess on the infinity setting, took the lens apart, and got it back to what seems ok, or at least consistent with my other 90mm lens for sharpness.
I used a flat transparent plate with tape across the back of the camera with the shutter open to make sure (and recalibrate the rangefinder) and visually, infinity when wide open looks good, as well as closer distances.
The problem is for both lenses, the focal distance on the lens is off of the actual distance to the focal plane, aka, I can't measure my distance to subject and have that work out in a sharp image. Both lenses are identical in their offness and readings. Both say that, for example that I'm focusing on 50 feet when 25 is sharp.
Should I go through the trouble of taking them both apart and trying to get that number on the money, or for these Signet lenses, are they known to calibrate correctly to begin with, or do people just shrug at this point and make sure the rangefinder works for focus?
Thanks!
Edit: Re-reading, darnit. I probably should recalibrate shouldn't I. The lenses are the same because I made them that way. :P. I'm wary because I took the 50mm apart and sweated bullets getting it back together.