Focusing my MX :(

ChrisR

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This is a rant really. My eyesight is deteriorating slowly; I still don't need glasses for daytime and can read stuff in good light, but I do need glasses for reading in the evening and for night driving. Just recently however, I've noticed difficulty focusing my Pentax ME SLR. It's got a 35-70 2.8-3.5 lens on it, and the viewfinder is reasonably bright, but I've been racking back and forth trying to decide where the sharpest point of focus is, and eventually having to just press the shutter anyway. I think I'm noticing this as I've spent the past few weeks shooting with the Pentax LX (normally loaded with colour film), and that has a dioptre adjustment on the VF, but the MX doesn't.

I'm thinking this maybe means another LX, or going for an AF SLR (shudder), or perhaps another go at a rangefinder. Or throw my hands up and go digeridoo... Help, save me from myself... :runaway::coat:
 
I have the same problem in general, so my sympathies. On my ME I tend to rely on the split focus screen thing, which seems to work OK in most circumstances.
 
Presumably the MX doesn't have the option to fit an eyecup with a correction lens? The other option that occurs to me is to use spectacles on a cord for viewing andfocusing, but letting them drop otherwise. I use this metnod with very strong reading glasses to use my view camera screen from a few inches distance.
 
Presumably the MX doesn't have the option to fit an eyecup with a correction lens? The other option that occurs to me is to use spectacles on a cord for viewing andfocusing, but letting them drop otherwise. I use this metnod with very strong reading glasses to use my view camera screen from a few inches distance.

Or, even better, a monocle :D
 
Funny you should say that Chris, since I was just looking up an ME-F that was on my local Gumtree and it appears to have a form of focus confirmation according to the link? http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Pentax_ME-F The one up here is priced at £100 ono with 2 lenses, but I don't know if that is reasonable or not? https://www.gumtree.com/p/camcorders-video-cameras/pentax-mef-camera-spare-lenses-£-accessories-/1309900917

That link seems to suggest the ME-F is the firt auto-focus SLR, and also hints it wasn't a good one! I do have a ME, but it's faulty and also it's Aperture Priority only, no manual mode!
Presumably the MX doesn't have the option to fit an eyecup with a correction lens? The other option that occurs to me is to use spectacles on a cord for viewing andfocusing, but letting them drop otherwise. I use this metnod with very strong reading glasses to use my view camera screen from a few inches distance.

TBH I have no idea whether I can add an external correction!

later... this page says:

"The following viewfinder attachments exist:

Eyecups

An eyecup prevents light from entering the viewfinder from around the eye of the photographer. This eliminates extraneous reflections and prevents the light meter from being affected. There are K and M versions available.

Eyepiece correction lenses

These SMC-coated devices change the diopter rating of the viewfinder. There are eight lenses to fit the K-bodies (-5 to +3 diopters, in 1 diopter steps) and seven for the M bodies (-5 to +2 diopters, in 1 diopter steps)."

I did find something else that suggests (a) the latter are easy to lose (they are add-ons that clip over the viewfinder eye-piece) and (b) few of them are available now. Indeed on fleabay I was only able to find one -5 version, which is far too strong I think.
Or, even better, a monocle :D

Never! Or perhaps I should say, in a superior drawl "nunquam, dear boy". Shudder...
 
Funny you should say that Chris, since I was just looking up an ME-F that was on my local Gumtree and it appears to have a form of focus confirmation according to the link? http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Pentax_ME-F The one up here is priced at £100 ono with 2 lenses, but I don't know if that is reasonable or not? https://www.gumtree.com/p/camcorders-video-cameras/pentax-mef-camera-spare-lenses-£-accessories-/1309900917

Mentioned on Pentaxforums in a review:

"The other feature of the ME F was the "through-the-lens" electronic focusing guide for manual focusing lenses. To use this feature you need to turn on the focusing system and select one of the two apertures listed, ~2.8 or 3.5~. (Basically 2.8 is for lenses with a maximum aperture of f/2.8 or larger and 3.5 is for lenses with a maximum aperture of f/3.5 to f5.6) You then turn the lenses focusing ring in the direction of the red arrows in the viewfinder, until the green LED light is on. That indicates the subject in the viewfinders split image circle is in focus. If you get the two red arrows, then the focusing system does not have enough light or the contrast is too flat. Unfortunately this feature is more of a novelty than being useful, so for me it’s just a waste of battery power to use it.

Read more at: https://www.pentaxforums.com/camerareviews/pentax-me-f.html#ixzz5OHpcQzW3" "

Edit, also said the camera was rather large and quite rare now, and it only has one autofocus lens that works with it!
 
Auto focus SLR would be the easiest. Rangefinder still has the patch to see so not necessarily easier either.
 
Have you tried using your left eye to focus with instead? Sometimes one eye will focus better at close range than the other, so perhaps give that a try and see if it helps? Other than that, Canon EOS. (y)
 
I was having similar issues focusing my old Minolta's, hunting backwards and forwards for perfect focus. Not wanting to jump to an AF camera I had a read around and ended up with a Nikon F2A. It's easier to focus but also somewhat heavier. The other option was the equally chunky Leicaflex SL which sounds as though it has an unbeatable 'pop' into focus. I'm still intrigued as to how it stacks up to my F2 [emoji39]
 
I'd give an AF camera a try if I were you. I recently bought a Minolta Dynax 5 and I'm amazed at how fast and accurate the focus is - much better than I've ever been able to focus manually. It's quite a lot better than the Hexar AF I had a couple of years back and absolutely blows my old Contax G1 & G2 out of the water (poor AF on those IMHO). I have it set to focus on the tiny central point which makes it easy to focus and re-compose if required.

It's not a stealth camera by any means, but I'll take that over blurred faces any day!
 
I have the same problem in general, so my sympathies. On my ME I tend to rely on the split focus screen thing, which seems to work OK in most circumstances.

I realised reading this back, that neither of my cameras have a split screen prism in the finder. When I bought the MX, the seller made a big thing about how he'd searched for the viewfinder screen without it, and I did find it very good for years. But maybe it's time to swap it back for the more bog standard screen.

Auto focus SLR would be the easiest. Rangefinder still has the patch to see so not necessarily easier either.

I had a Pentax Z-1 for a while, with a couple of AF lenses quite a nice experience, but I couldn't really gel with it. Too many menus and stuff; I never knew what it was doing and how to make it do something else. Traded the whole shebang in for the LX and I was as happy as Larry!. So I think, I don't really want an AF film camera. If I want a camera with lots of weird magic inside it I'll go digital instead!

Have you tried using your left eye to focus with instead? Sometimes one eye will focus better at close range than the other, so perhaps give that a try and see if it helps? Other than that, Canon EOS. (y)

I'll try to forget you said the last bit, Mr B... :pentax:

Not yet in anger, but I did have a little play with the left eye. It felt really weird, but maybe it's worth trying in the field, as it were. I've noticed that my eyes vary a lot, sometimes the right is blurry, sometimes the left. So there's a chance I could get focus with the left sometimes. However, I suspect it's only going to work for "considered" shots, not the sort of off-the-cuff street and people shots I was trying for yesterday.

Thanks for all the comments and helpful suggestions, folks.
 
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