Mamiya 7 210mm lens focus

[Ardpatrick]

I have been playing a little with a Mamiya 7 210mm f8 lens. It's interesting, but difficult to work with, because its focus is not linked to the rangefinder in the camera. What I've gleaned online is that a lot of people who use this lens use it in landscape settings focussed at infinity. I don't do much landscape and I'm interested in using it at closer distances, although close focus is eight metres. I'm accepting of having to measure distance to shoot with the lens, and initial test have shown that it's feasible. I've used everything from a lidar measure app in my iPhone 12 Pro, which works well indoors and at distances of say <15m. I've also used the google maps app feature of measuring in a straight line to a building / outdoor feature at distances of between 30-60m and likewise had reasonable success dialling the estimated distances into the distance markers on the lens barrel. So far everything I've done has been wide open, using a tripod etc. In practice of course I will shoot at f16-22 likely. These options above have worked within their limitations, but I don't think they are optimal. That's the context.

So my question is whether anyone has experience of using a golf or hunting rangefinder to measure distance and then transfer that to a camera?

I have already ruled out laser measuring devices. I've got a cheaper one, it doesn't work at distance in daylight. It would be impossible to aim (and debatably be a public hazard) at longer ranges. I also stumbled across a Medis camera rangefinder add-on in a flea market. Cleaned it up and tried to calibrate it, but again not even as good as Google maps. Hence my interest in a golf / hunting rangefinder.

Attached are a couple of images shot using Lidar / Google maps GPS. Dslr scans, from Delta 400 / 120. Very very minimal sharpening applied.In both examples, the crop indicates what I used as a point of focus. Bear in mind everything was shot at f8.

 

[Ardpatrick]

I probably should add that many commentators online dismiss this lens as unusable because it’s not rangefinder coupled.

My approach of measuring distances and dialing them in, is not going to give ‘pin sharp’ results simply because it involves levels of human interpretation: taking a calculated distance and dialing it into a lens helicoid is not precise.

So even though the lens is optically very sharp, its challenging quirks limit its practical capabilities. I’m fine with that. But I think with the right combination of distance measurement & stopped down aperture, should make the lens usable at distances far closer than infinity. This is why I’ve included the above examples.

But I’d love to hear from anyone else who has worked with the lens closer than infinity and anyone using golf/ hunting rangefinders for photography.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Well, laser distance measuring tools are indeed capable of handling long distances - just not the of kind one can find find in a home improvement store, or on a limited budget, or without a Class I laser license. That not being practical, therefore, one can select from firing range related rangefinders. But as I understand it, these M7 lenses focus past infinity a little to compensate for certain wavelength issues, or the possibility of slight dimensional change within the lens itself due to temperatures.

How do I handle the problem? You won't like my answer. I restrict RF use to shorter focal length lenses, and do my tele work with the Pentax 6X7 SLR system instead, which excels at it.

 

[Ardpatrick]

Thanks Drew. Your answer is fine, but indeed it's not what I'm looking for. I'm travelling with the Mamiya 7, and it's not practical to travel with a second system just for longer focal lengths.