Need Focus Help (Fuji GF670)

[RattyMouse]

Hello All,

I'm out shooting in Rome this week an I'm wondering about my GF670 rangefinder camera. It seems to me that the rangefinger patch is not 100% clear and overlayed when I am focusing on something at infinity distances. It becomes clear if adjust the lens a tad less than infinity, just a hair.

I assume that I should have the lens focused all the way to infinity when photographing very far landscapes and that I should ignore the rangefinder blurriness. It is just a very slight difference.

Correct?

Thanks!

 

[Sal Santamaura]

Well, the first part of your assumption is correct. However, I wouldn't ignore the rangefinder blurriness.

It's possible that you're experiencing one of the characteristics of mechanical rangefinder systems -- they tend to be rather delicate and can go out of adjustment easily. Ignoring what you see and leaving the lens at its infinity position will almost certainly result in properly focused images of objects at infinity. But there's a reasonable possibility that, when focusing on closer objects, they will not be in perfect focus. Multiple possibilities exist. Your Fuji's system might simply be out of alignment by a small amount throughout its distance range. It could be non-linear and, although off at infinity, accurate at a close distance. Or perhaps it's of non-uniform accuracy, being incorrect at infinity, correct at some middle distance(s) and off again for closer objects.

I have no experience with the GF670, but own Mamiya 7, Bronica RF645 and Fuji GW670III cameras, all purchased new. The Mamiya's rangefinder patch has drifted vertically, which I adjusted back to coincidence, but otherwise seems very accurate from infinity to its close limit. The Bronica is reasonably accurate, but does exhibit some focus variation at certain distances which is evident when shooting at large apertures. The GW670III, despite being adjusted by Fuji factory service soon after purchase, is least linear of the three with respect to focus accuracy.

My advice is to have Fuji factory service check the rangefinder and adjust it as necessary. If memory serves, you purchased the camera new not too long ago, so it's probably eligible for free warranty service.

 

[RattyMouse]

Thank you. I'll know later when I get my film developed how much the rangefinder is off or not. I can't do much about it while I'm in rome. Normally you can't tell if the overlaid image is correct or not, but at infinity, you know the distance to compare to the split image. I *think* that there is a tad bit of blurriness at infinity. My glasses are woefully out of date so there's a chance that it is my eyes that are off and not the GF670. I'm stopping down the aperture a lot (f11 or f16) as the sun is blazing bright here. I hope that shooting at this aperture level will correct any focus errors.

Sadly, I live in China while I bought my GF670 in the US. Fuji does not offer any warranty outside of the US and even if they did, my experience with Fuji in China is pretty awful. I'm not sure I'd let them touch a camera that I actually cared about.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

You may be out of adjustment so who knows. Until you can get it checked or can do your own testing stop down but hold steady!

 

[RMD]

If you're adept enough to try it,rf adjustment is explained here :

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[Vilk]

happened to me, too, in my travels--my leica felt a sudden surge of feeling for mother earth, quite oblivious of the fact that mother earth was buried under six feet of concrete where i stood. didn't trust the rangefinder afterwards, so i bought a roll of C-41, shot three dozen wide open frames focusing at various distances--theatre posters at 45 degrees are great for this--and ran it by a one-hour lab. all came out perfect, so i continued in peace of mind for another three months. it sure won't be a problem in rome--twenty bucks, ninety minutes and you'll know, either way

 

[RattyMouse]

That's great advice, for a by gone time. Finding instant photo labs is nearly impossible in most places. I'd do that right away if I could.

 

[Vilk]

That's great advice, for a by gone time. Finding instant photo labs is nearly impossible in most places. I'd do that right away if I could.

that was last year, in another european capital, saw quite a few, actually

best of luck!

 

[RattyMouse]

that was last year, in another european capital, saw quite a few, actually

best of luck!

I found a few Kodak mini lab sites here in Rome, all boarded up and abandoned. Just like in China, you can find the death of Kodak all over in places.

 

[Vilk]

can't be that bad, looks like colore is still up in "piazza quadrata" (i lived there years ago):

IL Colore
Via Tirso, 53
+39 06 418 1503
http://ilcolore.it
labor@ilcolore.it

of course, they might have folded yesterday

ciao

 

[Vilk]

...but generally, wow, you're right! just back from a little trip down memory lane--via google streets--every store and lab i knew is gone

how about a simple onionskin test? open the back, stretch a piece of onionskin (or something frosted anyway... scotch tape?) where the film would be, focus on it, then verify the rangefinder alignment... best results aiming from a dark doorway onto a sunny street

 

[RattyMouse]

...but generally, wow, you're right! just back from a little trip down memory lane--via google streets--every store and lab i knew is gone

how about a simple onionskin test? open the back, stretch a piece of onionskin (or something frosted anyway... scotch tape?) where the film would be, focus on it, then verify the rangefinder alignment... best results aiming from a dark doorway onto a sunny street

I can't even begin to visualize what this onion test is like! No worries, I'll deal with this when I get home, after I have seen the film that I have shot.

Yeah, film does not seem at all popular here in Italy. Compared to China, I have seen exactly ZERO other film shooters here while out shooting. I nearly always see someone shooting film when out in Shanghai, but here, not at all. It feels more than a tad odd being so different from all the other digital shooters. How can no one else see the fun in shooting film??

 

[Prest_400]

I've got a GW690III and it has the same issue, still have to end and process its first test roll.

I have no experience with the GF670, but own Mamiya 7, Bronica RF645 and Fuji GW670III cameras, all purchased new. The Mamiya's rangefinder patch has drifted vertically, which I adjusted back to coincidence, but otherwise seems very accurate from infinity to its close limit. The Bronica is reasonably accurate, but does exhibit some focus variation at certain distances which is evident when shooting at large apertures. The GW670III, despite being adjusted by Fuji factory service soon after purchase, is least linear of the three with respect to focus accuracy.

Curiously enough, RF issues with the Fuji GW's are barely commented, and I got the impression that they are rock solid. I won't be able to tell until I have the results of my test roll but playing around with measuring tape it seems that mine is accurate from close focus up to 5m, and it agrees with my OM-1 50mm focus scale.

Will have to endure it for a while as I ran out of budget just purchasing the camera. I'd love to be able to send it to a tech but won't be able to do for a while; Perhaps I will have it checked before an important trip in a few years time.

I did have a look at RF adjustment guides, discussions and topics, and it doesn't seem difficult to adjust for infinity...
But affecting other distances and the linearity of focus accuracy are a bit worrying. If just adjusting the horizontal alignment screw fixes the infinity mismatch, alright, but I'm afraid to mess the (seemingly) accurate close/mid distances.
After all, if it is just at infinity, there is the distance scale and infinity stop.