I have been ‘zone focussing’ for 50 years. I mostly use a 35mm for street photography. Just remember this hyperfocal setting: f/5.6 set to 7 metres, everything in focus from 3 metres to infinity; at f/11 1.65m-infinity; at f/16 1.2m-infinity. Use ISO 400 and you’ll be fine.
i am 50 years behind you when it comes to zone focusing - literally thinking of buying a Leica in 2024 for the first time. Question: how to you set your shutter speed? by that i mean: a. do you not go below 1/125 (for example), and allow ISO to go higher if necessary? or b. lock in ISO at 400, and adjust shutter speed accordingly? (if so, what is a good shutter speed on a Leica?) Thank you for reading this loaded question(s).
@@DennisLimCY I have several Leica Ms but my favourite for street photography is the M7 on the auto setting. I set the f-stop and use the hyperfocal distance setting. The meter sets the shutter speed. Anything 1/60 or higher is acceptable. I’m good at handholding at low shutter speeds and have gotten acceptable handheld results down to 1/15, but I don’t recommend that until you try to see how good you are. Generally 1/125 is pretty good. Most of my landscape and transportation subjects (trains, boats, planes) are shot on ISO 100 films; for street photography I use 200 or 400 in daylight, then at dusk and nighttime I use 800 and faster or 400 and develop it pushed 1-2 stops, i.e. 800-1600. It’s all trial and error on what suits you best. Hope this helps and good luck.
thank you @@jeffg.8964 - your insights and inputs are much appreciated and valued. i am not new to photography (been shooting on Sony cameras since 2017) - but still have much to learn, and completely new to Leica. I hope i can have a new / creative experience with Leica. I am saving your comments up for future reference when i get my camera. 👍👍
Guys, I am here reading your Q & A and already feel dumb myself. I am new to photography and still learning. I can’t afford Leica but got myself few vintage lenses (Super Takumar, Pentacon.. ) to practise with old Fuji XT3. Thank you for those Q&A that help ppl liked me alot. I save your tips for reference
Honestly the drawings are the best explanation I've seen of this. I watched it on mute (I'm at work...) and understood it more than when I've seen others try to explain it.
Man, I’ve been waiting on someone to explain zone focusing and finally have it click. Thank you so much for this !! Would love to see how you use flash without a TTL m6
First time I've seen someone point out specifically that it's massively different depending on focal length. I guess it's a lot of info to cover... But still surprising how often this information is omitted. Can be a deal breaker for beginners! Awesome video 🙌
3 minutes into this video and I get a NEJI WITH THE 8 TRIGRAMS REFFERENCE?!?! MY MAN. You have just reached god tier on my YT photography roster. Thank you for all your good works 😂❤
Very nicely explained. I have been zone focussing for ‘ever’ it is natural for me but for people who have never used a manual focus or anything other than an slr with autofocus it does take a bit of explaining. Well done
What an excellent explanation! I always use zone focusing (I call it hyperfocal distance) on my Nifty Fifties. At f/8 I get everything in focus from 15' to infinity. A 5'6" person standing up will fill the frame. Easy peasy!
It is important to know that depth of field represents the "acceptable area of focus", so the area from the nearest to furthest in focus distance does not give you critical focus. It is more forgiving on film (especially 35mm) because of grain, but on digital, using zone focusing often will produce sharpness far behind your lens' capability when focused critically. That is why I suppose it is not acceptable for most these days, since AF can not only focus faster, but it will always give the critical focus, i.e. the best sharpness the lens can produce.
Focusing by feel has been the best thing to happen to my life. It made me understand why someone would pay money to buy the 28mm 5.6 Summaron. Great explanation, Chris!
When i got my first Leica m camera i got the 50mm Elmarit and it was very hard to zone focus with that lens so i didn’t use the camera a lot, when i got 35mm it very easy to nail focus and i got in love with range finder cameras and lenses
Also, note that the use of a crop sensor camera versus for example a Leica film camera (full frame) the narrower the depth of field for a given lens focal length, aperture and focus distance.
Lmao at the Naruto clips hahaha great video dude! Using zone focusing and Sunny 16 can turn an ancient camera into a super simple tool to use with a little practice
Naruto inspired my life! I remember almost EVERYTHING about it, and the thought of zone focusing reminded me of that exact scene. I visualize my zones as "focus bear traps" and once I see someone "walk into the trap / zone", (in my head) it's game over
I’ve watched a couple of other videos on this but I was still unsure. You do such a good job of explaining this and your explanation of the markings on the lens is so helpful. Thanks dude.
Glad it was helpful! There's a couple good ones out there, but they are really lengthy. I tried to make mine as comprehensive and efficient as possible
I’m a huge 50mm fan and I usually find myself shooting at f16 a lot as a zone focuser, BUT I only have one manual lens and it pushes the 50 to an 80 because of the sensor so I don’t use it much
Great explanation👍. Often when I try this technique I struggle to also take into account the (aperture) adjustment based on what internal light meter is suggesting in my analog mp. Do you have a strategy tip that goes well together with light metering , fast enough shutter AND zone focusing? Many thanks in advance 🙏
Please use the term ‘Acceptably Sharp’ with Zone Focus Method, as there is ONLY one-plane of ‘sharpness or focus’! As ‘Scotty’ from Star Trek would say; “You cannot change the Laws of Physics (ie Optics in this case), Captain!”
Just randomly thought about this: when you zone focus, will the rangefinder patch actually line up? I know that the point of it is to not spend time lining up the images, but would they??
Been waiting for someone to tell / demo zone focusing on a 50 f2. It’s like Chris said, so many of the greats did it but he has no idea how.does anyone?
Amazing video. Been loving my M8 but having some tough shots with street candids & focusing. This might be a total newbie question but what if I'm shooting at nightime with no flash on the M8? Does this change the entire thought process of zone focusing?
I bought a Canon FD 28mm F2.8 aweek ago. I'm having a terrible time with infinity focus. I'm using a Pholsy FD to RF adaptor. I used both F8 and F16 Zone Focusing. I had no luck. Even with focus peaking the distant objects were not in focus. I even tried focusing directly to infinity using focus peaking. These are also out of focus even though they show the red halo on distant objects. I'm I doing something wrong? Or is this simply an issue with the lense I bought?
Great lesson, thank you. Does this mean you don't really pay attention to the light meter or do you just check the range within the lens if light meter is telling you to change aperture?
Thanks for your video! A question, I am using a Fujifilm x-pro3 with adapted M Mount glass. Does the focus zone scale on the lens read the same for crop sensor or cameras? Or do we reduce the scale by 1.5 times? Thank you.
it's called RANGE FOCUSING. Zone focusing is not a thing. Someone confusaed it with the zone system -- Ansel Adam's technique, to determine the correct exposure.
Don’t let me get in my zone
You are now watching the throne
DONT LET HIM GET IN HIS ZONE !!1!
@@nidhishshivashankar4885 I'm definitely in my zone
He’s in the zone! 😅
I have been ‘zone focussing’ for 50 years. I mostly use a 35mm for street photography. Just remember this hyperfocal setting: f/5.6 set to 7 metres, everything in focus from 3 metres to infinity; at f/11 1.65m-infinity; at f/16 1.2m-infinity. Use ISO 400 and you’ll be fine.
i am 50 years behind you when it comes to zone focusing - literally thinking of buying a Leica in 2024 for the first time. Question: how to you set your shutter speed?
by that i mean:
a. do you not go below 1/125 (for example), and allow ISO to go higher if necessary?
or
b. lock in ISO at 400, and adjust shutter speed accordingly?
(if so, what is a good shutter speed on a Leica?)
Thank you for reading this loaded question(s).
@@DennisLimCY I have several Leica Ms but my favourite for street photography is the M7 on the auto setting. I set the f-stop and use the hyperfocal distance setting. The meter sets the shutter speed. Anything 1/60 or higher is acceptable. I’m good at handholding at low shutter speeds and have gotten acceptable handheld results down to 1/15, but I don’t recommend that until you try to see how good you are. Generally 1/125 is pretty good. Most of my landscape and transportation subjects (trains, boats, planes) are shot on ISO 100 films; for street photography I use 200 or 400 in daylight, then at dusk and nighttime I use 800 and faster or 400 and develop it pushed 1-2 stops, i.e. 800-1600. It’s all trial and error on what suits you best. Hope this helps and good luck.
thank you @@jeffg.8964 - your insights and inputs are much appreciated and valued. i am not new to photography (been shooting on Sony cameras since 2017) - but still have much to learn, and completely new to Leica.
I hope i can have a new / creative experience with Leica. I am saving your comments up for future reference when i get my camera. 👍👍
Guys, I am here reading your Q & A and already feel dumb myself. I am new to photography and still learning. I can’t afford Leica but got myself few vintage lenses (Super Takumar, Pentacon.. ) to practise with old Fuji XT3. Thank you for those Q&A that help ppl liked me alot. I save your tips for reference
Great advice.
I'm genuinely angry that it has taken me this long to come across your channel. You make quality content. Thank you for that!
Me too
Same here😊
Honestly the drawings are the best explanation I've seen of this. I watched it on mute (I'm at work...) and understood it more than when I've seen others try to explain it.
Glad it helped!!!! I knew this tutorial was gonna be so wordy that I had to come up with some sort of illustration
Man, I’ve been waiting on someone to explain zone focusing and finally have it click. Thank you so much for this !! Would love to see how you use flash without a TTL m6
Coming soon!
This was supper helpful. Will definitely practice and try it out on my M6.
First time I've seen someone point out specifically that it's massively different depending on focal length. I guess it's a lot of info to cover... But still surprising how often this information is omitted. Can be a deal breaker for beginners!
Awesome video 🙌
ZONE FOCUSING IS THE WAY TO GO! Thanks for this video...
Amazing. Clear as crystal. Thanks.
3 minutes into this video and I get a NEJI WITH THE 8 TRIGRAMS REFFERENCE?!?! MY MAN. You have just reached god tier on my YT photography roster. Thank you for all your good works 😂❤
Facts of life.
This is the way
I never heard of this technique. And now manual focus lenses made sense to me. Thx for the valuable lesson 🙏
Very nicely explained. I have been zone focussing for ‘ever’ it is natural for me but for people who have never used a manual focus or anything other than an slr with autofocus it does take a bit of explaining. Well done
this is great explanation of all the functions for someone just starting
Thank you! I'm just starting to shoot film. This was a great explanation. You are appreciated.
What an excellent explanation! I always use zone focusing (I call it hyperfocal distance) on my Nifty Fifties. At f/8 I get everything in focus from 15' to infinity. A 5'6" person standing up will fill the frame. Easy peasy!
It is important to know that depth of field represents the "acceptable area of focus", so the area from the nearest to furthest in focus distance does not give you critical focus. It is more forgiving on film (especially 35mm) because of grain, but on digital, using zone focusing often will produce sharpness far behind your lens' capability when focused critically. That is why I suppose it is not acceptable for most these days, since AF can not only focus faster, but it will always give the critical focus, i.e. the best sharpness the lens can produce.
I know this video is 2 years + old, I recently picked up a M10-R, and this is helping me get ready for an upcoming trip.
thank you for explaining a tricky idea in a clear way.... looking forward to trying out your tips, thanks
This is the first video I found explaining this in this detail! Thank you so much😃
Focusing by feel has been the best thing to happen to my life. It made me understand why someone would pay money to buy the 28mm 5.6 Summaron. Great explanation, Chris!
the finger tab is an underrated tool. might make a video about that
Wow this is great info! New to film so taking this onboard for sure!
Thank you Chris for making it so much easier to understand!
Happy to help!
When i got my first Leica m camera i got the 50mm Elmarit and it was very hard to zone focus with that lens so i didn’t use the camera a lot, when i got 35mm it very easy to nail focus and i got in love with range finder cameras and lenses
Ok so this is the most usefull video on all the internet ! Thank you so much for the simplicity.
Gotta love the naruto
Comparison 👌👌👌👌
Everything goes back to Naruto 🤌🏼
@@whoschrischu if only my shots were just as on point as Nejis body shots 😭
Awesome, I hadn't clocked the point about wider angle lenses.
I've been shooting film for 25 years, nobody could explain the zone focusing better than you
Also, note that the use of a crop sensor camera versus for example a Leica film camera (full frame) the narrower the depth of field for a given lens focal length, aperture and focus distance.
Thank you for your explanation
This was so informative! Thanks man!
Excellent explanation
This was incredibly helpful!
I'm glad!! Get out there and shoot!
Another banger. Would love to see a full camera collection video!
Maybe one day!
You are my hero, I struggle with this problem and the way you demonstrated this really helped me understand what I need to do!! thank you so much!
Lmao at the Naruto clips hahaha great video dude! Using zone focusing and Sunny 16 can turn an ancient camera into a super simple tool to use with a little practice
Naruto inspired my life! I remember almost EVERYTHING about it, and the thought of zone focusing reminded me of that exact scene. I visualize my zones as "focus bear traps" and once I see someone "walk into the trap / zone", (in my head) it's game over
@@whoschrischu that’s so awesome haha I loved Naruto growing up also! I feel like we would get along very well😄
best if you learn on a 50mm because wider lenses then become soooo easy to use +50 is an amazing focal length
thank you for this video -- very helpful in getting my brain to understand how zone focusing works..!!
Best video so far explaining Zone Focusing, super helpful. Thank you!
That was perfect thanks there are a lot of videos out about zone focusing but yours was very clear and I totally got it thanks again
I’ve watched a couple of other videos on this but I was still unsure. You do such a good job of explaining this and your explanation of the markings on the lens is so helpful. Thanks dude.
great explanitory video!
Hey Chris, this video was so concise and helpful. Thanks!
Not hear of this before in other channels. Good tip.
Perfect. This video is more complete and cool than any other explanation for Zone Focus!
Glad it was helpful! There's a couple good ones out there, but they are really lengthy. I tried to make mine as comprehensive and efficient as possible
Brilliant! However most modern autofocus lenses does not have these features. Yes, it is time to shoot manual focus again!!
Fantastic explanation using zone focusing ! Cheers !
Great video
This is the video I was looking for 🎉🎉🎉🎉
This video make more for me than college did in two years ;)), great video!
I’m a huge 50mm fan and I usually find myself shooting at f16 a lot as a zone focuser, BUT I only have one manual lens and it pushes the 50 to an 80 because of the sensor so I don’t use it much
Get a 35mm for it
Thanks for the quick refresher course.
Sooo interesting !
Thank you for this topic!
Really easyTo understand the way you put it. Thanks 🙏
I finally understand now !! Thank you
Great video. Thanks for the explanation. I am now a subscriber!
Man your content is crazy good, thank you Bro!
Great explanation👍. Often when I try this technique I struggle to also take into account the (aperture) adjustment based on what internal light meter is suggesting in my analog mp. Do you have a strategy tip that goes well together with light metering , fast enough shutter AND zone focusing? Many thanks in advance 🙏
sunny 16 is good!
8 TRI GRAM PALM ROTATION. Neji will be forever missed😪. Great explanation tho kinda got off topic
Please use the term ‘Acceptably Sharp’ with Zone Focus Method, as there is ONLY one-plane of ‘sharpness or focus’!
As ‘Scotty’ from Star Trek would say; “You cannot change the Laws of Physics (ie Optics in this case), Captain!”
That was super clear - thank you!
Really excellent explanation thank you
Awesome, very well explained! You’re a great teacher and mentor!
Thank you kindly!
Hahaa the Neji reference was amazing! 👍
the only way to reach the people
Yashica gang rise up!
THIS WAS SO HELPFUL thanks dude!!
No problem!
Excellent tutorial!
Thanks for being such a great teacher!
Aw thanks, Asgar! I appreciate that! I try my best :D
Excellent tutorial. I just got an M6. What's the recommended shutter speed to use, and do you meter the m6 before zone focusing ? Thank you!
This was super super helpful! Thank you!!
You're so welcome!
Well explained! Subscribed
i think im gonna have to get in my zone
Leave that zoom ring alone man, you’ll wear it out!!
Damn, thanks.
I always see your videos 🔥
I appreciate that so much!!
Can you make a video on zone focusing for autofocus lens? I can't seem to find any videos on it
Totally understand zone focusing but lack depth perception due to eye injury. I struggle with consistently getting subjects in the zone.
Dude owns a Leica but can't afford a desk lamp...just joking! New subscriber here, great content!
Problem comes in is where not everyone wants to shoot f5.6 or f8 or f11. Some want to use Leica's amazing glass to shoot wide open or close to it.
How do you nail focus all the time? Use smaller aperture to get everything in focus.
Great video - thanks!
My pleasure!
That is the reason I use the fastest 24 mm Summilux on my M10-D when I do not need to isolate my subjects.
I swear photography is so easy
0:23 The actual answer is: ✨Magic✨ :)
ayy trruuueeee
Just randomly thought about this: when you zone focus, will the rangefinder patch actually line up? I know that the point of it is to not spend time lining up the images, but would they??
nicely explain
thank you very much!
Thank you for the video! Quick question: Does this apply with a crop frame camera?
Been waiting for someone to tell / demo zone focusing on a 50 f2. It’s like Chris said, so many of the greats did it but he has no idea how.does anyone?
Gotta love dem 28mm zones📷🔫
Amazing video. Been loving my M8 but having some tough shots with street candids & focusing. This might be a total newbie question but what if I'm shooting at nightime with no flash on the M8? Does this change the entire thought process of zone focusing?
I bought a Canon FD 28mm F2.8 aweek ago. I'm having a terrible time with infinity focus. I'm using a Pholsy FD to RF adaptor. I used both F8 and F16 Zone Focusing. I had no luck. Even with focus peaking the distant objects were not in focus. I even tried focusing directly to infinity using focus peaking. These are also out of focus even though they show the red halo on distant objects. I'm I doing something wrong? Or is this simply an issue with the lense I bought?
Great lesson, thank you. Does this mean you don't really pay attention to the light meter or do you just check the range within the lens if light meter is telling you to change aperture?
Does using a crop sensor impact the distance info printed on the lens?
what do you mean,,im struggling with the ,,,pre focus on right area,,?min distance or furthest distance,,
Thanks for your video! A question, I am using a Fujifilm x-pro3 with adapted M Mount glass. Does the focus zone scale on the lens read the same for crop sensor or cameras? Or do we reduce the scale by 1.5 times? Thank you.
So to get proper exposure you still need to adjust the shutter speed?
how about speed shutter that you use when shoot by zone focus
it's called RANGE FOCUSING. Zone focusing is not a thing. Someone confusaed it with the zone system -- Ansel Adam's technique, to determine the correct exposure.
Well the deep depth of field is the problem with it.
How about the aperture number on lens is only 1 side? How to read the zone focusing? Im using ricoh 500gx