Which MF system has the most accurate focus and af?

[henrikfoto]

I have tested focus- accuracy on my Hasselblad 503cw and Contax 645. Both wih digital backs.

I shot macro on a tripod so the exact focus was very easy to see.
Both cameras were off focus by a good margin.
I know the focus can be adjusted in the cameras, but have started to worry
that these old cameras are made with too little accuracy for the modern backs.
And maybe the exact focuspoint will be different from lens to lens...

I am now wondering if my Leaf-back will perform better with Hasselblad H2, Leaf afi
or the Phase One DF?

Does anyone have experiences with the focus and af of these different cameras?

Henrik

[baudolino]

I am not sure you can make a conclusion that this or that camera model generally focuses poorly or inconsistently. I used to use my Sinar digiback with a Contax 645, with a variety of lenses and had no problems. In fact, I tested some of the lenses (80, 55, 45, 140) with the LensAlign tool and was surprised that they were all spot on, no back focus, no front focus. This is not to say that your particular body or lenses could not be out of alignment, but my experience with the Contax is just the opposite. Now with the Hy6 (I think this applies to Leaf Afi too, since they are the same camera), as long as you have the latest firmware installed, you have the possibility to micro adjust focus for each of your AF lenses. I had all my 3 lenses tested by Sinar in Zurich; they printed a little card for me showing what number I should dial in for each lens. Not sure whether any of the other MF camera bodies out there have this, but reading through this and the other popular MF forum I get the impression that even some of the latest and greatest MF cameras of today would benefit from such a function in their firmware....

[henrikfoto]

Thanks for informative reply!

This is maybe a stupid question but I ask it since I am unsure:

When I focus manually and I see the focus very clearly. Is this focus-point
affekted by my eyesight? I mean will a person with +sight focus at a different
point than a person with perfect sight if they use the same camera?

Henrik

[Graham Mitchell]

No, individual eyesight does not affect the camera's focus - the eyes see what's on the focus screen, not through the lens.

[Cineski]

I have a split field viewfinder for my Contax that makes a world of difference.  They're probably the most rare of all Contax items so good luck with finding one.  That said, I generally focus manually with my Contax but when I do use the AF it's quite accurate.  I'm surprised to hear that Hassy and Phase/Mamiya don't have micro focus adjust.

[David Watson]

The problem with digital backs on any camera body where the units have not been calibrated accurately (like Hasselblad do with all of their H series digital cameras) is that the plane of focus on the screen may not be the same as the plane of focus on the sensor. In order to get round this some manufacturers provide shims to change the position of the sensor so that on a "trial and error" basis the two planes of focus can be synchronised.

This is a major benefit of the Hasselblad digital system. All backs are accurately calibrated to the parent camera.

[tikal]

I thought when you send your camera to leaf or phase one they calibrate it there too? i.e. with a hy6, mamiya etc.

[EricWHiss]

The Hy6 bodies have a focus calibration setting where you can make adjustments to align the focus indicator lights.  I haven't needed this but apparently it works well.   But assume that any camera / back can be calibrated, the bigger factor is size and brightness of the view finder and what focus tools you can use that help most for manual focusing.  They Hy6 can use WLF, lupe style magnifier finder, 90 and 45 degree prisms.   I have been really impressed with the 45 degree prism - its improved from the 6000 series and has some magnification.   I think that the H bodies also have a variety of finders that can be used as well.   I don't know what the choices are for the phase DF body.   When I compared all three the Hy6 and H3 were very similar in terms of brightness and size.   I found the DF finder to be smaller and dimmer but it could just be my first impression.   I really haven't been a fan of autofocus, but I think in this area the H bodies are probably best out of all MF systems.   The  DF body I had for a week consistently missed focus in a studio setting with only modeling lights for focus.  It was off so much that even when I focused on the model's eyes at f/13 no part of the face was in focus.   I think there might have been a problem but never found out as I returned the camera.  Probably the DF users can report better on that body.

[Guy Mancuso]

The problem with digital backs on any camera body where the units have not been calibrated accurately (like Hasselblad do with all of their H series digital cameras) is that the plane of focus on the screen may not be the same as the plane of focus on the sensor. In order to get round this some manufacturers provide shims to change the position of the sensor so that on a "trial and error" basis the two planes of focus can be synchronised.

This is a major benefit of the Hasselblad digital system. All backs are accurately calibrated to the parent camera.

I would like to see the reports on that to be honest about the problems. I have had at least 40 different backs and several bodies plus many many different lenses on my Phase gear and NEVER seen a issue ever. Not saying it is not there but this is overblown by a long shot or we would hear many more complaints. Been a instructor on 15 workshops and never seen a attendee that had a calibration issue. So where this all comes from I don't know except some marketing hype. Folks need to stop reading and go shoot this stuff and find out for themselves.