Jurgen,
The best advice I can give is to learn hyperfocal focusing. It sounds much more difficult than it is. Once you learn it, you will wonder what took you so long.
For example, if I am shooting with my 35mm, I set f11 and the hyperfocal focus distance for that aperture and start shooting. As long as no part of the scene is closer than 4' Everything is in focus. I just keep composing and shooting without concern for the focal point. If I have a foreground element that is closer than half the hyper focal distance I either stop down or take two exposures and stack them.
At f11 I am at the sweet spot for all my glass. The only time I stop down is if I need it more DOF but even then it is strictly by the numbers. I use PhotoCalc on my iPhone to calculate the focusing distances and it has been very accurate for me.
I have a laser distance finder and small tape measure for more critical work but hardly ever have to use them.
An important point is that you have to test your kit. On the cambo and 645 kits I find i have to adjust two stops from the scale on the lens with my p65. Doug who is tech support for capture integration explained why but I don't really understand it. I just know at f11 I set the hyper focal scale to f5.6, at f16 set it to f8 and it works. I know it has something to do with the resolution of the back but haven't really caught on to why the scale on the lens is off.
Before I went to ZUERICH to see the ALPA people , I took the chance to do quite some testshots as per the hyperfocal method Ed describes in the above quote .
I must say , using f11 , that I obtained very good results when setting the hyper focal scale on the lens to f8 and even a bit sharper when setting to f5,6 . This method narrows down the total hyper focal length but is still within the desired range for most of my objects .
Therefore , this is of great help for me and makes most of my shooting much easier and also more comfortable .
Still , when I saw and used the new ALPA GG , the one with the 4mm grid ,
I could not resist and bought it , together with the little leather bellows , which I just call the ALPA's tanga slip .
Using the 6x Schneider loupe , focusing is very easy and composition is just great .
So I will use the GG and/or the hyper focal method depending on the situation .
I feel very satisfied and think I have got the right tools now .
"The distance scale of the DIGARON-S 28mm lens , for example , just shows
for longer distances 5m and the next is infinity ."
this was the main reason for me to go with an Arca RM3D !
i'm now in the process to buy a leica D5... the bosh DLE70 being perfect for interior only...
I do not know , how you focus an ARCA Rm3D , but when you can use the ARCA 6x9 GG , focusing will be very similar to the ALPA .
I had a look to the DLE70 and also the LEICA D5 laser RF , but my conclusion is , that this would be a waste of money .
Assume you get a reading of 13,985 meters , how could you ever set that distance accurately on the lens's scale . You can not .
The laser range finder could be of help , when shooting within shorter distances and if you don't have much time . But I would still prefer the GG and my little FotoMan mechanical RF .
Jürgen