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Just got my M 240, first time owner. Focus peaking does not seem to work and when it does is very thin and indistinct. In the videos I've seen the focus peaking has been bold and obvious on the M. Am I doing something wrong? Or do I need to send it back? This is my second M from B&H the first having been sent back for a host of issues (vertical banding, live view blackout). I'm used to the focus peaking on my xpro1 which is bold and obvious. I'm sorely disappointed. Just picked up the vf2 which, aside from very obvious rolling shutter looks great. I need focus peaking for my r lenses and for my 90mm. Help!

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There are many threads on the forum. There is certainly a trade off between accuracy and obviousness Leica chose the compromise on the side of accuracy, so there is a distinct learning curve.

Having said that, I find it not useful nor needed for lenses under 135 mm. Focus magnification is more than sufficient. For long lenses and macro it is a blessing.

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For the most part I see no focus peaking at all. Once in while I'm able to see a red thread here and there. Is that as your experience as well or are you able to clearly see the focus peaking marks? I put my r 60 2.8 on focused on the corner of a picture frame but no focus peaking indicators appeared.

Edited by michaelbrenner
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I've tried the M240's focus peaking with my 70-210 and 400 Leica lenses and 180/2.8 and 300/4.5 Nikkors. Most of the time the red glitter never shows up at all. OTOH on my Nex6 the finder lights up like a psychedelic poster and often indicates things are in focus on several planes at once. Basically I consider focus peaking a useless annoyance, much less accurate even than that little green focus confirmation dot in AF SLR's. I focus visually with the EVF and so far the results have been tack sharp despite its technological shortcomings compared to current EVF's.

Edited by bocaburger
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I'm just trying to figure out if this relatively lack of peaking is normal for the M. I had seen some other comments to the effect that focus peaking was "great", so just want to confirm my M is not defective and that this (relatively lack of, or very subtle) focus peaking is what others are experiencing also.

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I see it as a sort of red fungus (kinda creepy), but it works fine.

 

I use it to close-focus the 50mm DR lens (that has had the close-focus cam removed surgically).

 

Never used anyone else's cameras so don't know what it looks like.

 

On my Panasonic video cam I find it not very helpful.

 

Regards, Bill

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For the most part I see no focus peaking at all. Once in while I'm able to see a red thread here and there. Is that as your experience as well or are you able to clearly see the focus peaking marks? I put my r 60 2.8 on focused on the corner of a picture frame but no focus peaking indicators appeared.

As it depends on contrast, lower contrast lenses do not show much peaking.

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I'm using all vintage lenses - 35/1.4, 50/1.5, 50/2, 90/2.8 and R60/2.8. Probably all low-contrast I would imagine. I just shot a product shot with the 90 at f/4 and saw a small amount of red fringing, but nothing like I'm used to with the XPro1, which "lights up like a Christmas tree" with these lenses.

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90mm f/2.8 set to f/2.8 on M240

After some monkeying around, I set up very simple depth-of-field /focus peaking test. The focus peaking lines appeared on the curved portion of the lens barrel closest to camera, which would correspond to about 17in on the tape measure. As you can see, rather than the center of the DOF, it lays on the extreme rear end of DOF furthest from camera.

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f/2.8 using rangefinder

They're about the same.

 

I had thought the rangefinder would place the focus at the middle of the DOF, but from these pictures, for this lens, at least, the focus appears to be at the far end of the DOF.

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In fact, by f/5.6, this is the case, when focus is set using f/2.8. At f/5.6, the focus is indeed about midway in the DOF and the focus peaking lines are evident (as we would expect).

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So, my conclusion, for this lens (90/2.8) at this distance with this subject, is that the focus peaking is dead on with the rangefinder and that at wide aperture the focus is to the rear of the depth of field but as the lens is stopped down the depth of field increases in a mostly backward direction (away from camera), middling at f/5.6 (meaning the focus is at the midpoint of the DOF at f/5.6).

 

Is this pretty typical of the M and rangefinder lenses, or is each lens unique in this performance characteristic? Has anyone tested for this? Especially for large apertures, it would seem to be useful to know where the focus is located in the DOF and how the DOF expands as the aperture is stopped down.

Edited by michaelbrenner
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Here is my unvarnished experience with R and M lenses used with EVF....

 

The M240 is a sensational camera with a marginal EVF and useless, if ever appearing, focus peaking. The blue is pretty, but rarely appears.

 

The Sony A7R has sensational focus peaking and very useful adjustment of focus magnification across the image, but it is a lousy camera much of the time because of Sony's maddening software intrusions.

 

The result is that I miss quite a few shots while I am fiddling with focus at 80mm f/1.4 or 90mm f/2 on the mediocre EVF Leica offers for the M240. But I live with the frustration because the M240 images from Leica glass are just unique, period.

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I'm just trying to figure out if this relatively lack of peaking is normal for the M. I had seen some other comments to the effect that focus peaking was "great", so just want to confirm my M is not defective and that this (relatively lack of, or very subtle) focus peaking is what others are experiencing also.

It depends a lot whether you will see the red borders or not.

I dont rely on it, but use the following focusing method:

Go to 6X magnification, turn the focus ring, until the subject

you have chosen to focus on appears sharp, press release.

Sometimes the red border shows up on the edge you have chosen, sometimes not, if it appears it is an extra bonus.

 

My Sony A7II is no better.

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