Hyperfocal Distance & Manual Focus

[thomsva]

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SJP, pray tell how do you know what you focused on with the LCD turned off?

 

The LCD is never completely disabled. If you go to the menu and select "external viewfinder=on", then the lcd will be off most of the time. But in manual focus mode the lcd will still turn on when the focus wheel is moved or when the focus-button is pressed. The focus scale and the enlarged mf-assist area will then appear on the screen.

 

There is also a small bug in the firmware. If mf-assist is turned off in the menu, and the focus wheel is moved, the focus scale is shown as it should. But when pressing the focus button the camera will not display the scale. In this mode the only way to show the focus scale is to move the focus.

Personally I would only like to use manual focus only to fix or preadjust focus. I have no need for the mf-assist area but I would like to see the scale when pressing the focus button.

[damnsharp]

I found on the internet a DoF calculator, but now I am curious what the "circle of confusion" for the Leica X1 is, anyone know?

Link: Online Depth of Field Calculator

[ptu]

I found on the internet a DoF calculator, but now I am curious what the "circle of confusion" for the Leica X1 is, anyone know?

Link: Online Depth of Field Calculator

 

According to the site you linked CoC would be 0.023mm. Leica X1 is listed in the selection.. If anyone had iPhone or iPod touch there few handy free DOF calculators (I've tried Bokeh,for free it is ok I reckon) and couple that costs few euros/dollars. If someone has more experience on this please do share it!

[damnsharp]

Thanks, I didn't look right, the X1 is indeed there. Thx.

[thrid]

Hope you have a good response to this Dunk.

 

However, I would not hold my breath if I were you. I've asked similar questions in the past and been given answers with no real substance or meaning; or in other words figure it out for your self kind of thing, we only make the things.

Regards

Johnny

 

I asked a Leica rep about the focus scale / zone focusing / manual focus issue just before xmas.

 

The conversation went something like this...

 

"Why does the focus scale only go to 2m with infinity as the next stop? How are you supposed to zone focus? What if I want to prefocus at 2.5 or 5 meters, like I can do with an M lens for street photography?"

 

"It uses a 24mm lens on an APS-C sensor. You will always have enough DOF, when focus is set to 2m."

 

"But that's really not always true... Do you plan on adding this with a firmware update?"

 

"Our customers want autofocus."

 

"I'M one of your customers and >I< would like to be able to properly zone focus."

 

"You should buy an M9. Its manual focus."

 

"You mean like this M6?" (points to camera hanging around neck)

 

 

Not exactly a confidence inspiring conversation.

 

Maybe Leica should buy a few Ricoh GRD or GXR bodies to see how it's done properly...

[Guest]

Ricoh does not only make printers but also intelligently designed very interesting compact cameras, since the wide angle analogs, that do take wonderful pictures.

They're an engineer's product made for photographers. Not much marketing, not much at all. Shopowners will get you one if you order it and insist, clerks will be even less encouraging. Ever ordered a lens hood or an extra battery you'll know why. + hardly one of them recommends them for a simple reason: wouldn't every businessman rather recommend a product with higher margins over the year? Not many expensive Ricoh bodies or lenses untill now.

 

Had three. Never had a problem. Very good picture quality. Joy to use. (Well, you'll never call a cam's buffer "slow" after shooting DNG with a GX100)

Major drawback: resell value (on ebay) is not high. Why do I know? Because I took the jump after 6 months with the GX200 and I don't care about the resell value of the M8. Happy for 2 1/2 years now. Dream they'd put the M8 chip into a cheap, compact non-RF body for lenses of 21mm or shorter. I could even do without live view in this. But would Leica bring out an M body for less than 1k€ while people queue up for an M9?

 

Cheers!