Autofocus problems with Digilux 3

[Paolo.Battista]

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I have just bought a used Digilix 3 with the kit Elmarit 14-50 lens.

I found that the autofocus seems not to work quite well, especially when shooting landscapes. Manual focusing with liveview assistance yields accurate focus and very sharp images, but when using autofocus (even in single zone mode) the images look most of the times out of focus.

Did you have experimented the same problems with a Digi3?

Thanks in advance.

Best regards.

 

Paolo

[lemalk]

Have you updated to the latest firmware? You should be at version 2.0.

If not, here's a link:

Leica Camera AG - Downloads

 

I've never had any issues with the focus on the 14-50. In the settings, there is a setting to meter for focusing point (I believe).

 

How far off is the focus?

[Paolo.Battista]

It seems quite off in some shots, but it varies from shot to shot.

And yes, the firmware is 2.00.

I will try to use some Olympus lenses in order to check if it's a camera or lens fault.

 

Anyway, using manual focus lenses (I tried Elmarit-R 135 f:2.8, Summicron 50 f:2, Zeiss Contax T* Planar 50 f:1.4, Nikkor AIs 50 f:1.2), I noticed that when the confirmation lamp indicates that focus is correct, the photo shows a front focus problem (the focus point is nearest to the camera than expected).

 

Best regards.

 

Paolo

[pop]

It's been some time since I last used a D3. However, I remember there being a setting which made choose the camera one of three places in the image where it then determined the focus.

 

As I found myself unable to guess which point would be chosen from shot to shot I turned the feature off and set the camera to focus on whatever was shown in the middle of the indicated area. Since then, my images were usually well within focus.

[ASpes]

I have just bought a used Digilix 3 with the kit Elmarit 14-50 lens.

I found that the autofocus seems not to work quite well, especially when shooting landscapes. Manual focusing with liveview assistance yields accurate focus and very sharp images, but when using autofocus (even in single zone mode) the images look most of the times out of focus.

Did you have experimented the same problems with a Digi3?

Thanks in advance.

Best regards.

 

Paolo

 

Ciao Paolo,

 

sorry to hear that, my D/3's never had any focus problem unless when it's a user issue, which means *me* of course.

I'm rarely using manual focus, mostly when autofocus seems unable to work properly, low light or low contrast, and anyway I do not just rely on the confirmation LED as I feel like it had some sort of "slack". Guess it's just a matter of practice, but in *my* hands this could well give back or front focusing.

 

Just to be on the safe side, I'd make some tests while having a single focus point in the settings, so that you can be sure that the camera is focusing exactly where it's meant to. (Btw, this is my standard setting.)

 

In any case a suggestion could be to clean the contacts both on the camera and the lens, a soft tissue slightly wet with some electrical cleaner will do.

 

If you still experience the focus issue, or feel unsure, maybe contact Leica (@ Polyphoto) in Opera (MI) and have them check the camera for you.

 

Buona fortuna.

[peterm1_Leica]

I find that the D3 / Pany L1 focus is a bit quirky all round. I do not think I have had your particular issue but I have noticed, for example that the camera hunts dreadfully in lower light and that the only fix is to set it to continuous mode rather than single shot. Then it focuses quickly and accurately. This helps a lot. Although there is no particular reason for suggesting it, other than that this suggests that any low contrast situation might give its AF grief, you may like to try this to see if it helps with your particular issue. I like the camera in principle but in use it has a few oddities that I certianly do not like. This is one.

[carlosecpf]

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This is an interesting fix. I will try it out next time my D3 cannot focus in low-light! Thanks!

[Paolo.Battista]

Thanks for all of your advices.

I've tried various settings, and it seems that I can achieve best focus results when I set the camera AF system in Auto mode. I noted that, when the camera works in this way, the focus is taken most of the times from the left area, otherwise mainly from the right area. The central area is not so often choosed by the camera. Maybe it detects that the input from the central area is too far from the other two (central area sensor defective?).

 

The problem with the focus confirmation for R lenses remain. It is totally wrong specially when shooting from longer distances.

 

Best regards.

 

Paolo

[carlosecpf]

Hi Paolo,

 

Setting the AF zone to "Center" only helped me a lot in terms of accuracy and focusing speed. I strongly recommend that to every D3 owner.

 

I have never used R lenses on my D3, so I cannot comment about it. I was planning to buy at least one R lens to play around, but based on your experience I won't do it anymore. I believe I will be better off with my PanaLeica Summilux 25mm.

 

Carlos

[Paolo.Battista]

Carlos,

don't stop buying R lenses based on my experience with Digilux 3, they're wonderful lenses that really perform well even on a 4/3 sensor.

I use many R lenses on both Olympus and Leica bodies and I'm totally satisfied with the results. Obviously, focusing is quite difficult, especially for shorter focal length.

I can surely recommend using focal lengths starting from 50 mm on. The 135 Elmarit-R is totally inexpensive today and gives wonderful results for portraits at f:2,8.

 

Best regards.

 

Paolo