Live View opens new avenues for M

[thighslapper]

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I have a grave suspicion that it will be sufficiently irritating and troublesome to use that I would only use it very rarely and for specific static situations..... when to be honest a visoflex setup may be just as practical...... oh well ....we will see.......

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[marknorton]

Believe me, it's a breeze. Press the LV button and there you are, what the lens sees is on the screen.

 

All this doubting. Live View moves the M into a different world. 3 ways to focus, 4 to frame.

[farnz]

When I bought my 5D MkII to use with my R lenses I was aware that it had LiveView but considered it to be superfluous gadget-bloat. But when I tried it out when shooting macros and zooming by 10x to nail focus I understood what it was all about and it was a revelation. As Mark says it's a breeze. It's awkward to use on an LCD screen without a tripod or a loupe because it's at arm's length but the M's EVF sidesteps all of that because you put your eye to the EVF.

 

Pete.

[Archiver]

Depending on how well the focus assist works, this may also eliminate problems with lenses notorious for focus shift, like the Zeiss C Sonnar 50/1.5. It would be my most-used 50 if it didn't backfocus wide open, but live view will change that.

 

Some months ago I bought and had to return a fantastic Voigtlander 35/1.7 screw mount lens because it backfocused by about one inch. If focus assist works well on the M, troubles with lenses like this will be over.

 

These are the kinds of lenses I would normally use on the Ricoh GXR-M because it has focus peaking. Man, this is exciting! Now, if someone comes up with a M-EOS adapter, I can put all my Canon glass on the M!

 

And of course, it makes focusing on off-centre subjects much easier, especially with wide aperture lenses.

[hillavoider]

Depending on how well the focus assist works, this may also eliminate problems with lenses notorious for focus shift, like the Zeiss C Sonnar 50/1.5. It would be my most-used 50 if it didn't backfocus wide open, but live view will change that.

 

Some months ago I bought and had to return a fantastic Voigtlander 35/1.7 screw mount lens because it backfocused by about one inch. If focus assist works well on the M, troubles with lenses like this will be over.

 

These are the kinds of lenses I would normally use on the Ricoh GXR-M because it has focus peaking. Man, this is exciting! Now, if someone comes up with a M-EOS adapter, I can put all my Canon glass on the M!

 

And of course, it makes focusing on off-centre subjects much easier, especially with wide aperture lenses.

 

 

EOS to M adapters exist, but most EOS lenses have no aperture control,

[Archiver]

EOS to M adapters exist, but most EOS lenses have no aperture control,

 

Darn, you are correct. I was temporarily blinded by enthusiasm!

[Paul J]

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I'm just excited about using close up filters on my existing lenses.

[FlorianM]

I'm just excited about using close up filters on my existing lenses.

 

I thought about this too, I wonder if Leica will start making high quality 39/46mm close-up lenses.

[*j-w-m*]

Darn, you are correct. I was temporarily blinded by enthusiasm!

 

Actually there are adapters for EOS that have built-in aperture control, like the Metabones adapter for Sony cameras, so it's possible there will be one for Leica M in time.

[exile]

Part of the love for Ms (all Leica Ms) is the small overall package size. I can well understand the craving for macro photography, but I do wonder whether live view is going to result in some Mnothing users carrying around a normal range R zoom, a 50/1.4 lux ASPH and a 70-200/2.8 Telyt. They may as well have a Nikon dSLR in their padded camera backpacks.

Watch this space - or lack thereof.

[MarkP]

but I do wonder whether live view is going to result in some Mnothing users carrying around a normal range R zoom, a 50/1.4 lux ASPH and a 70-200/2.8 Telyt.

 

You and I probably wouldn't, but so what if they do as long as the setup works for them?

[AlanG]

Actually there are adapters for EOS that have built-in aperture control, like the Metabones adapter for Sony cameras, so it's possible there will be one for Leica M in time.

 

The problem is that there is no electronic linkage in the M for this adapter to connect with. So they'd have to put some kind aperture setting control on the adapter itself. This probably is not impossible since they already tie into the EF electronics, but it will also need a battery to power it and it gets more complicated. (Zoerk designed something much like that to control Rollei 6000 series lenses but never marketed it. But those lenses had an electronic linkage aperture control on them.)

 

There is another EF lens adapter that has a mechanical diaphragm in it but I have no idea how well that works. This surely would not work with TSE lenses shifted.

[bocaburger]

Believe me, it's a breeze. Press the LV button and there you are, what the lens sees is on the screen.

 

All this doubting. Live View moves the M into a different world. 3 ways to focus, 4 to frame.

 

No argument with you Mark. But the same can be said for mounting a set of 10-inch suspension lifts and some off-road tires on a Carrera 4S...opens up new avenues .

[Rick]

No, I think some of you are going to be surprised. In the last year I have collected 4 R classic long lenses and remember, they are already only MF, which is a good thing. The only part that is missing is the aperture control that stops the lens down at the moment you take the shot. That metering and stopping down is not that big of a deal because you end up shooting these lenses wide open most/all of the time.

 

Next, they work well already on DSLRs using the matte screen to focus. There isn't really a problem there. Adding focus peeking and easy LV 10x assist will just make the M240 that much better than the DSLR solution.

 

But, the big advantage members have already stated on the forum is; they can dump their bulky redundant DSLRs. This alone will provide most users with room in their bag for a long lens. Especially Leica's new line of long M lenses.

 

If, you want to spin it as more M-nothing foolery, that is fine. I always appreciate snideness in print. But, it is going to expand what was once harped-on as a limitation of the M system (no long or macro). And, as a matter of fact, people are going to rediscover just how superior the long lens designs of Leica were... and still are.

 

In a way you can't have it both ways. For years people complained that the M-system was too limited because it didn't do long and macro photography well. Now, Leica provides a solution, maybe a better solution than DSLR, and people want to complain that M users aren't going to carry around long lenses and no one will use them.

[UliWer]

Me too thought of this...why not ? They aren't old designs and probably glass elements can still be sourced... prices were a lot high even at their times (and are still high in the user market) so the biz could have some economics into...

 

Ferdinand, a German member of this Forum, reminds me, that using heavy R-lenses on

the M, might cause too much strain for the bayonet. I think this caveat is not unreasonable. At the time when the bayonet was first introduced, the Summarex was the heaviest lens in the catalogue. A 4/280 Apo-Telyt weighs double, the telephoto-zooms are heaviweights as well.

[Guest malland]

I doubt that this would be a cause for concern because with a lens as large and heavy as the 4/280 Apo-Telyt, you (naturally) would hold the body/lens unit by gripping the lens, not the body.

 

—Mitch/Paris

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[Photoskeptic]

Ferdinand, a German member of this Forum, reminds me, that using heavy R-lenses on

the M, might cause too much strain for the bayonet. I think this caveat is not unreasonable. At the time when the bayonet was first introduced, the Summarex was the heaviest lens in the catalogue. A 4/280 Apo-Telyt weighs double, the telephoto-zooms are heaviweights as well.

 

Pictures have been posted of the R adapter. It has what seems to be a massive tripod mount incorporated. Most of the really long lenses have their own mount anyway.

[farnz]

Ferdinand, a German member of this Forum, reminds me, that using heavy R-lenses on

the M, might cause too much strain for the bayonet. I think this caveat is not unreasonable. ...

Since Leica has advertised the use of long R-lenses with the M, part of the design criteria would have been to suitably strengthen the camera and mount to be able to comfortably cope with the additional moment (weight) produced by long lenses. This is Leica's problem not the user's problem so in the unlikely event that a mount failed through reasonable use it would be Leica's responsibility to resolve at no cost to the owner.

 

Pete.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[bocaburger]

The only part that is missing is the aperture control that stops the lens down at the moment you take the shot. That metering and stopping down is not that big of a deal because you end up shooting these lenses wide open most/all of the time.

 

If by "you" you mean you, then fine. If you mean "everyone", then please, speak for yourself.

 

But, the big advantage members have already stated on the forum is; they can dump their bulky redundant DSLRs.

 

For a bulky adapter and a bulky EVF with very pedestrian performance. And the latest FF offerings from Canon and Nikon are going in the opposite direction when it comes to bulk.

 

But, it is going to expand what was once harped-on as a limitation of the M system (no long or macro)....For years people complained that the M-system was too limited because it didn't do long and macro photography well.

 

The M system could always do long lens and macro, with a Visoflex. The reason it was "harped-on as a limitation" is because it required bulky add-ons and unlike SLRs since the 60s, didn't have automatic aperture control. Neither are changed/solved by this latest model. True, one could opt out of the crappy EVF and just use the LCD, but without any image stabilization in either lens or body, for most of us that precludes handheld use.

 

I'm not saying the Live-View isn't going to be used or useful. If they built in an electric shaver there would be people who would find it useful.

[k-hawinkler]

Rick,

 

Also signal amplification permits focus peaking of an already stopped down lens to about f/8 - that's my experience on the NEXs.