Technical Info on X2 Autofocus

[mikej]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi, all - I was shooting a landscape shot in bright sun with my new X2 yesterday. The camera was set for autofocus using the single area mode, and was unable to focus (red patch, flashing green LED, 3 audible beeps. I took the shot anyway and exposure seemed correct estimating with a Sunny 16 rule. Shooting in program (automatic) modes for aperture and speed. Overall focus seemed a bit soft.

 

I haven't been able to find any detailed technical info in the literature on the usable range for autofocus in any of the four available modes. The manual only addresses the range for the focus assist light.

 

Does anyone here know the usable range, and is there a document or manual that gives more technical information on camera operations in general (beyond the Leica user manual)?

 

Cheers,

Mike

[Digitom]

Hi, all - I was shooting a landscape shot in bright sun with my new X2 yesterday. The camera was set for autofocus using the single area mode, and was unable to focus (red patch, flashing green LED, 3 audible beeps. I took the shot anyway and exposure seemed correct estimating with a Sunny 16 rule. Shooting in program (automatic) modes for aperture and speed. Overall focus seemed a bit soft.

 

I haven't been able to find any detailed technical info in the literature on the usable range for autofocus in any of the four available modes. The manual only addresses the range for the focus assist light.

 

Does anyone here know the usable range, and is there a document or manual that gives more technical information on camera operations in general (beyond the Leica user manual)?

 

Cheers,

Mike

 

Maybe there is an error, but I think it can be a problem when you want to focus into direct sun direction - due to a reflection in the lens system? If that is a single phenomen and cannot be repeated, I would not be in sorrow.

 

About any technical infos beyond the handbook I do not know anything - until yet.

[stark60]

Hi mikej,

As far as I know autofocus works with contrast in focus area. That means there is not a matter of distance but it implies that you need good contrast with sharp edges to get a good focus and of course objects in focus area must be at the same distance.

Remember you can move the focus area without changing the framing in order to obtain those conditions.

Otherwise for large distance go to manual focusing.

[wda]

It does depend on where your focus patch was covering. Experiment further. The warning was probably legitimate and justified.

 

Even a simple repositioning cures such a problem.

[mikej]

Thanks, all - I'll experiment some more to see what I can discover. I was surprised when I took the shot that the lens was relatively open (between 5.6 and 8) given the bright sun. ISO went to 100 as expected, but speed went to 1/1000 to compensate for the open lens.

 

Does anyone have technical details on the camera's operating logic for aperture, speed, and ISO for setting exposures in automatic mode? It seems like Leica used to provide more technical information. Even for my MP a few years ago, a comparison chart was provided to compare EV with various exposure settings.

 

Mike