Anybody switched from M to X-Vario? Experiences?

[FosterKay]

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To spare Ivan having to come to his own defence, have a look here: Ivan Azzopardi: Film forever in the classic Leica tradition IMO some of the very best work to be seen on LUF.

 

THIS IS JUST WOW! Thanks for this link!

 

Talent + Technique + Passion....what more to say......

[vcs700s]

To spare Ivan having to come to his own defence, have a look here: Ivan Azzopardi: Film forever in the classic Leica tradition IMO some of the very best work to be seen on LUF.

 

Nice!

[onceuponatime]

Lloyd Chambers in his field testing states:

 

"Auto Focus Inconsistency...the Leica X Vario has a fundamental algorithmic flaw in its autofocus: it focuses with the lens stopped down to the shooting aperture

This ... not only affects focus accuracy, it actively degrades autofocus performance as the lighting dims, a problem I encountered repeatedly in the field."

 

A friend that purchased the XV returned it for this very reason and instead purchased the GX-7. His report to me is that while the GX-7 image quality does not match the XV's, but it never misses with its AF and it is light years faster so he gets more keepers than he did with the much more expensive XV.

 

Nikon 1, Olympus EM5 have the fasest AF of the small mirrorless : ideal for family, sports & spray n pray as it were.

For those who take time to compose, wait of the moment, XV is doing fine.

[michaelbrenner]

... here: Ivan Azzopardi: Film forever in the classic Leica tradition IMO some of the very best work to be seen on LUF.

 

Interview Excerpt:

What I really strive for is capturing the ‘perfect’ moment. As you know well enough, the difference between capturing that particular moment and missing it is a fraction of a second. Some might believe that some of my photos are posed, but in reality, they’re not. I like people to continue doing whatever it is they’re doing; then it is up to me to press the shutter when all the elements are right in my eyes. I don’t really enjoy trying to explain my photos. Don’t get me wrong, but I’d rather have the photo speak for itself as I believe no words can explain better a photo than the photo itself.

 

Ivan, I totally agree. Great interview. Love your shooting style and outlook.

 

Also, just curious, in your interview you mentioned a reluctance to switch from film to digital. How has the digital world affected your photography? Finally, any thoughts on the XV vs the M (either film or digital)?

[larsv]

To spare Ivan having to come to his own defence, have a look here: Ivan Azzopardi: Film forever in the classic Leica tradition IMO some of the very best work to be seen on LUF.

 

+1

[FosterKay]

+2

[indie]

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To spare Ivan having to come to his own defence, have a look here: Ivan Azzopardi: Film forever in the classic Leica tradition IMO some of the very best work to be seen on LUF.

 

:eek:Stunning work and Azzopardi has my exact philosophy! Thanks Stephen for bringing Ivan's work to our attention.

[spylaw4]

+3

[azzo]

To spare Ivan having to come to his own defence, ...

 

..

 

 

You did spare me Stephen, thank you.

Thank you also to everyone else, I appreciate.

[Likaleica]

Great stuff, and the work speaks volumes about an important point that often seems elusive in the forum. These threads usually start with an innocent question or observation, which by page 2 or 3 deteriorate into personal assaults. It's clear that some users are mostly interested in the technical aspects of different cameras while others are interested in the art of the photograph. For example, John admits that he's impatient with technology and is always seeking the newest and best photographic tool. That's great, especially for commerce. Others, like Ivan want a quality tool with which they can practice their art. Look what great art he produces without autofocus or autoexposure! Freed of the technology he is able to capture "the decisive moment," well-focused and well-exposed. I would bet that, pixellated, his images would produce perfect histograms. His equipment is so simple that it truly has become an extension of his eye. There is this Zen in his photographs. To me, that is the ultimate satisfaction in photography.

[Archiver]

To spare Ivan having to come to his own defence, have a look here: Ivan Azzopardi: Film forever in the classic Leica tradition IMO some of the very best work to be seen on LUF.

 

Ivan's work is superb, and perhaps the best answer to someone who says, 'show me YOUR artistic photos.'

 

I never thought I would quote a Sylvester Stallone movie on the Leica forum, but I feel I must.

 

"Bang. Down. Owned."

[azzo]

...

 

... and neither should anyone else. ...

 

 

Not my intention to bump this thread but this up here is what really got to me most!

 

I mean, if barjohn ever decides to not do business again with Leica, that's his business but please, do not suggest to others to do the same, IF or no IF !

 

Tim and Archiver, thank you and I appreciate your time and generous words.

 

@ Bill - I'm very glad to see you around, you know that. Thank you too.

[chatlink]

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I don't have any other Xs but the XV so I can't compare the two. The AF is about the same as the Sony RX-1 but it will miss focus and select something other than the desired target, even with the smallest box selected. A higher contrast object will be in focus and the desired target will not. This happens most frequently with people photography as faces are not always high contrast compared to items in the background.

 

I have observed this error numerous times as have others on this forum. There are a few that claim their camera has never mis-focused. Either they got an incredibly different camera than I did, they always shoot objects where that would not be an issue or they are not telling the whole truth.

 

The AF needs to be faster, especially as light levels drop.

[Guest]

\

 

focussing errors in XVario:

they result mostly in setting "11-field-focus". the "one-field-focus" or "spot-focus" an AF command is more or less excluded.

I generally set to "one-field-focus" if motive allows a) "11-field-focus" or "spot-focus" is more appropriate, I use either a) or and then (after him?) turn off the camera the AF back to "one-field-focus" back.

experience, focussing errors result from the aforementioned reasons, in my opinion, are user related.

this also applies to all the other cameras to focus by contrast-AF, regardless of the rapidity of the AF, and therefore is it not a special XVario trouble.

 

br klaus-michael - kmhb -

[barjohn]

In the linked folder are two shots, one in focus, 1566 and one out of focus 1567. They were taken a few seconds apart in good light using spot AF. The target selected in the out of focus shot is the right head on the stick. Shutter speed 1/640 sec, and f5.6 at 28mm equivalent. I waited for the green focus rectangle and beep. Same target on first image but from a slightly different angle. Note that nothing is really in focus anywhere in the frame. The hedge closest to me is the closest to being in focus but it isn't in focus either.

 

So here is an example of what I see happen on occasion. The camera AF system says it has focus lock and you press the shutter and the image is out of focus. I never use 11 point AF. I either use spot or 1 point. Mostly, spot as it produces the smallest AF area.

 

Link to images

[dkCambridgeshire]

In the linked folder are two shots, one in focus, 1566 and one out of focus 1567. They were taken a few seconds apart in good light using spot AF. The target selected in the out of focus shot is the right head on the stick. Shutter speed 1/640 sec, and f5.6 at 28mm equivalent. I waited for the green focus rectangle and beep. Same target on first image but from a slightly different angle. Note that nothing is really in focus anywhere in the frame. The hedge closest to me is the closest to being in focus but it isn't in focus either.

 

So here is an example of what I see happen on occasion. The camera AF system says it has focus lock and you press the shutter and the image is out of focus. I never use 11 point AF. I either use spot or 1 point. Mostly, spot as it produces the smallest AF area.

 

Link to images

 

These two images appear to be taken from more than slightly different angles. The second image taken 23 seconds later seems to be taken from further back and from further to the RHS. Did you physically move the spot focus to the head on the stick for the second photo? If you didn't, then the second picture would probably be be focused on the LHS of shrub/tree.

 

dunk

[symmetron]

barjohn,

 

I would send your XV in for service. My original XV had inconsistent focusing ostensibly similar to your experiences. It was apparent to Leica when I sent it in that something was just not right.

[barjohn]

These two images appear to be taken from more than slightly different angles. The second image taken 23 seconds later seems to be taken from further back and from further to the RHS. Did you physically move the spot focus to the head on the stick for the second photo? If you didn't, then the second picture would probably be be focused on the LHS of shrub/tree.

 

dunk

 

I was on the sidewalk and moved to the right to get the shot from a different angle. I was hand holding the camera and placed the focus square on the head I stated and received a confirmation green box and beep on a ½ press before pushing the shutter button the rest of the way. It should be evident that nothing appears to be in focus. At 1/640th of a second camera shake would not have accounted for the out of focus image. At f5.6 and a CoC of 0.020mm, there should have been enough depth of field (near limit 4.86ft, far limit Infinity) that something should have been in focus.

[waloszek]

Originally, I did not want to join the discussion regarding Leica X Vario autofocus issues, particularly since I read that some X Vario users who do not experience such issues declared them as „operator’s errors“ - which is actually a nice „killer argument.“ Being a software usability person, I have my own take on whether the user or the system is to blame…

 

I myself belong to the species of X Vario users who do experience AF issues, at least, from time to time. The exact causes of the AF issues are still unknown to me (one may be pressing the shutter button too fast - I did some experiments here). I was, however, able to decipher two „secret“ Exif data fields, one coding the distance, one the focus mode (for details, see here: Leica X Vario: Manufacturer-Specific Exif Data).

Deciphering the distance field, allowed me to reject the opinion, which was mentioned in this forum, that the camera focuses beyond infinity. In fact, the opposite is true. In the case of „gross misfocus“, it typically focuses nearby, in the 1 m range or so. This is, at least, what I found for my own photos.

 

I downloaded barjohns two photos to check the Exif data. Regrettably, he touched them in Lightroom, which overwrote the manufacturer’s data with LR-specific data. But a closer look at the second photo reveals that checking the Exif data isn’t even needed: The hedge in the foreground is indeed sharp. Thus, bar john encountered a similar phenomenon as I in my own shots. The fact that both photos show different sections is irrelevant for this analysis.

 

Of course, I would appreciate if barjohn would also publish the untouched original photos, so that I can check the Exif data of the two photos (he can also do this himself by using the information on my website...).

 

Anyway, I am still undecided as to whether barjohn’s camera (and mine…) is defective, as suggested in this thread, or whether this is a general problem of the X Vario. In the latter case, I would still hope for a firmware update…

 

Best regards, Gerd

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Hallo,

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[jpreisch]

I have an X Vario, before it I had an M 8, which I traded for the X Vario because my keeper ratio was low with the M 8. When I hit focus the results were GREAT when I didn't, not so much. But I thought it was my fault. My keeper ratio with the X Vario is much better, and when it hits focus the results are STUNNING. When it doesn't I didn't realize I could blame the camera for it!!!

Jim