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First disappointing evening with the T


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I've been enjoying using the Leica T since I got it on the release date but I had a disappointing time last evening. We were celebrating a birthday in a small private room at a restaurant and I found the focussing speed and accuracy both problematic. I was taking pictures of people around a largish dining table with lighting not too bright, glasses and stuff on the table and glass wine-bottle racks as walls.

 

Manual focus, particularly at lower lighting levels is problematic and with either the LCD and EVF is simply not quick enough on the T if you're trying to capture a fleeting moment, so I was using autofocus most of the time. The camera often focused on glasses, chair backs, or sometime just didn't focus in time. I really wished I had taken my M with a 35mm Summilux and a 90mm Summicron along. Maybe I've just had more practice at it but rangefinder manual focussing with the M is so much easier and more accurate. I'm deciding what I'm focussing on not the camera.

 

I have had similar issues with autofocus on other cameras as well but the T seemed both slower and less accurate. Admittedly though I did not try spot focussing and that would have improved things and prevented from focussing on distractions in the room environment. However it would not have increased the focus speed.

 

- Vikas

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Letting the camera select AF area is problematic. Learning from using a DSLR, it is more precise if you use a central AF spot on the precise area you want, half press, recompose and release the shutter. The T is no different than any other AF camera. You can't let it make decisions for you.

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Years ago I was often disappointed by my Canon 30D focusing on whatever it wanted, rather than what I was intending. Someone told me to use centre point focus, and I have never looked back. Since then, I have switched every camera I own to centre point focus, with the exception of manual focus cameras that usually do this by default, haha.

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You have 1 point, spot, touch and face detection along with the only one I never use which is multi-point. The user manual says that on multi-point (or face detect with no faces) it will select the closest high contrast object as the focus point, which is exactly what it did in your photo above. With face detect, it selects the closest face and will try to include additional faces if they are not too far from the same plane of focus but invariably one will be more out of focus. If they are close, they will both be in focus. Here is a sample using face detection.

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Thank you John. AT the next opportunity I will not be so foolish as to leave it at the default multi-point and go with spot or face recognition. I have to say though that I did not have such a severe problem with Panasonic's GX-7 or GM1.

 

- Vikas

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Thanks. One more shot taken with face detection in a great little restaurant in Dana Point Harbor, CA. Just remember, If it can't find any faces it will revert to multi-point. :)

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I have no experience with the T however you explain the same problems I had with a Fuji X-Pro1 ... an experience so traumatic ... the A in AF stands for ?!? - anyway :-(

 

Spot metering and spot AF would help. Its also worth looking into "Metering memory lock" as Leica calls it, most AF cameras have that (with more functionality) on a separate button/leaver ... for a good reason, AF struggles in low light so you often need to lock focus and/or exposure, button makes it convenient.

 

Or dial in the metering manually, since it gives the camera one less thing to do, and select a forgiving aperture.

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Take the advice above and practice. I almost never miss the focus with any of my cameras (all the way back to the D2) on autofocus as a result of using the approaches above, reviewing, modifying approach if necessary, and then practicing it.

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Thanks. One more shot taken with face detection in a great little restaurant in Dana Point Harbor, CA. Just remember, If it can't find any faces it will revert to multi-point. :)

 

Beautiful Capture.

Finally, it seems that John had met his soulmate ;-)

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Take the advice above and practice. I almost never miss the focus with any of my cameras (all the way back to the D2) on autofocus as a result of using the approaches above, reviewing, modifying approach if necessary, and then practicing it.

 

 

Well I kind of know all that and I realise that relying on multi field metering was a poor choice. Still it's far from the first time I've used autofocus in similar situations and I have seldom have this problem. Nonetheless, as you say, adapting and practice will make perfect :-)

Edited by vikasmg
spelling fix.
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