Focusing using just the EVF? How?

[SVX90]

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Can someone please explain to me how this is done? I am using M lenses only.

 

Thanks

[bernie.lcf]

if you attach a manual lens, you will be able to assign a zoom function to the left wheel. If you are using the Leica M-Adapter for T, this assignment will be done automatically. If you use a cheaper third party alternative, you will have to to the assignment yourself.

 

The wheel then allows you to magnify the view in two steps for you to manual focus the M lens

[SVX90]

Thanks for your reply. Yes i am using the M-Adapter for T with my M lenses. And I am aware of the zooming function, but this guy says that he focuses using just the electronic view finder.

 

http://www.slack.co.uk/2014/Leica_T_Manual_Focus.html

[bernie.lcf]

Yes, by judging the sharpness without zooming. That's all. EVF - Electronic Viewfinder.

 

My personal opinion is: I can barely focus the f2.0 Summicron this way, I absolutely fail to focus an f1.4 Summilux. For me, the zoom is essential, but your mileage may vary...

[bencoyote]

Yeah there was s a trick to this but it requires practice and may not be appropriate for quick shooting. 

 

There is a kind of jaggy-ness when the edge of something near but not exactly on either horizontal or vertical (i.e. Aligned with the pixels in the sensor.) is in sharp focus. With practice you can learn to see when you pass through the focus point. To me it kind of looks like a sparklyness. I kind of learned to see it by just messing around sitting in high grass and looking through the stalks at the background. I just sat there slowly turning the manual focus ring. Golden grass illuminated and a dark background of trees in shade. I was in MF mode because AF wouldn't lock on to the stalks of grass the way that I wanted.

 

In reality, I think that this is our eye's own version of contrast maximization to detect focus. It is just easiest to see in areas of high contrast when an edge is almost aligned with the pixels. What you are seeing is aliasing. Look at the letters half the way down the page in this article http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliasing

 

I have a theory that I have no way of proving though which is that the effect that I see is actually part of my eye's edge sharpening hardware. When the change in the contrast for two adjacent pixels jumps due to aliasing, I think my retina sends a spike in whatever neurotransmitter or signaling protocol it uses and my brain perceives this as a crispyness to make it more salient to me. So it is an artifact of passing through the point of focus and related to the video like experience of vision. It is not something you kind of stare at and perceive, if you move the focuss ring too slowly you don't see it. If you go to fast you don't see it. So it requires practice, to learn the speed of moving the MF ring to see the moment of aliasing when you pass through the focal point. This has only worked for me with the comparatively high resolution EVF not the lower resolution rear screen. Because it is a perceptual effect I t is literally impossible to capture in a video or still.

 

One of my complaints with the T is that I want the focus scale without having the zoomy effect of focus assist on AF lenses. I kind of need the focus scale to give me a reference point since the MF rings are free spinning but the jump in scale is really jarring to my compositional process. I also want both the histogram and the focus scale together without having to break my concentration to go down and page through the info button.

[thighslapper]

as above ....there is a very distinctive shimmery mirage effect when the exact focus point is reached ..... once you know what to look for it is easy to spot. 

[soundsgoodsg]

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I've found this method very workable, especially when you (via Video Mode) change to B&W for the viewfinder (you get B&W jpg, but I work with the DNG files, so I don't mind) and it helps give much better focus. However, the caveat is that it works when your M lens is a fast one and it's fairly open, f4 or better. Once you stop down, I find it harder to get pin-sharp focus - it becomes more like street photography where you're zone focussing, because I cannot see the shimmer anymore. Often it's OK, but I've had a capture or two turn out with really off focus when the lens is stopped down.

 

FYI, this is an album with my Leica T + 50mm Summilux-M all focused using the EVF

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/auralasia/sets/72157646162390132