Auto-Magnification with M & R lenses

[edwardkaraa]

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I'm hoping the EVF will be so good that magnification wouldn't be necessary. I find magnification very accurate on a tripod, but for handheld shooting, and especially on a moving subject, it's a real pita.

Edited October 22, 2015 by edwardkaraa

[lct]

I'm hoping the EVF will be so good that magnification wouldn't be necessary. I find magnification very accurate on a tripod, but for handheld shooting, and especially on a moving subject, it's a real pita.

 

I use it all the time handheld on the X-E2. Great to have a fast EVF really. It's become my default way of focussing with this body and i expect to do the same with the SL601 provided i don't have to remove my left fingers from the focus ring needless to say... 

Edited October 22, 2015 by lct

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[ModernMan]

For the Sony A7 cameras there is a third party adapter (Leica M to Sony) made by "Phigment" IIRC with a rangefinder coupling sensor (a plastic pin that engages the rangefinder coupling surface on the lens) and couples electronically to the camera to activate the focus zoom when the rangefinder cam moves. 

 

One would expect that Leica could make such an adapter for M lenses on the SL, if they chose to do so. It would seem a reasonable choice since that functionality is provided on the M. Of course, a third party could always step up an address the requirment.

[lct]

Would be great indeed but the Phigment adapter is discontinued and the Leica adapter won't allow auto-magnification seemingly. Another reason to stick to the M240 and wait for its successor and its faster EVF...

[toyfel]

The magnification is initiated by the bottom left button (as John noted above in the citation from manual).  With the joystick the magnified area can be moved around - that is what Jono referenced in his review.  Currently the ONLY way to initiate the magnification is the bottom left button or via menu diving.

 

This is something that needs to get changed ASAP.  It's a pretty easy fix (in theory).  The joystick's default function when pressed is to initiate auto-focus when an AF lens is attached.  So the "fix" is - add a conditional to check if an AF lens is attached.  If no AF lens found, then trigger the magnification mode and successive magnified views as the user sequentially presses the joystick.

 

I've already brought this up to my dealer who is in Germany and he said he passed along the feedback.  He thanked me of course...  It's probably going to take alot "helpful consumer feedback" to get Leica to do the right thing here...  Hopefully they've already seen the error in their ways and firmware update is in process...

 

Most of the published reviews did not address this because they were testing with an AF lens.  Ming specifically called this out, Jono kind of glossed over it.

 

It's really kind of hard to figure out why Leica implemented this peculiar work flow. Why did they choose to have most other functions and buttons customizable but not this one? Being forced to remove your left hand from the lens to press the BL button is just plain inconvenient. One can only hope that this will be fixed very soon. 

[digitalfx]

It's really kind of hard to figure out why Leica implemented this peculiar work flow. Why did they choose to have most other functions and buttons customizable but not this one? Being forced to remove your left hand from the lens to press the BL button is just plain inconvenient. One can only hope that this will be fixed very soon. 

 

I would suggest it get fixed before the camera ships...if the shipping camera requires two hands to focus M lenses, it would be a disaster for Leica. Waiting for FW updates from a company that is famous for not releasing them is not a solution. It must be implemented in the shipping firmware or the camera was announced too early- especially considering the "system" ships with only one lens and most buyers will be using M lenses at launch out of necessity. 

 

Leica, please don't ship this half baked.

Edited October 22, 2015 by digitalfx

[Linford]

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I'm not sure why the magnification would not work. It works with R and M lenses on the T (type 701). I would be surprised otherwise.--lt

[lct]

Question is not to know if image magnification works but how it does. How is it triggered? With one hand, typically with the right thumb, or is it necessary to remove the left hand from the lens to press a button on the bottom left? The latter sounds so ridiculous as is that there must be a solution somewhere. The best one would be to allow each button, but also the thumb wheel first of all (works fine on the X-E2), to bring up the magnified view by a simple click IMHO.

[John Black]

How the SL will ship is still a work in progress.  Ming's review was based on firmware 1.00.  Sean Reid's commentary on LL posted today is based on firmware 1.1.  I asked my dealer to check the firmware on his camera during his technical training session.  He said firmware development is still in progress and the camera will ship when the firmware is finished (his subtle way of telling me dates can slip).

 

As for auto magnification on the 701 - I can't comment on that, but if it does it, that is quite the feat.  M-240 auto-magnification relies on detecting movement in the arm with the roller cam.  Without such a mechanical linkage or some type of sensor within the lens sensing focus movement, how is the camera suppose to different blur from out of focus vs camera movement vs subject movement?  This quote if from David Farkas' T review in reference to using M lenses on the Leica T -

 

When you mount the adapter, the camera automatically knows that you’ve mounted a non-T lens and switches over to MF mode. By default, you can turn the left hand control dial to activate the focus aid, which magnifies the center of the image either 3x or 6x. I found that 3x was more than adequate for focusing.

[John Black]

Question is not to know if image magnification works but how it does. How is it triggered?

 

Yep, this is key. I'd like to do it via pressing the joystick.  My thumb will already be there to move the focus box (or whatever you want to call it), so pressing the joystick would be very intuitive.  This is similar to how I set-up the A7II.  

Edited October 23, 2015 by John Black