yudafu2 Posted November 14, 2015 Share #1 Posted November 14, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) I tried to shoot street photography with the Q in two unorthodox ways. 1. Use an external optical viewfinder to frame, and rely on the autofocus to do the focus. Leica's optical viewfinder is clean and clear, also no refresh no lag whatsoever. 2. Shoot from the hip, or shoot with out looking. But either way, the common problem I have is that the autofocus tend to focus on the farther away buildings and items, rather than focus on the person's face in close distance. I have many ruined shots because of that. Any advice will be welcome. Thank you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 14, 2015 Posted November 14, 2015 Hi yudafu2, Take a look here Shooting Q in the street (autofocus issue) advice. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
adam80 Posted November 14, 2015 Share #2 Posted November 14, 2015 Try using face detection focus for that purpose, it's not amazing but will be better then what you're doing now Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
yudafu2 Posted November 14, 2015 Author Share #3 Posted November 14, 2015 I actually used face detection, but still it is not that great. In the past, I mostly used M cameras with hyperfocal distance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam80 Posted November 14, 2015 Share #4 Posted November 14, 2015 After that I guess I would try multi point and hope for the best, the camera is small and discreet so I find that pointing and shooting doesn't seem to bother people. There's always the touch to focus/shoot that you can use to take sneaky pics Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangorange Posted November 15, 2015 Share #5 Posted November 15, 2015 I know this is an auto focus question, but have you experimented with zone focusing for street shooting? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
yudafu2 Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share #6 Posted November 16, 2015 Yes, I have been using zone focusing with an M for a while. Now I am just trying to see whether the Q can be reliable in shooting with less depth of field. It is still a mixed feeling for me to rely on the autofocus. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricky1981 Posted November 16, 2015 Share #7 Posted November 16, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) In that situation I would do the following in this order: 1) Use zone focusing 2) Use the iOS app (people don't take any notice of someone staring at their phone), just pop the camera on a neck strap and you're all set! 3) Use the touch focus option (this still requires you to have reasonable visibility) I think relying on autofocus without looking at the screen is a bit odd. It's hard to lay blame on any camera when you are estimating where you are pointing but somehow expect the camera to know what part of the frame contains your subject/point of interest. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancook Posted November 16, 2015 Share #8 Posted November 16, 2015 I hipshoot with the focusing on 'face detection', I really don't expect it to detect a face but failing that it just uses wide area AF. I use f1.7 with shutters speeds of 1/1000th - 1/2000th. I take photos when I am close to people, so they fill the view - making it much less likely to focus on the background. https://leicaqstreet.wordpress.com/2015/10/25/street-from-london/ Most of these were hip shot at 1.7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangorange Posted November 16, 2015 Share #9 Posted November 16, 2015 I was just playing around with using my iPhone to remotely control the Q, it's actually a very nice feature. Once thing I could not figure out though was whether I can control focus. I could see on my iPhone the little focus box on the screen, but it did not react to me pressing on it and images in the middle did not always go into focus automatically. Could just be buggy? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucerne Posted November 16, 2015 Share #10 Posted November 16, 2015 I hipshoot with the focusing on 'face detection', I really don't expect it to detect a face but failing that it just uses wide area AF. I use f1.7 with shutters speeds of 1/1000th - 1/2000th. I take photos when I am close to people, so they fill the view - making it much less likely to focus on the background. https://leicaqstreet.wordpress.com/2015/10/25/street-from-london/ Most of these were hip shot at 1.7 Clearly a good technique! Are you also using auto ISO within limits. thanks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancook Posted November 16, 2015 Share #11 Posted November 16, 2015 Clearly a good technique! Are you also using auto ISO within limits. thanks. Auto ISO limits are default, I am happy with 6400 - I even produce images i'm very happy with at 12,800 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/62198876@N02/22374107984/ not street. Auto ISO does not cause me concern (although i do pay attention to the ISO and reduce shutter speed if I think I can) Also on the other side of things, on a sunny day I set camera to Auto Aperture, 1/2000th Shutter speed, auto-ISO This is because aperture will default to the widest it can, f1.7 hopefully for isolation. However if it's too bright and will over expose, it will raise slightly. I do not go above 1/2000th shutter speed to avoid the electronic shutter, as that will cause issues for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucerne Posted November 16, 2015 Share #12 Posted November 16, 2015 Dancook Since these high ISO and shutter speed are new experiences for me (coming from an M9 ! ), I'd be interested in understanding possible effects when the electronic shutter kicks in. I want to be shooting at f/1.7 when appropriate. thanks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancook Posted November 17, 2015 Share #13 Posted November 17, 2015 Dancook Since these high ISO and shutter speed are new experiences for me (coming from an M9 ! ), I'd be interested in understanding possible effects when the electronic shutter kicks in. I want to be shooting at f/1.7 when appropriate. thanks. It's called rolling shutter http://petapixel.com/2014/10/13/math-behind-rolling-shutter-phenomenon/ Whilst you may not be taking photos of propellers it's easy to cause this kind of effect from your or the subject moving too fast. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ay07tgncDPk/UVlZeRk1v-I/AAAAAAAAGHk/RDK3Y_ngb6s/s1600/skoda.jpg If I shot above 1/2000th I expect to get distorted images due to rolling shutter, since I shoot on the move. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurkaholic Posted January 21, 2016 Share #14 Posted January 21, 2016 I was just playing around with using my iPhone to remotely control the Q, it's actually a very nice feature. Once thing I could not figure out though was whether I can control focus. I could see on my iPhone the little focus box on the screen, but it did not react to me pressing on it and images in the middle did not always go into focus automatically. Could just be buggy? Interested in this too. Tried the app today hoping to set zone/manual focus on the camera and then use the app as a discreet remote. Seems the app always autofocuses however when you take a shot, no matter the focus setting on the camera. Anyone have a similar experience? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_aznar Posted January 22, 2016 Share #15 Posted January 22, 2016 Man I know what you mean. I hate to compare it, but when I use my a7ii on continuous af combined with af area wide, it always catches the person I want focused and never misses. The phase detection on combined with contrast detection is really such a great thing. However shooting with the Q is just a different game. It makes you shoot slowly and timely in a different manner. Though, I sometimes wish it would focus as accurate as the sony a7ii. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
viramati Posted January 22, 2016 Share #16 Posted January 22, 2016 So here are my basic street settings which I have set to 'preset 2' AF is set to continuous and face detection/Multipoint (it goes to multipoint when it doesn't find a face), auto iso with 1/500th minimum max iso 6400. I have been amazed that how often the camera will focus on what I want in the foreground with these settings and though not quite telepathic I find I get a 80-90% hit rate with this set up which is a lot better than I have found from any to the other AF cameras I have used (Sony and Fuji recently). AF is exceptionally fast and if you are using continuous shutter AF-C seems keep up with it. Also what I like about the Q is that it is so easy and quick to with the lens to MF and zone focus. I use this technique for shooting form the hip but as mentioned above the app is also very good giving you full control of the camera so I have my 'preset 3' setup for this so I ave quick access with focus set to 'touch-screen focus point' Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim B Posted January 22, 2016 Share #17 Posted January 22, 2016 I was just playing around with using my iPhone to remotely control the Q, it's actually a very nice feature. Once thing I could not figure out though was whether I can control focus. I could see on my iPhone the little focus box on the screen, but it did not react to me pressing on it and images in the middle did not always go into focus automatically. Could just be buggy? Just to confirm what "Viramati" infers in his last sentence, if you are using the app, I have found that the camera needs to be set to "touch controlled autofocus" (touch screen focus point) first and then you can move and touch-to-focus the focus frame on your remote device. I haven't explored this fully, but I don't think that this menu function can be set remotely, you have to do it on the camera. Similarly if when using the app you have preset the camera to "touch controlled picture taking" you have the same function on the screen of your remote device. Page 177/8 of the English language user instructions details these camera functions. Tim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
viramati Posted January 22, 2016 Share #18 Posted January 22, 2016 Just to confirm what "Viramati" infers in his last sentence, if you are using the app, I have found that the camera needs to be set to "touch controlled autofocus" (touch screen focus point) first and then you can move and touch-to-focus the focus frame on your remote device. I haven't explored this fully, but I don't think that this menu function can be set remotely, you have to do it on the camera. Similarly if when using the app you have preset the camera to "touch controlled picture taking" you have the same function on the screen of your remote device. Page 177/8 of the English language user instructions details these camera functions. Tim You can change all the cameras focus functions through the app once it is connected though I find it quicker to have a preset set up on the phone. You just have to click on the 3 lines on the bottom left of the app screen and you will get to the menu settings Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornedrum Posted June 27, 2017 Share #19 Posted June 27, 2017 I am playing around with this now, only had the Q for 3/4 days. May I ask, how do you set up a 'preset' on the phone to do this? For example I'd like to shoot with one focus point on the camera when using it normally, but when using remote control, I'd rather have face detection or maybe control the focus points using my iPhone. Be nice to switch quickly, or is there any way to create a preset like you say, so whenever you use remote control it automatically switches to your preset? Cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
franafricano Posted June 29, 2017 Share #20 Posted June 29, 2017 I use always manual focus, I shoot like a leica M, is very fast. I prefocus at 1 meter with the lens. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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