M or SL with M lenses

[Peter H]

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Sounds like you're doing well learning how to focus with the SL!

 

(bolded) That will take more than a firmware update. The M knows that you're turning the focusing ring because the rangefinder lever is moving. To do that on the SL will require a revised M mount adapter with a sensor to indicate movement of the focusing mount to the body. 

 

The M adapter for Fuji allows this, with adjustable magnification levels as well as on/off. I wonder whether it's something Leica will want to do, or whether a third-party adapter may be necessary. It's a very useful feature.

 

Also, do you know whether it might be a firmware matter to offer the option of a split screen view in the viewfinder so that the magnified portion can be seen alongside the full view so that critical focussing can be achieved at the same time as composing the full image? This also works in the Fuji and is incredibly good to use in practice, but I think you or perhaps someone else said it may not be possible with a full-frame sensor. I may just be asking for too much, but if these sort of features were available it would increase the camera's appeal to me quite substantially.

[ramarren]

The M adapter for Fuji allows this, with adjustable magnification levels as well as on/off. I wonder whether it's something Leica will want to do, or whether a third-party adapter may be necessary. It's a very useful feature.

 

Also, do you know whether it might be a firmware matter to offer the option of a split screen view in the viewfinder so that the magnified portion can be seen alongside the full view so that critical focussing can be achieved at the same time as composing the full image? This also works in the Fuji and is incredibly good to use in practice, but I think you or perhaps someone else said it may not be possible with a full-frame sensor. I may just be asking for too much, but if these sort of features were available it would increase the camera's appeal to me quite substantially.

 

It's obvious that both these kinds of features require tight integration between the mount adapter and the camera's firmware.

 

• The first—autosensing of the focusing system motion—is simpler because the SL already does that with its dedicated 24-90; it just requires an adapter with a sensor to trigger the feature.
• Right now the SL offers two levels of focus assist magnification so assigning one to be used by default on autosensing focus adjustment is another firmware option to be added to the autosensing feature with new hardware. 
• ​Whether to supply an alternative focusing magnification view is dependent upon whether the camera's video display hardware can do a "picture in picture" display, I doubt it has anything to do with the sensor itself, or if it does, the bottom line is readout speed from the SL's sensor into the video display system as well as whether the display system can handle that kind of display manipulation. Whether the hardware can support it, it then depends upon Leica's wanting to write the firmware to do it. 

Personally, if I could have an alternative focus magnification assist, I like the way it is implemented in the Leica X: a central magnified focus area surrounded by normal view edges. It helps me target the thing I want to focus on while keeping my framing on track during focusing. Stop turning the focusing ring, and the normal display returns instantly. It's slick, and seems similar to how it was implemented in some of the Panasonic cameras (FZ10, LX1, etc). However, there is a tendency through many of these posts for everyone to want to have their favorite two or three additional features added in. If all of them were lumped in, forget "das Wesentliche" ...! What you get is a Swiss Army Knife with a thousand menu items to plumb your way through...   

 

That's not exactly Leica's way, and certainly not what I want in my Leica cameras. 

[Peter H]

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Personally, if I could have an alternative focus magnification assist, I like the way it is implemented in the Leica X: a central magnified focus area surrounded by normal view edges. It helps me target the thing I want to focus on while keeping my framing on track during focusing. Stop turning the focusing ring, and the normal display returns instantly. It's slick, and seems similar to how it was implemented in some of the Panasonic cameras (FZ10, LX1, etc). However, there is a tendency through many of these posts for everyone to want to have their favorite two or three additional features added in. If all of them were lumped in, forget "das Wesentliche" ...! What you get is a Swiss Army Knife with a thousand menu items to plumb your way through...   

 

That's not exactly Leica's way, and certainly not what I want in my Leica cameras. 

 

Agreed. But I'd trust Leica to pick out the best ideas and refine them into an elegant implementation as they generally do after a while,  without making a sort of Sony as a result!