Leica Q: Missing the Decisive Moment

[stefanusj]

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mastering the tools you have, is the key... it means knowing the good, the bad, an most of all the limitations of it.

Q is not perfect for everyone, but it is for me. maybe if you really want superfast autofocus, then maybe nikon d500 is the right choice for you ;P

[Mr.Q]

This is not a problem. As mentioned already, it is very typical for EVF's to lag in low light. (why the extreme setting btw?)

 

Here's a simple solution to your problem --- Keep both eyes open when framing with the EVF.

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[Geoffrey James]

I think the OP has a point.  The optical view finder has no interruption of vision while shooting a sequence-- you get what you are fast enough to see. I actually don't like the Q for "street"photography,  although it is a very competent camera generally.   And Bill Livingstone's point is a good one,  although HCB was never  a great printer.    I have a print of the Gare St. Lazare -- HCB's New York agent gave it to me in the early 70's.  It's one made by the Gassman lab in Paris,  and signed. It has a slightly pebbled surface.  When it arrived I came to the conclusion that the photogravure in Images A La Sauvette is a more satisfactory rendering of the negative,   with a greater tonal range.  If I recall correctly,  the photographer positioned himself by that fence waiting for the right set of actions to happen and too several pictures there.  There is a great line from a WC Fields movie that Lee Friedlander quoted in one of his books.  A cowboy sits down at a card table with Fields and asks "Is this a game of chance?"   "No Sir," replies Fields, "Not the way I play it."

[beez]

I've been using the Q for my assignments as a professional photojournalist for more than a month now, shooting fast-paced US presidential candidates' political events mostly, and I haven't missed a shot that I thought I had, while looking though the EVF. I use my left eye, so watching live action with the other is obviously impossible. I've been shooting professionally a long time, so maybe it's my sense of anticipation, and as others have said, anticipation is the key, no matter what you're shooting with. Technically, we humans have to do everything twice - first we have to think about doing it, then we actually do it - and that takes time - plenty enough, to miss what you intend your picture to contain.  

[nryn]

I have worked with cameras with far more lag (like the Digilux2). The key word, in my experience, is: anticipate.

 

 

 

The key word, in my experience is: experience.

 

There is going to be a delay in any EVF; the extent to which it is perceptible and meaningful is going to vary from model to model. The camera didn't miss the decisive moment. 

 

The more significant limitation for me with the Q is the discrepancy between the EVF's framing and the actual image file. If I shoot off the back LCD (which I don't really like doing), the framing is fine. I'm trying to learn when the framing is off so that I can, through that experience, ensure I'm framing my images correctly. This is not unlike learning the effect of parallax on different lenses when using an M, it's just perplexing me more.

[zlatkob]

I currently don't own any EVF cameras (other than the phone), but this thread clearly illustrates one of my issues with them.  Thank you for that!  Even the Fuji video shows a problem.  If you watch closely, the Fuji video shows three times when the EVF stalls.  Sure, it catches up to the metronome, but that little stall is a regular reminder that you can't trust the screen.  (Or that you have to "anticipate", to put it more nicely.)

 

The Fuji X-T1 (similar to the X100T in the video) has a very distinct viewfinder blackout time.  In drive mode S (single frame), the viewfinder blackout time at exposure makes it seem like every shot is taken at 1/30th second, even when the shutter speed is much faster.  And in the continuous drive modes (CL and CH) you get a brief playback of the image even if playback is set to OFF.  I'm sure there's a good technical explanation, but continuous drive is the worst time to show brief playbacks of images you've taken.

 

 

[piblondin]

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On 1/4/2016 at 11:53 AM, Manoleica said:

FWIW --

D-Lux4   --- Anticipate..""

 

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This is later than the shot I'd want of the dunk, but to each their own! 

[Stuart Richardson]

The photographer in question has not visited the site for six years, so you might be a bit late yourself!