dancook Posted December 9, 2016 Share #1 Posted December 9, 2016 Advertisement (gone after registration) Static AF, I tried single point, field and zone. 90-280mm lens, ISO 5000, f2.8 @ 92mm Here is an example of zone af where the majority of the 9 squares cover the subject. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! How am I suppose to make this work, without turning on the 'blinding' obvious assist lamp. With single point and field, in...out....in....out.....in.... got it..or not.. try again. Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! How am I suppose to make this work, without turning on the 'blinding' obvious assist lamp. With single point and field, in...out....in....out.....in.... got it..or not.. try again. ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/267220-leica-sl-terrible-low-light-performance/?do=findComment&comment=3163687'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 9, 2016 Posted December 9, 2016 Hi dancook, Take a look here Leica SL terrible low light performance.. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
rafikiphoto Posted December 9, 2016 Share #2 Posted December 9, 2016 The subject is the man in the foreground and you moved the focus point onto his face/eye? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancook Posted December 9, 2016 Author Share #3 Posted December 9, 2016 The subject is the man in the foreground and you moved the focus point onto his face/eye? this particular shot, for example i enabled 'zone focus' where 9 squares are in use. the man probably makes up for about 80% of the nine square coverage - still the AF ignores him. I have tried spot and field focus on the eye, eyebrow, hair line - and it's 50/50 whether or not focus grabs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daedalus2000 Posted December 9, 2016 Share #4 Posted December 9, 2016 Is he maybe closer than the minimum focusing distance? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancook Posted December 9, 2016 Author Share #5 Posted December 9, 2016 Is he maybe closer than the minimum focusing distance? the MFD is pretty good with this lens, I don't think he was as I shot someone in focus closer to me than he was he was on the opposite side of a large 10 person table, and I was able to get him in focus half of the time. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/267220-leica-sl-terrible-low-light-performance/?do=findComment&comment=3163695'>More sharing options...
rafikiphoto Posted December 9, 2016 Share #6 Posted December 9, 2016 Did you try face detection? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancook Posted December 9, 2016 Author Share #7 Posted December 9, 2016 Advertisement (gone after registration) Did you try face detection? Yes, and that too was 50/50 in.....out.....in.....out....yes/no Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalHero1953 Posted December 9, 2016 Share #8 Posted December 9, 2016 I find that when the lens starts way out of focus (e.g. on infinity for a close up shot) the SL sometimes needs a bit of encouragement to recognise that there is a close up object. I guess this is because the close up object has very little contrast to focus on. I have little enough experience of other top end AF systems to compare it with, but I had similar problems with my OMD EM5ii. I mainly use single point AF, and don't find it a big issue - just occasionally. I now know to focus on something closer towards the subject, and so bring the lens to where the sensor can see enough contrast to do it correctly. Remember that it is Contrast Detection AF, other cameras may do it better, but any CDAF system will have similar problems when there is no contrast. I was in a poorly lit college chapel with the 90-280SL on Tuesday evening during a choir rehearsal. This is a crop, but not a big one, of a shot taken at ISO 12500, 1/125s, f/4, f=280mm. It's been run through Nik's Dfine for noise control. I took towards 100 shots, ended up with 30 acceptable ones, and recall only one occasion of hunting for focus or focusing on an object at the wrong distance. Edit. I should have added that half way through I switched from AFs to MF but using back button focusing (i.e. I didn't turn the focusing ring): individually the subjects were fairly static, and it halted any autofocus delays. But I was shifting between different subjects and refocusing a lot. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/267220-leica-sl-terrible-low-light-performance/?do=findComment&comment=3163701'>More sharing options...
dancook Posted December 9, 2016 Author Share #9 Posted December 9, 2016 I can post plenty of in focus shots, doesn't mean there weren't problems with it. When the person was out of focus and I had face detection on - I could see a square appear - it still took an in/out/in/out before it managed to AF correctly....or not. It could be that the background was better lit than the foreground in my instance, which is different to what you have there. - Situation, someone's laughing to a joke, you point camera, start AF... by the time it's finished person has finished laughing... - yes what a joke Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalHero1953 Posted December 9, 2016 Share #10 Posted December 9, 2016 Well that white cardigan in the background of my shot should be fairly attractive to a CDAF system, but it wasn't. Although this looks like a fairly steady-state situation, I was waiting for the singers to look up and have the right mouth shape. It worked well with AF; certainly once it had focused once, subsequent clicks were very responsive. Switching to MF with back button focusing was a bit quicker (as long as I remembered to refocus for the next subject ) I know you said you tried 1-point focusing, but I wonder if zone focusing gives the camera too much to look at and choose between? And so picks the bright (wrong) part? I can do is pass on my contrary examples - I'm not arguing with your experience. Edit. I never use face detection. The moment it locks on, the person turns away and the camera is lost. That probably does work better in bright light. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mute-on Posted December 9, 2016 Share #11 Posted December 9, 2016 It could be that the background was better lit than the foreground in my instance, which is different to what you have thereI strongly suspect you have nailed the issue right there. The CDAF obviously requires light to recognise contrast. Perhaps that is why the plant against the wall in your example is in focus, while the face (in relative shade) is not. I've never trusted face detect it multi AF points in dim light, but that's mostly been with non-Leica systems. Regardless, centre point AF will generally offer more control when lighting is an issue (or not). Having handled an SL and 24-90, I'd buy one in a heartbeat if I had the funds Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancook Posted December 9, 2016 Author Share #12 Posted December 9, 2016 I feel I might need to video this.. To be continued Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steppenw0lf Posted December 9, 2016 Share #13 Posted December 9, 2016 Why don't you try AFs with single point. For me this is the fastest mode. But of course it is not working 100%. With field and zone results were mixed. So I did not try them anymore, lately. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancook Posted December 9, 2016 Author Share #14 Posted December 9, 2016 I tried single point as I said in my first post. It was not any better Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancook Posted December 9, 2016 Author Share #15 Posted December 9, 2016 I.e. It hunted considerably from time to time Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LD_50 Posted December 9, 2016 Share #16 Posted December 9, 2016 Single point not working should be frustrating. Zone focus not working well is understandable, given the estimate the intended subject occupied 80% of the zones. The camera basically has to guess as to what you're intending to focus on. It does this with contrast within the AF area. If 20% of the zone is a better AF target in terms of contrast I would expect the camera to focus there rather than a poorly lit, low contrast face. With my Nikon gear I sort of used a mix between the two where you aimed the AF system at your target and it could track with grouped points. I never used the automatic selection system because the only reliable scenario I could imagine would be face detection. Everything else would require eye tracking (done before by Canon) or mind reading. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalHero1953 Posted December 9, 2016 Share #17 Posted December 9, 2016 Just to be irritating, I would add that in this situation I would use an M, not an SL ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LD_50 Posted December 9, 2016 Share #18 Posted December 9, 2016 Just to be irritating, I would add that in this situation I would use an M, not an SL ! There aren't very many good telephoto zoom options on an M. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafikiphoto Posted December 9, 2016 Share #19 Posted December 9, 2016 Just to be irritating, I would add that in this situation I would use an M, not an SL ! Or switch to manual focus on the SL. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalHero1953 Posted December 9, 2016 Share #20 Posted December 9, 2016 There aren't very many good telephoto zoom options on an M. Do you need a zoom to shoot across a dining table? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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