SL Eye Detection

[jhgnag]

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Hello,

 

I'm brand new to the SL and trying to understand if it does, or does not have any form of eye-detection.  I know it has face detection, but when I review the SL on the Leica site, it specifically mentions "eye-detection".

 

"Focusing can be set either by a simple tap on the touch screen on the part of the subject you wish to focus on, or automatically, by enabling the eye detection function. Here, the Leica SL focuses sharply on the eye that is closest to the camera."

 

Thank you.

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[Ingo]

The description on the website is correct.

[jhgnag]

The description on the website is correct.

Thank you.  Is it something I turn on, or is it the Face Detection functionality?

[thighslapper]

It's a menu choice. 

 

AF Mode - Auto(face)

[Ingo]

Unfortunately it's not described properly in the manual. But I asked Steffen Skopp last year and he confirmed that face detection = eye detection. And now it's clarified on the updated website.

[tpf1952]

Until this topic began, it never occurred to me that face detection could be eye detection. The green boxes in the EVF that confirm face or eye detection don't always position themselves just over the "leading eye." So I ran some tests today; closeup images of my spouse.

 

Using the 24-90 at 90mm/f4; for all images, with Debbie's head positioned in a 3/4 position to ensure one eye is closer to the camera than the other. The results are very promising: without glasses, the SL focused on the leading eye in every shot - or six out of six; some images framed horizontally, others vertically. Light levels were fairly low, requiring ISO 1600 and a shutter speed of 1/40th. Also, the leading eye was on the shadowed side of the face, rather than the highlighted side. 

 

With subjects wearing eyeglasses, face/eye detection falls apart, finding focus on the frame of the subjects eyeglasses, the trailing eye or the tip of the nose. 

 

I've experienced the same results -- both positive and negative -- with eye AF on the Sony A7RII. With eyeglasses, the error rate seems higher on the Leica than the Sony. Regardless, it's exciting to see eye detection work so well on the SL under the right conditions.

 

I will make more tests to study the accuracy of eye detection on the SL: compositions in which the face does not fill the frame and with the 50SL.

[tpf1952]

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Here's another example of SL using eye detection. The eye that has been detected is on the subject on the left; the "trailing" eye, but only perhaps because the "leading" eye is obscured by hair.

 

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[jhgnag]

This is exciting news to me if correct.  I'm new to the SL and this would be a very, very welcome feature if correct, and it works.  Thank you.

[LD_50]

I've avoided using face detection. Now I'll have to give it a shot.

 

Does anyone have any experience with it using the 50 at f1.4?

[Ingo]

Works great with 50 wide open.