What does "Manual Focus Aid - On" do?

[cpclee]

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In the Setup -> Capture Assistants -> Focus Peaking menu, this is an option that says "Manual Focus Aid" which you can turn on or off. What does this do? Toggling this seems to have no effect for me. I can see focus peaking by cycling through the different Live View modes but I don't know what this additional option is supposed to do, and the manual doesn't seem to explain it.

 

Thanks.

[LD_50]

Read the manual. It's well described.

 

Manual focusing assistants

To make it easier to achieve precise settings or to increase the precision of a setting, the Leica SL offers two features:

– The enlarged display of a middle section.

Explanation: The larger the details of the subject are shown, the better you can assess their sharpness and the more accurately you can focus.

– The identification of sharply focused subjects (peaking)

You can have the edges of sharply focused subjects marked in color so making it is easier to determine the optimal setting. Four colors are available for the peaking display to allow it to be matched to different subjects/backgrounds.

 

Setting the magnifying function

1. In the menu's SETUP section, select Live View,

2. in the submenu, Manual Focus Aid, and

3. switch the function On or Off.

[cpclee]

That's actually not what I am asking.

 

I'm referring to the Manual Focus Aid on/off toggle under the Focus Peaking menu.  I can turn on focus peaking or the magnified view regardless of how that toggle is set, so what effect does it have?

[ramarren]

I haven't got my SL to hand, but I believe what you're seeing is the option to enable focusing aids when you press and hold the shutter release at the half-way point, then turn the manual focus ring. This works only with L-mount lenses and perhaps S-mount lenses on the dedicated Leica adapter; it cannot work with adapted lenses (M, R, or other) because those lenses have no communication with the SL's electronics when the focusing mount is in motion.

[cpclee]

Thanks for the explanation.  I'll test this when I get a chance. 

 

 

I haven't got my SL to hand, but I believe what you're seeing is the option to enable focusing aids when you press and hold the shutter release at the half-way point, then turn the manual focus ring. This works only with L-mount lenses and perhaps S-mount lenses on the dedicated Leica adapter; it cannot work with adapted lenses (M, R, or other) because those lenses have no communication with the SL's electronics when the focusing mount is in motion.

[LD_50]

Toggling on the manual focus aid setting in the focus peaking menu turns on focus peaking when using manual focus with a native lens in all display settings.

 

With it off you have to cycle to the focus peaking display mode to see peaking even when using manual focus.

 

With it on, you get focus peaking in all display settings when manually focusing.

[jessiewonka]

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On 9/4/2017 at 7:10 PM, LD_50 said:

Toggling on the manual focus aid setting in the focus peaking menu turns on focus peaking when using manual focus with a native lens in all display settings.

 

With it off you have to cycle to the focus peaking display mode to see peaking even when using manual focus.

 

With it on, you get focus peaking in all display settings when manually focusing.

This seems to make the most sense for what "manual focus aid" does, but when on, focus peaking curiously doesn't remain when cycling through display modes (at least in firmware 3.7).