To EVF or Rangfinder

[Cronilux]

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With healthy eyes and a good calibrated System the rangefinder is spot on. 

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The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[stephan54]

I do not own those lenses, but prefer the rangefinder with the apo 135.

[jaapv]

Although I will use AF when available, in general I prefer the rangefinder, including long/fast lenses.

[Keith (M)]

26 minutes ago, stephan54 said:

I do not own those lenses, but prefer the rangefinder with the apo 135.

No problem focussing my 50mm Summilux-M ASPH or APO 135mm with the rangefinder. The only time I fit the EVF to my M240 is when I use one of my R lenses.

[mdemeyer]

10 hours ago, Keith (M) said:

No problem focussing my 50mm Summilux-M ASPH or APO 135mm with the rangefinder. The only time I fit the EVF to my M240 is when I use one of my R lenses.

Same here, or for composing on a tripod with very wide lenses.  But I still find the RF easier to focus with those wide lenses. 

Edited August 17, 2019 by mdemeyer

[ru2far2c]

On 8/15/2019 at 9:24 PM, jdlaing said:

When you bring the camera up you only have to turn the ring in one direction to focus instead of back and forth and back and forth and back and forth.

A good habit to be in using a rangefinder or manual lenses on say an SL as well.

[Fedro]

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I use both, but find RF ok to focus: I also keep at infinity, it is easier and faster to focus, but also some of those big lenses will be shorter and less nose heavy as an added bonus

Love EVF for low light - alas the one from the SL is fab all over but not super in low light, hopefully will get fixed with the new version ..

Edited August 17, 2019 by Fedro

[Tragg]

Rangefinder

[oudjunk]

I have owned the 90 cron pre-asph and Noct 1.0 

i do not have problem about the noct with rangefinder 

but i missed the right focus on 90 cron (Leica M10)  and the same case with the summilux 75. 

and i could nail it when i use EVF of Leica SL 

so EVF is easier for me for using these lenses 

[dkmoore]

Rangefinder 98%.

Only use EVF for wide lens landscape or architecture. Would prefer to use rangefinder for this as well if I could. 

[jdlaing]

42 minutes ago, dkmoore said:

Rangefinder 98%.

Only use EVF for wide lens landscape or architecture. Would prefer to use rangefinder for this as well if I could. 

Don’t know why you can’t.

[Malcolm Kays]

Rangefinder. Only use the EVF with 21mm  and 50mm Summicron DR for close-ups

[dkmoore]

2 hours ago, jdlaing said:

Don’t know why you can’t.

You can but it’s much easier/more accurate with 21&18 to use EVF for framing and leveling. I get sloppier results when using just the rangefinder. 

Also, I only use wides or telephoto 2% of the time. I’m 98% between 28, 35, 50. 

[Sam]

I use whatever works best. I don't mind using the EVF at all on the M10. On the M240 it was horribly slow, but sometimes it gave me more keepers than the rangefinder, especially with the Noctilux. The M10 rangefinder seems more precise and I use it a lot, but I will switch to the EVF if I feel I need to, and it performs admirably.

On the new CV 75mm f1.5 the focus throw is very short and the EVF definitely works better for me with that lens.

[rgacpa]

Does the M10 have the same shutter lag using live view as the 240 has? I could never fire the shutter at the moment I wanted using live view with the EVF. Wondering if it’s still the same (shutter is open for live view/EVF, must close then fire for the exposure). So only used the the EVF for landscapes. 

Which begs question number 2: can you see the entire view with EVF magnification? No could do on the 240...

thanks. 

Bob

Edited August 25, 2019 by rgacpa

[Sam]

22 hours ago, rgacpa said:

Does the M10 have the same shutter lag using live view as the 240 has? I could never fire the shutter at the moment I wanted using live view with the EVF. Wondering if it’s still the same (shutter is open for live view/EVF, must close then fire for the exposure). So only used the the EVF for landscapes. 

Which begs question number 2: can you see the entire view with EVF magnification? No could do on the 240...

thanks. 

Bob

It’s much faster but not instantaneous. 

[indergaard]

Rangefinder all the time, except when I'm doing close-up work, half body portraits or headshots. I find the EVF better for these subjects, simply because it removes the framing inaccuracy of the rangefinder when working at approx. 1 meter distance from the subject. The framing inaccuracy of any M is really bad at that distance. Yes, I could manually compensate... But I'd rather just get it right with confidence.

[Photoworks]

I think the EVF is terrible. Soft, slow, long black outs, but one thing have real trouble with it the fact that there is no option to just have magnification or just peeking.

I am using the 90mm in the rangefinder most of the time. 
When EVF is on, none of the focus assist are activated unless I push the Botton in the front. When I do portraits I want to see the eyes expressions and not the peeking.

Leica can do much better in this area

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[jaapv]

The EVF is just an auxiliary system it does what it has to do- nothing more. 

[IkarusJohn]

Depends on the lens I’m using.

The rangefinder on my M cameras is dead accurate (so far), and it is quick and easy.  But, it has the same field of view, regardless of the lens.  That means for longer lenses, you’re focussing a larger proportion of the image.  I have found this to be problematic at times, particularly with fast lenses and the shallower depth of field with longer lenses.

Conversely, with wider lenses, the focusing patch represents a smaller proportion of the image and the lens has inherently greater depth of field.  So, it is better, up to 28mm - beyond 28mm framing is better with the EVF.

The auto-magnification of the EVF image with the M10 is great.  However with lenses like the 28 Summaron-M I’ve found the EVF hopeless as I get no sense of what is in focus and what is not - I prefer the rangefinder.  They are interesting and complementary systems - on the SL, I have no complaints; on the TL2, I prefer the EVF, rather than using the LCD; on the M10, it’s a mix but I do only use focal ranges 21-75.  

All that said, no issue with the 75 Summilux or the 0.95 Noctilux wide open with the rangefinder.  The AA Summicron 90, AA Summicron 75 and 135 lenses were problematic and sold.

Edited September 2, 2019 by IkarusJohn