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SL2 - assign crop (aps-c) mode to function key?


Aktenschrank

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Yes I know it woul

11 hours ago, digitalfx said:

It is not possible because the lens does not cover full frame. The TL lenses are APS-C lenses, therefor if you were able to turn off APS-C mode the image would not fill the frame

Yes I know it would not fit the frame, but for various creative purposes I have done this on my Sony A7 series cameras, with Sony APS-C lenses for some rather interesting effects or larger crops where vignetting would not matter

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17 hours ago, fixedwheel said:

How can the tracking success increase just because the EVF is magnified? The TL lens is only covering the APS-C sized part of the sensor, therefore the number of focus points is actually REDUCED because there are fewer being covered by the lens.

You don’t get to use the FF’s 225 focus pint all at once in any of the AF settings.

APSC mode helps to enlarge the subject in reference to the AFC window (which does not enlarges going into APSC mode) making the locking AF tracking of the subject easier compared to 35mm mode. In the event when your subject is sufficiently large, there is no need for this function. 

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Back to the OP's original question, I agree that this would be a useful function which would aid creativity in the field.

Similarly, it would be nice to be able to assign selection of a different aspect ratio (1x1, widescreen etc) to a button (as on Nikon, Sony etc) but apparently this can only be done by going into the menus, which makes is way less usable.

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Absolutely agree with @deekay. So to summarise it would be great

1. to be able to assign a FN button to cycle through a set of crop "percentages". For example 1st press= crop in 80%, 2nd press= crop in 50% and so on, or to make it more "Leica-like" it could be cycling through different crop options based on the lens you have attached. So if you have a 50 attached it will cycle through 75,90,135 crop options, if you have a 90 attached, it will be 135,200 etc.

2. to be able to assign pre-defined (or even custom) aspect ratios to another FN button, that work in conjunction with crop mode above.

All of this non-destructively, meaning the full resolution file is saved to card and the crop carried over to Lightroom where it could be altered after the fact. All of this would enable precise composing while on location utilising the full (crop) potential of the high-res sensor. 

Anyway, maybe Leica is listening:)

Edited by Aktenschrank
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12 minutes ago, Exodies said:

Why would you care what the crop or aspect ratio was? Does the frame contain what you want in your picture?

Quite agree. If you need a viewfinder to decide your crop, are you really composing your image yourself? A bit of training of visualisation skills seems in order.

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1 hour ago, Exodies said:

Why would you care what the crop or aspect ratio was? Does the frame contain what you want in your picture?

Not sure I understand what you mean. Since I'm photographing mostly (intimate) landscape type images I do care about aspect ratio, as well as the crop. To illustrate what I mean, maybe a quick scenario: While on a hiking trip (only brought a wide angle zoom & 50 lens, to keep the weight down) I realise some nice abstract cloud formations in the sky. I need more reach than 50 for them to fill the frame. I also would like a 4x5 aspect ratio. So today with teh SL2 I would have to fiddle with the menus to get an aps-c crop or shoot the scene with the 50, trying to remember 3 month later that for this specific picture I had a 90 crop and 4x5 aspect ration in mind when shooting it. If I would be able to crop & set aspect ration in camera quickly using FN buttons I would do this right there on location and be done with it. Seems logical, to me at least. And this way of thinking/shooting is, at least for me, the whole point of having high-res sensors that allow for more severe cropping....

Edited by Aktenschrank
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36 minutes ago, jaapv said:

And any other aspect ratios? How many of these presets would the camera need? - there are infinite ways to crop an image.

For me at least I'm sticking to a few standard aspects to make printing & matting easier. So having the standard ones + maybe 2-3 custom ratios I entered available to toggle using a Fn button would be great.

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4 hours ago, digitalfx said:

Personally I own Leica precisely because its not the convoluted mess called Sony.

 

Agree, I love Leica for being smart about how they present option to the user and make it a seamless experience. But not for simply NOT providing kind of basic functionality... Remember, all this thread was about is to be able to assign crop modes and aspect ratios to Fn buttons, so they're accessible without diving into the menus (which btw nobody has to do if they have different shooting style:)

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9 minutes ago, Aktenschrank said:

Agree, I love Leica for being smart about how they present option to the user and make it a seamless experience. But not for simply NOT providing kind of basic functionality... Remember, all this thread was about is to be able to assign crop modes and aspect ratios to Fn buttons, so they're accessible without diving into the menus (which btw nobody has to do if they have different shooting style:)

Me too, and good point.

This lack makes it more convoluted than Sony because in the Sony it can be cleanly assigned to a function button.😄😄😄

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7 hours ago, jaapv said:

I understand but other people will prefer other crops. How many aspect ratios should Leica provide? 

3x2, 4x3, 5x4, 2x1, 1x1, 16x9 ....... the S1R has most of these plus the rather bizarre 65X24 which is presumably something go do with video. I use them all the time.

They are supremely useful to have in Landscape Photography where 'edge patrol' avoiding unwanted stuff in the periphery is a constant issue. Far better to compose to the aspect ratio that suits the scene and be sure things are correct in camera than some awkward surprises in processing. Also seeing the image as it will be finally visualised on LR gives a much better idea of the compositional balance than just imagining it based on a grid in the EVF or LCD. If you are remotely serious about composition then the ability to crop in camera to various common aspect ratios is extremely useful, particularly if you print or intend to create photo-books with the end results. It's very easy to discount a scene as presented in the camera as so-so..... and then find it suddenly makes sense and works really well as a 1x1 or 16x9. I contrast I used to snap and crop later in the hope something would be produced..... now I can cycle rapidly through the options and quickly decide whether it's worth spending time on or not. 

The fact these are buried in the menus and not easily accessible or assignable makes them pretty useless as far as I'm concerned, and another reason why the S1R will remain my primary landscape camera. :rolleyes:

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