Steps for focusing and SL2 with an M lens

[marcg]

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I wonder if somebody could just take me through how this works in a sort of bullet pointed chronology. If it's already posted somewhere else then I'm sorry to ask it again – and maybe somebody could then just link me to the steps – or even a video – but seeing it written out here by people who know would be a very good start.

Ta

[Macberg]

I'm not sure if I understand your question right, but very basically, you should do these steps:

• Mount the M-lens with an adapter (M-adapter L or M-adapter T) on your SL2.
• If it is a 6-bit-coded lens, the SL2 chooses the lens-profile itself, otherwise you'll have to choose the lens manually in the menu.
• Choose an aperture and a shutterspeed, so that the depth of field and exposure is as you want it.
• Turn the focusring of your M-lens, until the desired part of the image is sharp (there is a colour-indication that helps you - in the basic setting, it is red).
• Press the shutter-release button.

 

 

Edited March 6, 2020 by Macberg

[profus]

47 minutes ago, Macberg said:

I'm not sure if I understand your question right, but very basically, you should do these steps:

• Mount the M-lens with an adapter (M-adapter L or M-adapter T) on your SL2.
• If it is a 6-bit-coded lens, the SL2 chooses the lens-profile itself, otherwise you'll have to choose the lens manually in the menu.
• Choose an aperture and a shutterspeed, so that the depth of field and exposure is as you want it.
• Turn the focusring of your M-lens, until the desired part of the image is sharp (there is a colour-indication that helps you - in the basic setting, it is red).
• Press the shutter-release button.

 

 

- Do not forget zoom-in option for critical focus (if needed). You can actually choose any point of the image to be zoomed in and that very point is now also being remembered between two (or more) shots - something it was greatly missed on SL.
Great feature imho

[marcg]

Thank you – that is very helpful.

Do I take it that there is no need to stop down? You don't need to focus with the lens open and then close it down to your intended f-stop before pressing the release button.

[marcg]

Also – I gather that it only works this smoothly with a Leica adapter – yes?

Edited March 6, 2020 by marcg

[Rob L]

I use the SL2 exactly as I do my Sony A7RIV. Top left button is set to magnify, but stock setup with one of the front button works fine. No focus peaking, or auto magnification. I move the focus point to where I want it and hit the magnify button to focus. Always at taking aperture.

[marcg]

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Thanks. This sounds great. I had read somewhere that you always had to remember to stop down – but that doesn't seem to be correct with this camera.

I remember in the very old days I used to shoot with a camera – maybe it was a Zenit – and I kept on forgetting to stop down.

[Rob L]

Yes, focusing wide open, then stopping down can introduce some focus shift with some lenses, and with a good electronic viewfinder there is no need to focus wide open anyway. In good light, with many lenses, you can often omit the magnification step and just use the shimmer in the viewfinder like focus peaking.

[Macberg]

vor 3 Stunden schrieb marcg:

Also – I gather that it only works this smoothly with a Leica adapter – yes?

It also seems to work with the novoflex adapter, but then you always need to choose the lens manually. However, I talked to two customers who were using the novoflex adapter when I bought the SL2 and they both complained about the adapter fitting a little bit loose either on the Body or the lens (I can't remember which).

vor 2 Stunden schrieb marcg:

Thanks. This sounds great. I had read somewhere that you always had to remember to stop down – but that doesn't seem to be correct with this camera.

I remember in the very old days I used to shoot with a camera – maybe it was a Zenit – and I kept on forgetting to stop down.

With the SL2's viewfinder, you can use whatever aperture you want. If I had to stop down I would never have bought the SL2 to use my M-lenses.

[Jk1002]

Not to open the aperture which I understood was required with the SL would be an argument for the upgrade from SL to SL2, not seen this one in the reviews but great news.

[marcg]

Would one have to step down with aLeica lens on a Nikon z7?

[Joakim]

Why would the choice between focusing wide open and then stopping down or focusing stopped down be different for the SL2 compared to other mirrorless cameras?

Edited March 7, 2020 by Joakim

[marcg]

Good question – although I understand that it may be connected to the quality of the viewfinder on the SL2

[BernardC]

3 hours ago, Jk1002 said:

Not to open the aperture which I understood was required with the SL would be an argument for the upgrade from SL to SL2, not seen this one in the reviews but great news.

The SL does not require you to open the aperture to focus. In fact, it's better if you focus stopped-down. The only exception is if you are shooting at f:11 or smaller, in which case you will want to open-up to a mid aperture (5.6) in order to focus.

[Macberg]

This seems new to me - I have never used a different aperture for focusing than for actually taking the picture. Can someone explain to me what that procedure is good for?

[marcg]

Opening the apertures simply brightens the view and makes it easier to focus. I suppose if you have very high quality and high resolution viewfinders then maybe this is not necessary.

[Rob L]

Opening the aperture gives you less depth of field, so potentially more accurate focusing in some cases, if the lens does not suffer from focus shift. Bit a very slow and cumbersome way to shoot and stopping down again  after acquiring focus can be risky, as you may disturb focus settings. I suppose this could work well for landscape use on a tripod, again, depending on the lens.

[marcg]

Yes, I have forgotten aspect. That's even more important than the brightness

[Jon Warwick]

With the M lens (using a Leica M-L adapter) on the SL2, when I go into the menu for “Focusing”, both the top “Focus Mode” and bottom “MF Setup” are in gray and I can’t click any further into them. 

My camera recognises my M lens automatically, so fine there.

But is the above what one should expect?

Also, I have “auto magnification” switched “on” to enlarge the image when turning the focus ring - but nothing happens when I do turn the focus ring!

also, with my ear up against the camera, it’s permanently making a very low humming noise, a bit like an air conditioning sound?

Installed firmware is 1.0.

Any suggestions?

Edited March 12, 2020 by Jon Warwick

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica L-Mount

[Exodies]

The camera has no way of knowing that you have turned the focus ring on an M lens. You have to press one of the buttons to bring up magnification.