SL2 EVF noise when zoomIng to focus using M lenses

[eev776]

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I was trying Leica SL2 with M lenses and noticed lots of noise in EVF when I was zoomIng with the joystick to focus using my M lenses.
My Leica CL gives me absolutely clear view in EVF, but SL2 shows surprisingly weird noise.

Is this ever happened to anybody, any suggestions?

[thatkatmat]

Is it the capture assistant (colored)?

[Photoworks]

Are you using f 16 and trying to focus?

[eev776]

Yes

[eev776]

2 hours ago, Photoworks said:

Are you using f 16 and trying to focus?

No

[eev776]

2 hours ago, thatkatmat said:

Is it the capture assistant (colored)?

Yes

[eev776]

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Just to mention I was sing ISO 100 as well. I noticed with CL EVF if you increase ISO, you'll start getting that noise when you zoom in EVF.

[Jared]

Was it poor light?

Here is a scenario... You are shooting indoors.  You plan on using a tripod or a strobe or just hope you can get away with IBIS so you are leaving it at ISO 100.  You have the f-stop on the lens set to f/2 (if it’s a Summicron-M, for example) and the indicated shutter speed is, perhaps, 1/8s.  You think, “No problem.  I’ve got IBIS.  Should be fine.”

What you may not realize is that your EVF is running at either 60fps or 120fps.  So even though your shutter speed when you take the picture is going to be 1/8s, the electronic shutter speed the camera is using to show you an image in the viewfinder is more like 1/125s.  That means the camera is actually running at a gain of ISO 1600 just for the viewfinder to show a correct exposure.  The final image may be at ISO 100, but the viewfinder sure isn’t.  So there is noise.  Not much at something like ISO 1600, but it’s there.  Now, you start to focus so you magnify things.  Now the ISO1600 noise suddenly becomes visible.  Plus, the noise is different every 1/60s, and your eye is very sensitive to changes like that.  So the noise becomes visible.

Jus because the camera is set to ISO 100 does it mean the viewfinder is.  Often the viewfinder image is with a higher gain just so the camera can correctly simulate your final result without showing a lot of motion blur and viewfinder lag.

[Jared]

By the way, this would happen with any lenses, not just M lenses, as soon as you zoom in.  Try it under brighter light and I bet the noise goes away.  

[eev776]

On 8/24/2020 at 7:57 PM, Jared said:

By the way, this would happen with any lenses, not just M lenses, as soon as you zoom in.  Try it under brighter light and I bet the noise goes away.  

Thank you! Very interesting, I’ll try it next time I get SL2.

[SrMi]

The difference between shooting with M vs. L lenses is that with M lenses, the camera/user focuses at working aperture. In contrast, with L lenses, the camera/user focuses wide open. With M lenses, you typically get less light on the sensor unless you always open the lens wide when focusing (that is what I do).

[Jared]

26 minutes ago, SrMi said:

The difference between shooting with M vs. L lenses is that with M lenses, the camera/user focuses at working aperture. In contrast, with L lenses, the camera/user focuses wide open. With M lenses, you typically get less light on the sensor unless you always open the lens wide when focusing (that is what I do).

Unless your lens has a significant amount of focus shift, it’s definitely a good idea to focus wide open as you are doing.  That gives you your shallowest depth of field and therefore the most accurate focus.  It’s definitely a hassle, but it works well.

One other thing to think about when focusing M lenses on an SL is field curvature. Depending on the lens, the field curvature can be significant. Ideally when using the above technique one would compose first, then move the magnification area onto your subject for focusing.  That way, if your subject doesn’t happen to be near the center of your frame, you will still get a sharp result even though the lens may not have a flat field.

Obviously, this technique only works for static subjects. It’s comparatively time consuming—a few seconds at a minimum.  It is also overkill for many photographs that don’t depend on bightingly sharp focus for effectiveness or for subjects where you are going to stop down anyway to increase depth of field.  

[Dukenuken]

Hi,

I'm having the same "problem" with my SL2, magnifying to 100% I get a noisy/blurry image. I tried it in daylight at f1.4, at 60fps and 120fps, etc..... And I get the same result... although it is functional in the sense that you can actually focus but the image quality in the EVF noticeable inferior for example to the Sony A7r3 when you magnify at 100%.

Of course when you are not zooming/magnifying the image in the EVF is far superior in the SL2 compared to the Sony A7r3.

Anyway, I'm posting here just to see if there is anyone here that did try the SL2S and SL2 and made a comparison between both EVF while zooming/ magnifying because I remember reading in a Leica press note something about "improved image quality in the EVF while zooming".