Visoflex - Hit or Miss?

[pedaes]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

1 hour ago, marcg said:

Well I find it very difficult to tell when the peaking is absolutely at its peak. It would be nice if you could adjust the sensitivity of it.

Of course using it without peaking it is possibly more accurate – but I find that the rangefinder patch is absolutely accurate – although more time-consuming.

Do you have the menu set so that it gives a magnified view as soon as you move the focus ring (same as pressing button on front of body)? 

[marcg]

edit - yes I do for some profiles

Edited September 18, 2020 by marcg

[Advertisement]

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

[SrMi]

2 hours ago, marcg said:

Well I find it very difficult to tell when the peaking is absolutely at its peak. It would be nice if you could adjust the sensitivity of it.

Of course using it without peaking it is possibly more accurate – but I find that the rangefinder patch is absolutely accurate – although more time-consuming.

Are you focusing wide open? I find it difficult to focus with closed aperture. Also, with wide-angle lenses, focusing with rangefinder is more precise than with Visoflex.

[cboy]

I used it for typ113. Extremely laggy experience.It takes a second or so to register and the evf to showup upon you put the evf to your eye.

Depending on the use case, particularly for street photography, it can be terribly annoying. It feels like a pre shutter blackout. 

I dont know if its possible to set it up so as to continously engage the evf so it doesnt turn off.

I got an ovf instead to not get this laggy experience

Its really disconcerting for rangefinder user imho..The blackout problem is primarily the reason i switched from a dslr!!! It like saying to yourself why bother using a rangefinder when your experience is like a dslr or cheap evf camera?? It drove me crazy so i sold it.

However i do recognise it really depends on use case such as landscape and portraiture, which would benifit to achieve critical focus. Street photography, at least for me is no bueno.

It would better to buy a optical magnifier or contrast lens.

[pedaes]

28 minutes ago, cboy said:

I used it for typ113

We were discussing 020. Also see #13.

[cboy]

Yes the leica x (type113) also uses the visoflex 020. Just adding my two cents worth on its usage...

Edited September 19, 2020 by cboy

[SrMi]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

6 hours ago, cboy said:

I used it for typ113. Extremely laggy experience.It takes a second or so to register and the evf to showup upon you put the evf to your eye.

Depending on the use case, particularly for street photography, it can be terribly annoying. It feels like a pre shutter blackout. 

I dont know if its possible to set it up so as to continously engage the evf so it doesnt turn off.

I got an ovf instead to not get this laggy experience

Its really disconcerting for rangefinder user imho..The blackout problem is primarily the reason i switched from a dslr!!! It like saying to yourself why bother using a rangefinder when your experience is like a dslr or cheap evf camera?? It drove me crazy so i sold it.

However i do recognise it really depends on use case such as landscape and portraiture, which would benifit to achieve critical focus. Street photography, at least for me is no bueno.

It would better to buy a optical magnifier or contrast lens.

The issue you describe occurs if you have live view in auto mode (switching between LCD and EVF). With M10, I have the Live View Screen Target set to EVF, which means that EVF is always on and always ready. While on Typ 113, the standard operation is live view on LCD, this is not the case with M10.

[mujk]

A rangefinder/ovf is accurate for focusing as long as its inherent accuracy, determined by the rangefinder base length and viewfinder magnification, is sufficient for the lens used (focal length+aperture) and the lens+rangefinder system is correctly calibrated. The aperture set on the lens does not affect the focusing process as such, but depth of field (dof) naturally affects the final image. The rangefinder does not compensate for possible focus shift of the lens (focus changes with aperture).

Manual focusing accuracy using a matte screen (e.g. in a dslr) or live view/evf (including the Viso 020) is dependent on how well the photographer can determine when correct focus is achieved by looking at the image, because this is shown as seen through the lens. Critical focus is easier to achieve by using focusing aids such as magnification and peaking in live view/evf. It is also easier to determine exact focus at maximum aperture, because dof is then smaller than when stopped down. Unlike all modern dslr and mirrorless lenses, Leica M lenses don't have an aperture that closes down automatically to the preset value before exposure. So the photgrapher needs to stop down to the desired aperture before pressing the shutter (unless shooting wide open). This is a rather slow process and, if the lens exhibits focus shift, this will not be compensated for.

Manual focusing using live view/viso with the lens stopped down to the desired aperture is in theory an accurate way of focusing, but in practice it is often hard to determine critical focus at smaller apertures because of large dof, particularly with wide angle lenses.

[rramesh]

I moved from an M9-P to an M10-P and what attracted me to the change was the possibility to take photos from a low angle with a Visoflex.

After buying the M10-P, I am still getting to grips with a Visoflex which I have borrowed from a friend. I don't really like the focus peaking which seems so unnatural unlike the rangefinder. I wish there was a way to simply frame the shot at 90 degrees.

[graphlex]

There used to be a right-angle finder, an optical one. 

[mdemeyer]

Focus peaking is not a good tool for critical focusing.  It’s a “faster” focus aid than magnification, but magnification is the only way to achieve critical focus with an EVF unless, of course, the EVF has sufficient resolution and optical quality to not need it.  But I agree that magnification is a relatively slow technique.  I use it for architecture and landscape, usually on a tripod.  RF (or autofocus on other camera systems) for moving targets. 

Frankly I’m surprised how often people complain about the focus imprecision of peaking.  It’s not a very good system for precise work.   That should be well understood by now...

[Ecniv]

Hi

I had an m typ240 with evf. Very useful for ceilings in church/cathedrals. 

Just upgraded to m10 plus visio. Seems brighter and bigger. Not played fully yet

Perhaps a battery drainer? 

[Tailwagger]

I will add that, IMO,  EVF usability with the new M10-R sensor is noticeably improved. Rendering is far smoother with lower noise levels, particularly when zooming for focus.  The price, however, is a slightly more noticeable blackout period.