Panasonic AF moves ahead of SL2 with firmware update

[SJH]

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When I bought the SL2 the month it came out I was buying it with the full knowledge that it doesn't have PDAF and never will have, where I am now is that I feel the camera is really excellent in so many ways but we must help Leica along by highlighting that some 12 months later, with the updates to the Panasonic full frame range, it's now at the bottom in terms of AFC, eye detect etc. Now as photographers we have worked without these features for many years in the past but once they arrive it's good to have and can, although not always, be of significant help in getting the shot you want.

I really like Leica and their culture but I just want to make sure they don't take their foot of the gas with the SL2 firmware updates and ensure they keep certain features current and amongst the rest of the pack. Let's face it if you bought an SL2 for BIF and extreme sports 90% of the time you might manage it but it will be extremely hard work and you've almost certainly bought the wrong camera.

[sillbeers15]

On 11/8/2020 at 7:25 PM, Siran said:

Hi SJH. I’m not very technical I’m afraid but found your comment about the MIII processor having headroom interesting. What does that actually mean - could AF be significantly improved on the existing hardware?

 

 Thanks

Behind the scene, AF has to carry out calculation 400 -500 times per second to keep up with continuous shooting to be delivered with sharp images.

Now if the facts are Panasonic & Leica L mounted cameras can only perform half the frame rates comparing to most mirrorless cameras and the number of AF points are also half in number points to either Contrast Detection requires lots more computation power from processor or the processor itself is under power.

So if algorithm is re written to deliver same or better AF requiring less processing power & time, it certainly speeds up AF-C. There is be no difference with AF-S since only requiring one shot and the AF speed in SL2 is not any slower.