How do I get manual Focus right on an SL2?

[Mpi]

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I recently bought a SL2 with three lenses (the Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm, the Leica APO-SUMMICRON-SL 35mm f/2, and the Leica Apo-Vario-Elmarit-SL 90-280 mm). I bought this because of the lenses. I mostly do landscape and woodland photography and the vario-emarit lenses allow me to travel with less weight (I know that this is counter-intuitive - but with the Nikon I carry many prime lenses as I am not happy enough with their zooms - with the Leica I typically just carry one zoom lens).

Generally I am super impresses with the SL2. I would say the only thing the Nikon does much better is auto focus. For the stuff I shoot I usually don't care about AF anyways, however it happened already a few times that I had to focus manually because the AF simply didn't want to focus where I wanted it to (even with spot focusing which is usually my default). But again, this is fine (I often use my 58mm Noct which is MF only so I am used to MF). But manual focus is imho also not great for two reasons:

1. The focus ring turns in the opposite direction (I don't care which one is "right" and which is "wrong" - for me this simply means I typically start by focusing towards the opposite direction than I wanted).
2. I can't figure out a way in the SL2 to figure out at which distance the focus currently is, and this drives me absolutely crazy!

Is there anything I miss for 2? I understand that the lens is doing focus by wire and MF lenses are usually nicer to use for manual focus. However, my Nikon gives me a nice indicator in the view finder or read LCD display (see attached image) which is super useful to get an idea where you currently are. Is there anything similar on the SL2? Or is my technique completely off and I am doing something wrong?

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[Slender]

Yes, you are missing something

Set the camera to Manual Focus mode. Then, half press the shutter release while you manualy focus the lens (you can also AF via pressing the rear joystick.... I like this a lot) =

You know can see your close, mid and rear focus distances (hyperfocal style) on the top screen.

Dont forget to update your lenses with latest lens firmware 2.1 to access the greatly improved linear focus function. You can now also select your favorite rotation course for each lense from 90˚ to 360˚ (up to 720 with "maximum" but that is non linear). You can find this firmware at the bottom of the leica SL2s download page on the Leica website (doesnt matter any SL camera can do this update). Repeat for every lens.

Edited December 30, 2020 by Slender

[Mpi]

Amazing, I never checked the top display 😀 This is super useful, especially while having it on a tripod. When using handheld I guess I still would prefer something on the screen/evf - but oh well I guess there's always pro and cons for any two camera systems. Thanks for the explanation @Slender!

[Slender]

You can use the focus peaking (and select color/strengh of it) whilst MF in the EVF. It also works with magnification if I remember correctly.

[Mpi]

Yes, the peaking I was aware and turned it on. Really the main problem is that if I’m completely out of focus, I might not know in which direction I should turn the ring 😄. The Nikon will tell me in which direction to turn (you can see the small arrow to the left of the battery gage on my picture above), but I don’t think this would be possible on the SL2 (as it doesn’t have phase detection). 
 

Using the joystick to let AF give me a first approximation is sometimes helpful. I don’t like the position of it though (it’s too far to the left, so I have to let go of the grip in order to reach it). Also, it happened once that the AF simply refused to focus on the foreground, in this case AF is way of (but at least I know where the focus is). 

Edited December 30, 2020 by Mpi

[SrMi]

4 minutes ago, Mpi said:

Yes, the peaking I was aware and turned it on. Really the main problem is that if I’m completely out of focus, I might not know in which direction I should turn the ring 😄. The Nikon will tell me in which direction to turn (you can see the small arrow to the left of the battery gage on my picture above), but I don’t think this would be possible on the SL2 (as it doesn’t have phase detection). 
 

Using the joystick to let AF give me a first approximation is sometimes helpful. I don’t like the position of it though (is too far to the left, so I have to let go of the grill in order to reach it). Also, it happened once that the AF simply refused to focus on the foreground, in this case AF is way of (but at least I know where the focus is). 

Have you tried using Field instead of Spot AF metering?

[Mpi]

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I am not sure, I was on a walk with the missus - which has the drawback that I typically get very little time as she quickly gets bored when I take pictures 😄

 I’m sure that over time I will get more used to the camera and as a result the AF will fail less often on me. But I still use MF quite often and wanted to know how other people use it. 

[Dr. G]

4 hours ago, SrMi said:

Have you tried using Field instead of Spot AF metering?

I still don’t understand why, but I seem to get better AF performance (more images in critical focus) in Field rather than point.  You would think point would be more precise.  Does anyone have the same experience?

[SrMi]

37 minutes ago, Dr. G said:

I still don’t understand why, but I seem to get better AF performance (more images in critical focus) in Field rather than point.  You would think point would be more precise.  Does anyone have the same experience?

I speculate that with field there is larger area to find enough contrast to focus on.

[michali]

11 hours ago, Slender said:

...........You know can see your close, mid and rear focus distances (hyperfocal style) on the top screen ............

Thanks Slender- now that you've mentioned this, it's the first time I've noticed this. Very helpful. 

Best Mike

[Slender]

Happy to help.

For the focus ring direction, it's Nikon who played english style for too long you will get used to it.
I am surprised to hear OP needs to break the grip to reach rear joystick button AF.... I have not too large hands and manage to do this without letting go.

[SrMi]

Note that the focus distance displayed in top LCD is not very exact, i.e., it does not match the numbers provided by laser rangefinders. I have seen 20% difference.

[Mpi]

16 hours ago, Slender said:

I am surprised to hear OP needs to break the grip to reach rear joystick button AF.... I have not too large hands and manage to do this without letting go.

I have quite large hands (I am a tall guy). Maybe it's also just a getting used to - but the placement of the joystick on my Nikon feels much better (the joystick itself is worse...). I don't need to let go of the grip fully to reach it, but in my natural hand position I can't reach it.

I was wondering whether there's a way of giving feedback to Leica? 

[Jeff S]

19 hours ago, michali said:

Thanks Slender- now that you've mentioned this, it's the first time I've noticed this. Very helpful. 

Best Mike

Borrowed from the S system, and perfect way to dial in hyper focal distance for landscapes, etc (set just as infinity is reached so near distance to infinity is in focus). David Farkas (Leica Miami) swears by this technique.

Jeff

[Jeff S]

I also prefer back button (joystick) AF, as this decouples focus from the shutter release.  I also like to set auto magnification to kick in with a twist of the focus ring.  A touch of the shutter button brings back full view.  Focus peaking is distracting and unnecessary for me, so I disable it.  
 

The new FW is a must for MF, finally allowing linear focusing and flexibility to dial in focus throw.  It also eliminated the zoom noises on my SL 24-90 (as many others similarly report).

Jeff

[SrMi]

7 minutes ago, Jeff S said:

I also prefer back button (joystick) AF, as this decouples focus from the shutter release.  I also like to set auto magnification to kick in with a twist of the focus ring.  A touch of the shutter button brings back full view.  Focus peaking is distracting and unnecessary for me, so I disable it.  
 

The new FW is a must for MF, finally allowing linear focusing and flexibility to dial in focus throw.  It also eliminated the zoom noises on my SL 24-90 (as many others similarly report).

Jeff

Are you thinking of MF Setup (Standard MF, 90, 120, ... degrees)? It is still disabled in FW 2.0.

[Jeff S]

14 minutes ago, SrMi said:

Are you thinking of MF Setup (Standard MF, 90, 120, ... degrees)? It is still disabled in FW 2.0.

Yes, it’s available on the SL2-S FW download page, for lenses, and works perfectly on the SL2 as well (except I think for the SL 16-35 and SL 50 Summilux).  My 24-90, 90-280 and SL75 now have linear focus and focus throw options on my SL2.

Bottom of following page...

https://us.leica-camera.com/Photography/Leica-SL/Leica-SL2-S/Downloads

Jeff

Edited January 1, 2021 by Jeff S

[SrMi]

28 minutes ago, Jeff S said:

Yes, it’s available on the SL2-S FW download page, for lenses, and works perfectly on the SL2 as well (except I think for the SL 16-35 and SL 50 Summilux).  My 24-90, 90-280 and SL75 now have linear focus and focus throw options on my SL2.

Bottom of following page...

https://us.leica-camera.com/Photography/Leica-SL/Leica-SL2-S/Downloads

Jeff

Oh, wonderful! Thanks a lot!

 

[matted]

Bringing up this old thread as I am in a similar boat as OP, and am wondering if anything has changed with SL2-S since launch? Is there still no way to get focus distance information on the EVF/rear LCD, and no way to reverse the focus ring direction? Looking at the top LCD is not convenient while shooting video, and I know the focus ring direction is the "right way", and fine for me when focusing directly on the lens, however my Tilta follow focus is the "wrong" way to me. For now I have mounted the FF above the lens so it is flipped and behaves as expected, however this is not ideal for a few reasons. Of course I could buy a reversing gear or a different FF unit that is bi-directional, however reversing the ring in menu would be the easiest solution. Thanks!

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