Need help with manual focus accuracy on Leica S

[aksclix]

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59 minutes ago, helged said:

Regarding manual focus of S-lenses - for moving subjects - S70 is a fine lens to play with. A good, but much more challenging candidate is S120 (certainly wide open, but also stopped down a little). And if you really want to go enter into (very) difficult territory, try the S180... So when you mention Mamiya 200mm f2.8, things get even harder.

An additional factor is unsharpness because of the operator's hands/body, mirror-slap, shutter mechanism, etc. Camera shake also depends on the shutter speed and possibly the lens used (since different weights - and likely the position of centre of mass of the system) influence the 'vibration', or resonance, of the system. If the S-body had image and/or lens stabilisation like SL2x or the Panasonic Lumix Sx (or GFX for that sake), camera shake would be much more controllable. 

Manual focus of moving subjects with S is fun, but easy it is not. At least not for me...

I chose the Mamiya 200 over the S180 because it came at 1/3rd of the price, used.. I also stumbled upon this page with lots of sample images that pushed me towards the Mamiya.. although it was manual focus.. 
https://www.pebbleplace.com/reviews/medium_format/mamiya_200mm_apo/index.html

I got the S only for pleasure shooting as I have the GFX 100s, X1D and SL2 for my main projects.. I had the S 120 but sold it after being frustrated with it on the SL2.. I agree it's great quality but I wasn't going to manual focus an AF lens.. macro isnt all that important to me and I do have a TL 60 macro and Pentax 645 120 f4 macro when I need one.. 

I was very close to getting the S180 but went with the 200 Mamiya in the end.. Will just have to practice my manual focusing a bit 

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

[lx1713]

Thanks everyone, I was doing a bit of research for the S3 when I came across this thread. I had tried the S2 before long ago but I have forgotten how it handled. I have a question regarding the focusing screen. I believe the default screen for the S3 is a full groundglass screen.

For those with perfect eyesight, is it easy to nail focus on small details? Say the eyes in a full length portrait at wide open aperture of the 120mm macro.

I went from a Canon 1DmIII to mirrorless and I was never 100% thrilled with focusing accuracies of the 1D. It was good, just not great because of the mirror mechanisms not being easily calibrated.

I know my final decision is going to be an in-person test of the actual purchase camera but I like to know the general experience of others. Now I'm primarily an SL - SL2S & Q2 user. Love them and will not give them up but I'm finding a need for medium format files. I'm actually not thrilled to go to the S3 but needs may drive my decision. However I do like the thought of going back to OVF.

I'm also quite comfortable with manual focusing rather than relying on AF.

[ben446]

On 3/9/2021 at 11:27 AM, Stuart Richardson said:

I have not had an S body with accurate manual focus yet, but the AF confirmation has always been right. But, everyone's experience is different! MF would get me close, but it would always be slightly off. Close enough to get accurate, except in the S3 where it is truly off and needs to go back to Leica. Anyway, it is what it is.

How is this possible? My 007 is struggling with consistent manual focus accuracy.  Back button and zone are dead on. How can their 'ultimate' professional camera not have accurate manual focus? It kinda takes half the fun out of it. Its going back to Germany to get the card door armor repaired. Is it too much to expect that even after they give it a tune up that manual focus will work? Should I be sending all my S glass in with the camera?

[BernardC]

10 hours ago, ben446 said:

How is this possible? My 007 is struggling with consistent manual focus accuracy.  Back button and zone are dead on. How can their 'ultimate' professional camera not have accurate manual focus?

No SLR can have perfect manual focus. That's a limitation of the technology, and of the human eye. The only way to get perfect focus is by looking at the actual image on the sensor at high magnification, which you can do with the S-007 and S3. I find that I can nail focus most of the time in the viewfinder, but it takes lots of practice and experience.

 

 

[ben446]

37 minutes ago, BernardC said:

No SLR can have perfect manual focus. That's a limitation of the technology, and of the human eye. The only way to get perfect focus is by looking at the actual image on the sensor at high magnification, which you can do with the S-007 and S3. I find that I can nail focus most of the time in the viewfinder, but it takes lots of practice and experience.

 

 

Thank you for the clarification. The manual focus on my S-007 can be way off and seems to be getting worse. (Crisp in OVF, blurry file) After further testing, it does appear that with bbf, the image in the OVF is actually slightly out of focus but the file is in focus. Hopefully a recalibration will fix the manual focus to manageable usability.

[irenedp]

I can get almost perfect focus in the S3 looking in liveview at 100%. On the S2, I just have to use autofocus -manual doesn't cut it-.

[ben446]

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5 hours ago, ben446 said:

Thank you for the clarification. The manual focus on my S-007 can be way off and seems to be getting worse. (Crisp in OVF, blurry file) After further testing, it does appear that with bbf, the image in the OVF is actually slightly out of focus but the file is in focus. Hopefully a recalibration will fix the manual focus to manageable usability.

FWIW, with further trouble shooting when using bbf, the image in the OVF appears to be in focus or pretty close.  May depend on lens, f-stop etc. Again files are sharp. Manual focus is consistently off as previously stated.

[ben446]

Reseting S-007 seems to have fixed manual focus calibration issue for now.  Don't know why I didn’t think to do that earlier. I guess I thought it was a physical adjustment. Also confirmed that my eyes are no longer really capable of consistent tack sharp focus on the 24 or mid to distant objects 🥲  Again bbf, zone and live view focus assist are very effective 😁