New Apo Summicron 35mm LV Zoom Question

[oworbs]

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Hi everyone, 

I had the luck to be next on the list for the new Apo Summicron 35mm lens and am in love with it, there is just one little thing that throws me off so far. When you pass the 0,7m distance on the focusing mount to be in the range of 0,7-0,3m focusing you have to use LV or the Visoflex to focus your shot.This is because the rangefinder cannot focus under 0,7m. That is fine, the thing is that the LV zoom option, that auto zooms in to where you set the focus cross on the screen is disabled or does not work. I thought this was a firmware issue as the lens is new but this is not the case. Now it is cumbersome, when using the amazing new close up feature of the lens, you have to manually zoom in with the thumbwheel when you turn the focus mount and anytime you lightly press the shutter to have the lv zoom out again to frame your shot you have to manually do the whole thing again to correct focus if needed. Also I usually have exposure correction set to my thumbwheel wich I now have to set to LV Zoom, so this is an additional feature I loose because of this process. 

Does anyone know about this issue? I would advise Leica to fix this through a FW Update so the auto Zoom is activated in any focusing range. 

Thank you 

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[lct]

On 2/5/2023 at 12:20 PM, oworbs said:

I would advise Leica to fix this through a FW Update so the auto Zoom is activated in any focusing range. 

This is the way it works currently. I have no experience with the 35/2 apo but auto zoom works with any Leica (or non Leica) M-mount lens if it is activated. On the M11, Main Menu page 3, Capture Assistants, Focus aid, Automatic.

Edited February 7, 2023 by lct

[tjxism]

I am not sure what exactly the OP is seeking for. I expect the focus assistance function performs exactly the same for 0.3-0.7m and 0.7m-infinity. The lens doesn't tell the camera it's "focusing", the camera uses the image sensor to determine if one is trying to focus, which isn't very responsive. 

M lenses does not "talk" to the camera body in any way. It is not possible for the camera to know what distance range the lens is at. So, LV (focus assistant) cannot be automatically triggered when you rotate the focus tab to 0.3-0.7 range. 

[oworbs]

19 hours ago, tjxism said:

I am not sure what exactly the OP is seeking for. I expect the focus assistance function performs exactly the same for 0.3-0.7m and 0.7m-infinity. The lens doesn't tell the camera it's "focusing", the camera uses the image sensor to determine if one is trying to focus, which isn't very responsive. 

M lenses does not "talk" to the camera body in any way. It is not possible for the camera to know what distance range the lens is at. So, LV (focus assistant) cannot be automatically triggered when you rotate the focus tab to 0.3-0.7 range. 

But should this not mean that even in the 0,3-0,7 range the sensor should react to the user focusing the same like it does in the 0,7 to inf. Range? 

[lct]

11 minutes ago, oworbs said:

But should this not mean that even in the 0,3-0,7 range the sensor should react to the user focusing the same like it does in the 0,7 to inf. Range? 

It should if the focus cam of the lens doesn't sink too deep into the focus mount for the camera's roller cam to keep in contact with it. On my S-A 21/3.4 the roller cam loses contact between 0.4m and 0.5m but i have no experience with the 35/2 apo.

[tjxism]

9 hours ago, oworbs said:

But should this not mean that even in the 0,3-0,7 range the sensor should react to the user focusing the same like it does in the 0,7 to inf. Range? 

I think I've made a mistake here. The digital M maybe relying on the focus arm movement to trigger focus assistant. Then it won't be triggered for 0.3-0.7 as the arm may be decoupled from the lens due to mechanism limitation. I don't own a short focusing lens so I can't tell for sure. 

Then I will complain about this whole auto focus assistant implementation - it is so slow and unresponsive! If it is hardware triggered, I'd expect it to be triggered instantly with a tiny movement. Now it can't be automatically triggered while fine tweaking the focus, which is the only occasion where I need the function...

[lct]

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9 hours ago, lct said:

[...] On my S-A 21/3.4 the roller cam loses contact between 0.4m and 0.5m [...]

Suffice it to start focusing at 0.5m and above for auto zoom to trigger then. Focus magnification still works down to MFD after that so i suspect it works the same on the 35/2 apo.

[lct]

5 hours ago, tjxism said:

Then I will complain about this whole auto focus assistant implementation - it is so slow and unresponsive! If it is hardware triggered, I'd expect it to be triggered instantly with a tiny movement.

I'd like that too but M lenses are manual so the only way to communicate between the lens and the body, besides 6-bit coding, consists in turning the focus ring of the lens to move the roller cam of the rangefinder. Unique feature of M-mount cameras that nothing can replace so far aside from possible autofocus adapters that don't exist for Leica cameras as of yet.

Edited February 8, 2023 by lct

[oworbs]

This is the price you pay if you turn down to "das wesentliche" :P... god I love my little rangefinder tho!!!!