TL2 EVF Extended mode - what am I missing?..

[Yoguko]

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Hi everyone, got myself a minty fresh TL2 to play around with, as well as a Visoflex EVF. 
 

I’m having trouble understanding how to work the different modes on the EVF options. “Auto” works just fine, as intended. What is the “Extended” option supposed to do? All I get is a blank LCD, with the EVF working fine (sensor is ok and it turns on when I bring the camera to my eye), but nothing is displayed on the LCD except for about a second when I shoot an image and it appears momentarily on the LCD. Other than that, nothing else shows on it. Maybe I’m missing something buried in the options?..

With “EVF only”, it also works as intended, with the EVF always on, but being a screen-driven camera, how do I access other options/turn off this mode without having to remove the EVF from the camera?

Camera is on FW 1.5

Thank you 🙂

Edited February 9, 2023 by Yoguko

[NigelG]

Hi Yoguko

I have also found little info from Leica re “Extended” mode which I think was introduced with a FW update.

My guess (and I may be wrong as I don’t use my TL2/Visoflex that often) is that the “Extended” is re battery life whereas I thought it was going to mean “extended options etc”.

I think if you select “EVF Extended” and leave the camera powered-on it only actuates when you bring it to your eye and the EVF sensor triggers.

The downside of this is you need to set the top button to trigger the main menu otherwise you can’t change any of your parameters eg. what the L and R wheels control - which sometimes caught me out and led to me pulling the  Visoflex off so I could access the graphic menus.

I would love it if someone could explain it properly as the instructions are non-existent…

[Yoguko]

Thank you NigelG

I always assumed the extended option was similar to other Leica cameras with that option, where the image is shown in the EVF and the parameters are shown on the LCD. And yes, in this mode, the EVF is off until you take your eye to it, unlike the EVF only option, where it’s always on. But I don’t think it’s anything to do with extending battery life, if I’m honest.

I just can’t find any info online about this, except for a very brief mention when FW 1.4 was released, but nothing that explains how it actually works.

I’m guessing this was a very generic FW for several cameras, some with physical buttons, others without, and it just wasn’t thought through properly for buttonless cameras.

[Dopaco]

On 9/2/2023 at 20:27, Yoguko said:

Hola a todos, me compré un TL2 fresco y mentolado para jugar, así como un Visoflex EVF. 
 

Con "Solo EVF", también funciona según lo previsto, con el EVF siempre encendido, pero al ser una cámara controlada por pantalla, ¿cómo accedo a otras opciones/apago este modo sin tener que quitar el EVF de la cámara?

La cámara está en FW 1.5

gracias 🙂

The most recent firmware for TL 2 is 1.5, with firmware 1.4 being the biggest contributor in terms of new menu items.

I don't know why Leica didn't post information to attach to the original instruction manual and let each TL2 user figure it out for himself.

For example, on page 205 of the Original Manual, the menu item that would correspond to 6e, (EVF-LCD) is missing. See the image on page 205 attached and marked with a colored circle.

 

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[Yoguko]

17 minutes ago, Dopaco said:

The most recent firmware for TL 2 is 1.5, with firmware 1.4 being the biggest contributor in terms of new menu items.

I don't know why Leica didn't post information to attach to the original instruction manual and let each TL2 user figure it out for himself.

For example, on page 205 of the Original Manual, the menu item that would correspond to 6e, (EVF-LCD) is missing. See the image on page 205 attached and marked with a colored circle.

 

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Thank you Dopaco, I did see this a while back but wondered if it was just a mistake, but apparently not, there is no button to restore the image to the LCD when in Extended mode. I think the issue is the “generic” firmware, that doesn’t work well with a fully LCD driven camera. Appreciate your help 🙂

[Dopaco]

The normal thing is to choose Auto, that's how I have it, but if you choose EVF, you must first do the following:

In the General menu, choose FN and assign "MENU(My Camera), which appears in the last row, on the page you only see 5 lines so you have to scroll down to the bottom.

This way you can use EVF alone and press the FN button, go back to the screen, make the corresponding changes and press FN again and go back to EVF again with the screen off. I have tried it and it works correctly for me, if it does not work for you, do not hesitate to ask. Sorry if you don't understand me well, my English is bad, I'm using a translation app.

 

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[NigelG]

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That’s how I have mine set up.

I use EVF-extended mode but (as they should point out in a instruction manual update!) to make it practicable you need to set the top function button to “MENU” so that you can access the various settings/change the attributes for the control wheels etc.

If not you would have to pull the Visoflex off the camera to reinstate the rear screen view to change parameters 🙄…

 

[Yoguko]

1 hour ago, Dopaco said:

The normal thing is to choose Auto, that's how I have it, but if you choose EVF, you must first do the following:

In the General menu, choose FN and assign "MENU(My Camera), which appears in the last row, on the page you only see 5 lines so you have to scroll down to the bottom.

This way you can use EVF alone and press the FN button, go back to the screen, make the corresponding changes and press FN again and go back to EVF again with the screen off. I have tried it and it works correctly for me, if it does not work for you, do not hesitate to ask. Sorry if you don't understand me well, my English is bad, I'm using a translation app.

 

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That’s a good idea, Dopaco, thank you.

only trouble is, I have the FN button permanently assigned to ISO, and I know I can just choose the function I want in the menu, but it’s too much of a process to go through. I’ll keep mine in Auto, which has worked fine so far. Thank you again 🙂

[Yoguko]

3 minutes ago, NigelG said:

That’s how I have mine set up.

I use EVF-extended mode but (as they should point out in a instruction manual update!) to make it practicable you need to set the top function button to “MENU” so that you can access the various settings/change the attributes for the control wheels etc.

If not you would have to pull the Visoflex off the camera to reinstate the rear screen view to change parameters 🙄…

 

Exactly my issue. But as I change ISO manually, I need that FN button to work for ISO only, otherwise it becomes a long winded process.

Out of curiosity, does your EVF go dark in Extended mode? Mine seems to stay on permanently. Works fine in Auto and responds to the eye sensor just fine though. Maybe it’s by design and not a fault…

[NigelG]

(Edit for clarity) Yes my EVF is usually "off" - I believe that “extended” mode was to imply “extended” battery life ie that the EVF would only activate when the camera was brought up to the eye. Although of course Leica didn’t actually say what “extended” mode meant…

If your EVF is always on then the little eye sensor probably needs a clean with a cotton bud.

Re ISO one option is to use the “user profiles” to set a couple of Auto ISO settings to free-up that button.

If you’re set to base ISO (my preference) you can then save say an Auto 800 ISO profile, or an Auto 1600 ISO profile etc. which you can quickly access via the Menu. I use this on Ms also.

 

Edited February 24, 2023 by NigelG

[Dopaco]

4 hours ago, Yoguko said:

That’s a good idea, Dopaco, thank you.

only trouble is, I have the FN button permanently assigned to ISO, and I know I can just choose the function I want in the menu, but it’s too much of a process to go through. I’ll keep mine in Auto, which has worked fine so far. Thank you again 🙂

With Firmware 1.4, the left dial can assign 6 functions out of 13 and change them as you want and need. Within the 13 functions you can choose the ISO, that's how I have it.
These functions do not come in the original instruction manual.

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Edited February 24, 2023 by Dopaco

[Dopaco]

Leica TL2, it only has 3 manual buttons (2 wheels and 1 button) from which all the functions that make the camera look like it was designed by apple are controlled.

A one-of-a-kind Leica camera, it looks solid and looks like it will last for many years.

Since its interface is very digital, when you learn to use it with practice, I daresay it's faster than button-driven menus.

It would not be recommended for people with mobility difficulties in their hands and fingers. Neither do other people who find it difficult to break the habits of the most classic camera models. For them, Leica has digital CL.

[dpitt]

On 2/24/2023 at 6:09 PM, NigelG said:

That’s how I have mine set up.

I use EVF-extended mode but (as they should point out in a instruction manual update!) to make it practicable you need to set the top function button to “MENU” so that you can access the various settings/change the attributes for the control wheels etc.

If not you would have to pull the Visoflex off the camera to reinstate the rear screen view to change parameters 🙄…

 

Sorry for reviving this old thread.

I tried out this setting as suggested, and it works as intended. If you use the left dial button though, it is still not ideal. The function of the feft dial is set to a selection of 6 possible functions. Switching to one of the 6 possibilities can be done anytime by touching the left dial symbol on screen and then selecting the desired functionality.

When you switch to EVF only. You do not have a touch screen to use this menu. Even when you have set the FN button to bring up the MENU so you can work with menu items when needed, this left dial menu is only accessible when the screen is in shooting mode (not menu mode) and I do not see any possibility to bring up the shooting mode without going back to the EVF only situation...😞.  Now my left dial is stuck to the last selected function and to change its functionality, I still have to remove the EVF to bring up the rear screen shooting mode screen.

Am I missing something here?

[Dopaco]

18 hours ago, dpitt said:

Perdón por revivir este viejo hilo.

Probé esta configuración como se sugirió, y funciona según lo previsto. Sin embargo, si usa el botón de marcación izquierdo, todavía no es ideal. La función del dial izquierdo se establece en una selección de 6 funciones posibles. Se puede cambiar a una de las 6 posibilidades en cualquier momento tocando el símbolo del dial izquierdo en la pantalla y luego seleccionando la funcionalidad deseada.

Cuando cambias a EVF solamente. No tiene una pantalla táctil para usar este menú. Incluso cuando haya configurado el botón FN para que aparezca el MENÚ y pueda trabajar con los elementos del menú cuando sea necesario, solo se puede acceder a este menú del dial izquierdo cuando la pantalla está en modo de disparo (no en modo de menú) y no veo ninguna posibilidad de hacerlo. abre el modo de disparo sin volver a la situación de solo EVF... 😞 . Ahora mi dial izquierdo está atascado en la última función seleccionada y para cambiar su funcionalidad, todavía tengo que quitar el EVF para que aparezca la pantalla del modo de disparo de la pantalla trasera.

¿Me estoy perdiendo de algo?

I recommend you read this:  https://www.overgaard.dk/Leica-TL-mirrorless-digital-camera-review-and-user-report.html?fbclid=IwAR1Al_ISBpdPvrL4-TIg78MLUv8om8kDPamOXjdAw_wHrYGG92S6U4ns7wc

The TL2 manual is sparse.
If you want to go straight check the section "The electronic viewfinder (EVF) on Leica TL2".
If after reading it you are not convinced, ask, we will help you as far as we can.

[Dopaco]

I always have it on Automatic and I've never had any problem, I think it's the best option and it's fast, as soon as you bring your eye closer to the viewfinder the screen turns off and the viewfinder turns on and vice versa.

 

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[dpitt]

3 hours ago, Dopaco said:

I always have it on Automatic and I've never had any problem, I think it's the best option and it's fast, as soon as you bring your eye closer to the viewfinder the screen turns off and the viewfinder turns on and vice versa.

 

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I like to make my battery last as long as possible. Working 95% on EVF Extended only makes a huge difference with Auto. Occasionally you need to set a menu and for that the suggestion to set the FN button as MENU is working fine for me. After setting the desired option you can return to EVF bij pressing the shutter half way. But I also use the left dial very often. Mostly on focusing aid x3 x6 because I like to work with M and R lenses on MF. This also works fine as long as you do not need one of the other six options for the dial. To switch you have to click on the left box in shooting mode, and because the Menu option immediately returns to EVF, you do not have the possibility to touch anything in shooting mode. I did not see any solution, other than unmounting the EVF.

Having read Overgaerds guide to TL2, I thought his solution to use the FN as button to switch between EVF and LCD would be ideal. However I did not find out how to do that with my TL2 running firmware 1.5. Overgaerd was using v1.4 so maybe that is why.

I finally managed to get it working for me by setting the FN to MENU, and by making 2 profiles:

1. Profile for LCD set to Auto, to switch to when I want to touch something in shooting mode
2. Profile for working with EVF Extended and with FN to MENU to be able to load profile 1

I first tried this by setting the FN to PROFILE, but in EVF only this is completely useless. You can select the desired Profile option but you can not press the Set button on the EVF
This is not the first time Leica's software skills prove to be not up to par with their optical skills. As a former software developer, I know it can be hard to cover all scenario's but disabling functions that make no sense, or at least warn the user when he chooses to set one, should not be that hard. And I also know, if you send out your software to lots of users worldwide, they will use it in a ways you never designed it for, but after 5 years, and 5 versions, I would not expect this still to be an issue.

Edited June 12, 2023 by dpitt

[Dopaco]

@dpitt     

Look here:

 

On 6/12/2023 at 8:13 PM, dpitt said:

 

 

Edited June 16, 2023 by Dopaco

[bonjac]

I am a new owner of the TL2 with visoflex evf and Leica M to L adapter.  I cannot figure out how to turn the EVF on and off.  I have been into the menu and tried to set the LCD/EV to automatic but that doesn't work.  I know the evf is ok.  One time, I don't know what I did, the EVF came on.  While I think this may be a good camera, I am about ready to ditch it -- the manual is terrible and appears not to have been updated for the firmware changes which leaves someone like me in the dark.  I have read through this thread and still cannot figure out how to automatically go from LCD to EVF.  One thing I did do which shouldn't make any difference is that I added a screen protector -- could that be causing the appropriate sensor from not functioning. 

Any help will be genuinely appreciated.

 

Jack