Q2M FACE DETECTION

[andrewj]

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I wonder how this will play out the new firmware that was released (in China) https://leicarumors.com/2023/04/15/new-leica-q2-firmware-update-version-5-0-with-with-eye-af-tracking-listed-on-leica-china-website.aspx/

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[Chris_Jenks]

Indeed, will try it out as soon as the firmware is available in Switzerland 

[Tomas Eriksson]

18 hours ago, Chris_Jenks said:

Indeed, will try it out as soon as the firmware is available in Switzerland 

Do like I did, just download it from the Chinese site and install.

[Marc B-C]

38 minutes ago, Tomas Eriksson said:

Do like I did, just download it from the Chinese site and install.

Whilst your post is not directed at me but being my age and now more risk averse, I am going to wait for an official UK release. Especially as Leica RoW has made no comment to date, as far as I am aware, re this Chinese release. 

Edited April 17, 2023 by Marc B-C

[Chris_Jenks]

Thanks Tomas, but I'm with Marc on this one. BTW - did you try face detection after the update? 

[Tomas Eriksson]

28 minutes ago, Chris_Jenks said:

Thanks Tomas, but I'm with Marc on this one. BTW - did you try face detection after the update? 

Update was smooth, no hiccups at all.

Yes, I have tried the face detection and first impressions are good. A LOT better than the old face detection. Im gonna give it spin later this week doing street photography and some more proper out in the field testing. But initially it's very good, haven't had a single false positive detection and if no eyes detected it reverts to center field focusing

[Simone_DF]

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34 minutes ago, Tomas Eriksson said:

Yes, I have tried the face detection and first impressions are good. A LOT better than the old face detection. Im gonna give it spin later this week doing street photography and some more proper out in the field testing. But initially it's very good, haven't had a single false positive detection and if no eyes detected it reverts to center field focusing

Good to know Leica managed to improve it at a firmware level rather than requiring chip horsepower upgrades!

[Chris_Jenks]

Good news Tomas, thanks for the update. Just to confirm, we’re referring to the Q2M here, right? I ask because I had the impression that face detection did work, after a fashion, with the Q2. 

[Chris_Jenks]

I’m happy to say that I’ve just installed Firmware Version 5 and that Face Detection is a vast improvement. Will see how it works on th3 street, but so far it seems to be what one would expect. 

[LocalHero1953]

It'll be a while before I can look at face detection in v5.0 more thoroughly. For those who have tried it in crop mode, does face detection work across the whole screen or just within the cropped area? The latter is how exposure measurement works (only within the cropped area). It would be handy, with such a wide lens, to be able to tie down face recognition to the central part - in crowds for example, where otherwise the Q2 might just pick someone at the edge.

[viramati]

Certainly some  improvement but compared to my Sony A1 and even the A7r3 it's is still primitive and unreliable

[Stephen.s1]

I have no problems detecting faces with any of my cameras... They're right there on top of necks. 

[algrove]

I have checked with Leica about this. The face detect algorithm Leica uses only works with the color model not Monochrom since it uses colors to detect faces. Hard to believe , but that's the fact. Once I found this out for my street work I decided to sell my Q2M Reporter and keep my Q2 Reporter. Now that I have an M11M I am glad I did this.

[Simone_DF]

9 hours ago, algrove said:

I have checked with Leica about this. The face detect algorithm Leica uses only works with the color model not Monochrom since it uses colors to detect faces.

AFAIK, skin complexion is only one of the techniques to train the software to recognize faces, but it should not be the only implementation, but implemented in parallel. The obvious limitation of using only the face color method, apart from b&w, is people wearing masks or heavy make up (think Venice carnival, holi festival etc)

https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/face-detection

[Mikep996]

I have never understood the concept or see any use for "face detection." I don't need the camera to tell me what a face is.  I focus on what I want to focus on - if that's a face, then the face will be in focus.  

OTOH, I agree that if a mode is included in a piece of gear's menu, that mode should actually function.