Q3 AF-L only locks for one shutter release?

[Nitrox]

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In the meantime I had a Q3 - and sold it again for this exact reason. AF-point-selection is such a mess in the Q3. No joystick, face detection is horrible (lots and lots of boxes!) and NO proper bbf. I ended up using mf most of the time but sold the Q3 for an M11. And now I am selling the M11 again and am looking at the Q3 43 ... well... If ONLY this camera had a fast way to focus. Because the focus itself is pretty reliable and accurate. But the way to select the proper AF-point takes too much time without a joystick or back-button-focus.

[luetz]

2 hours ago, Nitrox said:

In the meantime I had a Q3 - and sold it again for this exact reason. AF-point-selection is such a mess in the Q3. No joystick, face detection is horrible (lots and lots of boxes!) and NO proper bbf. I ended up using mf most of the time but sold the Q3 for an M11. And now I am selling the M11 again and am looking at the Q3 43 ... well... If ONLY this camera had a fast way to focus. Because the focus itself is pretty reliable and accurate. But the way to select the proper AF-point takes too much time without a joystick or back-button-focus.

Not sure what you are expecting from the Q3-43 that is different then the original Q3..(other the FOV...}

[jplaurel]

On 6/9/2024 at 1:04 PM, Le Chef said:

As has been said here and elsewhere, just focus manually: problem solved without needing to faff about with button setting.

That is a very inefficient way of working. Take, for example, an environmental scene in which people are moving around, and you want to set focus at a part of the scene. A busy marketplace is a good example. With an M camera, you would use the RF to focus on a spot, then watch the scene until the critical moment. In the critical moments, you may take numerous photos, all without focus changing. To replicate this with the Q, you have to switch to manual focus, and the moment you move the focus ring, focus assist magnifies a section of the screen and you use peaking to focus. Now, you half-press the shutter button, and you're ready for successive shots. This is a significantly slower way of working than with the M camera. In the meantime, you're completely lost situational awareness while you were zoomed in looking at focus peaking.

With a Sony, Canon, or any other camera, you would simply map AF-lock to a back button and disable shutter AF. In the example I described above, you would simply point the focus patch at your desired location in the scene, then fire away with the shutter button while focus is locked. This is significantly faster than having to use focus peaking, which magnifies the EVF during focusing. Also, it is easy to bump the focus ring while shooting, and the screen often magnifies at the wrong moment, as it's very sensitive. Of course, a solution to this is to turn the focus magnifier off. But I've found that it's easy to miss focus because with the 28mm lens, it can be difficult to focus exactly without the magnifier, especially in a busy scene.

In the kind of shooting situation I describe above, which is one often faced by street photographers, it's really not possible to rely on the Q's autofocus system because its behavior is so unpredictable and unreliable. And the process of using manual focus with peaking is unwieldily, even compared to an M camera.

"AF Lock" should really be AF Lock, and not just "lock until you press the shutter button once". That makes zero sense in real world shooting situations.

[Le Chef]

You don't need magnification on manual focus: only if you set it to do that.

The actions of manual focus on a Q are the same actions as on an M. If it's easy to bump focus on the Q it's equally easy to bump them on an M.

Focus peaking is a poor substitute for manual focus as it depends on contrast. If you having moving objects or people it's useless.

In the end manual focus is faster and more effective for street photography unless you want to waste time and faff about with Sony's myriad of setting options.

If you want speed with Leica then shoot with an M and forget the rest.

Simply set the shutter speed you want. Set the aperture you want. Let ISO be automatic.  Focus manually. Problem sorted.

[aficionados]

42 minutes ago, Le Chef said:

You don't need magnification on manual focus: only if you set it to do that.

The actions of manual focus on a Q are the same actions as on an M. If it's easy to bump focus on the Q it's equally easy to bump them on an M.

Focus peaking is a poor substitute for manual focus as it depends on contrast. If you having moving objects or people it's useless.

In the end manual focus is faster and more effective for street photography unless you want to waste time and faff about with Sony's myriad of setting options.

If you want speed with Leica then shoot with an M and forget the rest.

Simply set the shutter speed you want. Set the aperture you want. Let ISO be automatic.  Focus manually. Problem sorted.

Can you educate me how to manual focus a Q without magnification or focus peaking?

[Guest]

4 hours ago, aficionados said:

Can you educate me how to manual focus a Q without magnification or focus peaking?

Menu Page 1 -> Focussing -> Focus Assist

... Auto Magnification - OFF

... Focus Peaking - OFF

[jaapv]

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If the Q3 has info levels in the menu an Fn button could be assigned. 

[aficionados]

4 hours ago, Corius said:

Menu Page 1 -> Focussing -> Focus Assist

... Auto Magnification - OFF

... Focus Peaking - OFF

I know how to do it.

I’m asking how to manual focus with all these options off?

[ellisson]

18 minutes ago, aficionados said:

I know how to do it.

I’m asking how to manual focus with all these options off?

Push the button located behind the aperture ring on the lens so that 'AF' is no longer selected on the distance scale.  Now the you can manually focus as the ring turns freely.  

[Guest]

24 minutes ago, aficionados said:

I know how to do it.

I’m asking how to manual focus with all these options off?

Well you turn the dial thingy until the piccy looks not quite so blurred. You’ll get the hang of it 

 

[aficionados]

5 minutes ago, ellisson said:

Push the button located behind the aperture ring on the lens so that 'AF' is no longer selected on the distance scale.  Now the you can manually focus as the ring turns freely.  

I have owned Q2 and Q3 and now Q3/43, and I don’t know how to do this?🤪

I’m asking how to make things in focus when manually focusing with a Q without having magnification or peaking on?

[ellisson]

2 minutes ago, aficionados said:

I have owned Q2 and Q3 and now Q3/43, and I don’t know how to do this?🤪

I’m asking how to make things in focus when manually focusing with a Q without having magnification or peaking on?

You are using your eyes for determining (or estimating) the sharpest focus as you look through the viewfinder and turn the focusing ring.  That is manual focusing.  It's your eyes without any assistance if you turn off the focus peaking and magnification.   Not necessarily a bad option if your eyesight is good and you want to skip the assistance settings for more speed and simplicity.  

[jplaurel]

On 12/2/2024 at 7:40 PM, Le Chef said:

You don't need magnification on manual focus: only if you set it to do that.

The actions of manual focus on a Q are the same actions as on an M. If it's easy to bump focus on the Q it's equally easy to bump them on an M.

Focus peaking is a poor substitute for manual focus as it depends on contrast. If you having moving objects or people it's useless.

In the end manual focus is faster and more effective for street photography unless you want to waste time and faff about with Sony's myriad of setting options.

If you want speed with Leica then shoot with an M and forget the rest.

Simply set the shutter speed you want. Set the aperture you want. Let ISO be automatic.  Focus manually. Problem sorted.

I'm not sure you understood my suggestion. If the Focus lock could be made to work as an actual focus lock that would stay locked until disabled, then operation in the kind of scenario I described would be even faster than with the M. Because of the deep depth of field, even wide open, it's hard to judge manual focus with the Summilux 28 unless you use magnification. Really, it would be best to just lock focus using the AF system, which is very fast for static shots, then just shoot as many frames as desired. A focus lock that locks focus for only one frame really makes zero sense. What could possibly be the use case for that? It's really no different from refocusing with a half press. One simple fix would simply be to disable shutter button AF when the AF Lock is in use.

[jplaurel]

On 12/3/2024 at 5:50 AM, Corius said:

Well you turn the dial thingy until the piccy looks not quite so blurred. You’ll get the hang of it 

 

Not a very useful technique, but I assume you're just joking. Focusing manually with the Summilux 28 without using magnification is almost guessing, with or without focus peaking. It's a much more viable approach with the Q3 43, though.

Edited December 10, 2024 by jplaurel

[Dr. G]

8 hours ago, jplaurel said:

I'm not sure you understood my suggestion. If the Focus lock could be made to work as an actual focus lock that would stay locked until disabled, then operation in the kind of scenario I described would be even faster than with the M. Because of the deep depth of field, even wide open, it's hard to judge manual focus with the Summilux 28 unless you use magnification. Really, it would be best to just lock focus using the AF system, which is very fast for static shots, then just shoot as many frames as desired. A focus lock that locks focus for only one frame really makes zero sense. What could possibly be the use case for that? It's really no different from refocusing with a half press. One simple fix would simply be to disable shutter button AF when the AF Lock is in use.

In the thread posted yesterday about new firmare it seems like a true back button solution is coming with both focus and exposure lock.

[jplaurel]

Well, now comes the end of this thread. Leica heard us and they responded. Many thanks to the Q firmware team! The new AF lock implementation is excellent and I have already begun using it to great effect. Wonderful!

[SrMi]

13 hours ago, jplaurel said:

Well, now comes the end of this thread. Leica heard us and they responded. Many thanks to the Q firmware team! The new AF lock implementation is excellent and I have already begun using it to great effect. Wonderful!

It is better now, but it is still annoying that changing EC unlocks the focus.

[jplaurel]

12 hours ago, SrMi said:

It is better now, but it is still annoying that changing EC unlocks the focus.

That seems a very rare use case. Could you describe a specific example of a shooting situation where it would be an annoyance?

[SrMi]

2 hours ago, jplaurel said:

That seems a very rare use case. Could you describe a specific example of a shooting situation where it would be an annoyance?

1) Focus and recompose. After I recompose, i may need to adjust EC to preserve highlights.

 2) The scene is out of focus before framing and setting the exposure (follows framing). After focusing with AF-L, I adjust the frame and exposure.

3) Manual bracketing using EC.

etc

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica Q

[Taloan]

On my Fujis the workflow is:
You can discouple the AF from the shutter button (so that shutter button is only for AE). Then you can reprogram the AF to a different button. That is clled Back-Button-Focus. It works in MF, AF-S and AF-C Modes. And especially for MF-Mode this is really helpfully.

And it is somewow an inverted workflow of "press a button, to lock the AF" here with Leica.

But i think we will not get the BBF for MF, because the special situation with th Q's is, that they have the metering scale in MF... and if you are in MF and press the "BBF" it should move the metering scale - impossible. At Fuji it is only possible, because the lenses have no metering scale.

But what we could get at least is a real BBF for AF-S, AF-C and AF-I Modes.