Is this possible (and would it be useful)?

[Planetwide]

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1 hour ago, Simone_DF said:

Do lenses have to be chipped?

I reckon the Nikon works best with chipped lenses, like the Voigtlanders, or alternatively with a chipped adapter

Yes they do. I agree that The M and SL series work much better with M lenses btw. I am hoping for a workable solution from Leica, even if it was contrast detect. I wonder if you really need a chipped adapter?

[BernardC]

16 hours ago, Planetwide said:

I wonder if you really need a chipped adapter?

The chip provides information to the camera that compensates for some of the limitations of phase-detect focus detection. That being said, I used some generic chipped adapters on the EOS system, which all said "50/1.8" and they were OK, but not 100% accurate. The problem is that PDAF needs to know a few things to refine its rather coarse vision. Focal length and aperture are two of those things, but it would also want to know the depth-of-field spread at various distances (many older lenses have more depth-of-field behind the focal plane, so PDAF needs to focus slightly nearer that it would with a lens that has an even distribution of DoF). For Nikon, you would want to know the lens' focus direction, because Nikkors focus the "wrong" way compared to Leica, Canon, Zeiss, etc.

In the end, the camera's focus suggestion is just that, a suggestion. You need to test each lens at multiple distances to find-out how much you can trust those suggestions. You might get lucky, or maybe you'll need to the camera's guesses differently for every lens/focus distance combination. At least with mirrorless you can zoom to 100% magnification for fine focus, after the camera provides its suggestion. Or you can focus by eye, which will be faster for many photographers.

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[Leicaiste]

I would love to see a system à la Nikon ZF built in the SL3 for my R (Rom) and M (6 bit coded) lenses.

But sadly I don't think Leica is interested.

 

[Planetwide]

13 hours ago, BernardC said:

The chip provides information to the camera that compensates for some of the limitations of phase-detect focus detection. That being said, I used some generic chipped adapters on the EOS system, which all said "50/1.8" and they were OK, but not 100% accurate. The problem is that PDAF needs to know a few things to refine its rather coarse vision. Focal length and aperture are two of those things, but it would also want to know the depth-of-field spread at various distances (many older lenses have more depth-of-field behind the focal plane, so PDAF needs to focus slightly nearer that it would with a lens that has an even distribution of DoF). For Nikon, you would want to know the lens' focus direction, because Nikkors focus the "wrong" way compared to Leica, Canon, Zeiss, etc.

In the end, the camera's focus suggestion is just that, a suggestion. You need to test each lens at multiple distances to find-out how much you can trust those suggestions. You might get lucky, or maybe you'll need to the camera's guesses differently for every lens/focus distance combination. At least with mirrorless you can zoom to 100% magnification for fine focus, after the camera provides its suggestion. Or you can focus by eye, which will be faster for many photographers.

I understand and agree with what you are saying. It would be wonderful if AI could guess focal length and help confirm focus...

[FocusDot]

On 2/2/2024 at 4:20 PM, Dr. G said:

Apparently Nikon thought this was a good idea and it's getting some praise.  Maybe we will see it in the SL3.

I would say it is rather ingenious idea and Nikon implemented this very well. Would love to see that in SL3...but highly doubt it.
In the meantime I am seriously considering adding Zf to my little collection of cameras - great looks, great AF and then - also this feature...

[tomasis7]

Nocto lux? I doubt. A financial suicide for Leica. M-lenses big ones make more sense as they give the perfect balance for the SL body and are a better investment. 

 

AF? Billions of alternatives there.