SL3 - Autofocus Configuration - What am I doing wrong?

[Photoworks]

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You can set up one button to toggle between the focus points.

If the face is active, it will switch to the field in the middle. and back with another push.

You can also push the joystick when the face body is active, and it switches to the field temporarily.

[LocalHero1953]

3 minutes ago, Photoworks said:

You can set up one button to toggle between the focus points.

If the face is active, it will switch to the field in the middle. and back with another push.

You can also push the joystick when the face body is active, and it switches to the field temporarily.

You are showing up my ignorance in my previous post. What are the functions called that you assign to the button and joystick?

[stbeyer]

17 minutes ago, Photoworks said:

You can set up one button to toggle between the focus points.

If the face is active, it will switch to the field in the middle. and back with another push.

You can also push the joystick when the face body is active, and it switches to the field temporarily.

Oh, wow! This is exactly the type of workaround I was looking for! 

According to the manual, this should not work in subject recognition mode: "This function is available in the AF modes Spot, Field, Zone and Tracking." However, I have just tried it and it does, indeed, work with subject recognition as well. 

Thanks!

[stbeyer]

18 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

What are the functions called that you assign to the button and joystick?

I got it to work with "toggle focus point" now. Seems to do more or less what I was looking for.  

[LocalHero1953]

11 hours ago, stbeyer said:

I got it to work with "toggle focus point" now. Seems to do more or less what I was looking for.  

I found a problem that limits its use. On my SL2-S ‘Toggle Focus Point’ only switches from face to field for one shot, then it reverts to face. I would like it to toggle from face to field and vice versa until I toggle it again. Maybe it is different on the SL3. 

Edited April 7 by LocalHero1953

[stbeyer]

12 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I found a problem that limits its use. On my SL2-S ‘Toggle Focus Point’ only switches from face to field for one shot, then it reverts to face. I would like it to toggle from face to field and vice versa until I toggle it again. Maybe it is different on the SL3. 

Yes, that is limiting. Toggling would be ideal. But, at least it's a workaround that my muscle memory can automate 😅

[LocalHero1953]

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I tried it quite a bit last night (theatrical dress rehearsal). In the end the limitation was too much. I would toggle to Field, which would be in the centre, move the Field to where I want it, and then shoot. I want to repeat the shot because actors' expressions and body positions change, but when toggling to Field again it is back in the centre. I reverted to my original setup, where changing to Field is slightly slower, but I can quickly repeat shots. 

[stbeyer]

11 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I want to repeat the shot because actors' expressions and body positions change, but when toggling to Field again it is back in the centre.

Oh, I thought on my SL3 it toggled back to the last position, not the centre. I will repeat the experiment later to make sure, that could be a software difference between versions.

[jiggyb21]

Yes, I use "toggle focus point" on one of my front buttons as a way to quickly "find" my focus field box as it often becomes obscured behind a touch menu item because of the sensitivity of the joystick.   I believe this is what it is designed for. I'm sure it brings the focus point back to the center every time, otherwise I wouldn't use it. 

[stbeyer]

8 hours ago, jiggyb21 said:

Yes, I use "toggle focus point" on one of my front buttons as a way to quickly "find" my focus field box as it often becomes obscured behind a touch menu item because of the sensitivity of the joystick.   I believe this is what it is designed for. I'm sure it brings the focus point back to the center every time, otherwise I wouldn't use it. 

I have just tried it on my SL3 and in eye autofocus mode it seems to toggle back to wherever the box was last. I believe the intended purpose is to toggle between the last two points? But it certainly does not go from eye focus to the center if I was not in centre before that on my camera. 

[jiggyb21]

18 minutes ago, stbeyer said:

I have just tried it on my SL3 and in eye autofocus mode it seems to toggle back to wherever the box was last. I believe the intended purpose is to toggle between the last two points? But it certainly does not go from eye focus to the center if I was not in centre before that on my camera. 

Well I just tested also and I think I've discovered the confusion.  I think there is another important variable at play here.  Under Focus Settings/AF Setup/AF Tracking Start Position your choices are Last/Recall/Center.  I havent had time to mess around but mine was set to center and I assume that's why mine always returned to center when pressing "toggle focus point". When set to recall, the focus point jumps back to where I left it.  I will look again later but it seems like there's a solid workaround in here somewhere. 

Edited April 8 by jiggyb21

[Planetwide]

You need to go to Focus settings > AF Set up > AF tracking Start Position > Last

[carlosgavina]

Been thinking on posting about this for years, glad someone started this thread, maybe Leica will listen.

Subject detection SHOULD be a toggle-able option, not a focus mode. You want for subject detection or not. The choice of spot / field / size of focus area and subject should be separate things. And we should be able to have a button to toggle this — just like we can with focus peaking.

In an ideal scenario we would have:

• Focus area: Spot, Field, etc.
• Subject detection: On, Off

 

This is the way it should work, and it is a software / user experience issue, so it can be fixed.

 

How I would use:

• I would have spot focus on by default
• I would have a function button to toggle subject on/off

 

This way we can override with a press of a button when the AF is either not catching the eye/the face, or you simply want to focus on something else, and then quickly back to a person.

Right now I need to toggle between these two often and it takes too much time and too many clicks. This is my biggest gripe right now with the SL system.

 

The Z8 has a similar option, and even with its great AF system sometimes I need to toggle subject detection off so I can pinpoint exactly the point of focus I want, in particular with animal detection not always finds the eye.

 

Edit: I'll try the "toggle focus point" being mentioned above, see how it goes.

 

 

Edited April 11 by carlosgavina

[jaapv]

That is indeed a good implementation but I must admit that spotfocus halfpress recompose often works better for my use as I often have branches or foliage in the foreground which will confuse any AF system.