Official Talk Leica thread

stevelmx5 said:
Yeah, all AF film cameras use Phase Detect like DSLRs which uses a dedicated AF sensor to measure the distance to the subject (like a golf rangefinder) and then tells the AF system to focus accordingly.

Like you say, contrast detect relies on light much more hence mirrorless bodies struggling to focus in lower light unless you use the metering system to make the sensor think it sees more light in the scene.
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And as he's taking away the light the camera is like WTF! So manual focus I reckon is the way forward or Photoshop to get the look
 
Definitely manual focus in really low light but that then comes back round to the first issue of manually focussing a tele lens at F4 in low light and trying to capture the right moment. As before, a faster aperture lens will make a big difference which means, for the SL, using manual options.
 
stevelmx5 said:
Definitely manual focus in really low light but that then comes back round to the first issue of manually focussing a tele lens at F4 in low light and trying to capture the right moment. As before, a faster aperture lens will make a big difference which means, for the SL, using manual options.
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He's taking away the light so could autofocus and then go manual and change the EC then?
 
Dark is dark. Dan can either wait for the body to lock focus eventually and risk missing decisive moments, pre-focus on a spot (which isn't going to be great for general reportage) or manually focus using peaking.

Using the tele lens, it would be better to stick to a focal length by working out where your 'interesting' subjects are and put yourself in a suitable position. This then means you only have to think about the focus then. It's not going to be ideal for all situations but compared to missing shots completely because you're waiting for the AF to decide, it's a better option. This isn't something unique to the SL though, I've had the same issues with my A6K using the 70-200 F4 so tend to stick to faster primes or manual focus in lower light.
 
stevelmx5 said:
Dark is dark. Dan can either wait for the body to lock focus eventually and risk missing decisive moments, pre-focus on a spot (which isn't going to be great for general reportage) or manually focus using peaking. Using the tele lens is would be better to stick to a focal length by working out where your 'interesting' subjects are and put yourself in a suitable position. This then means you only have to think about the focus then. It's not going to be ideal for all situations but compared to missing shots completely because you're waiting for the AF to decide it's a better option. this isn't something unique to the SL though, I've had the same issues with my A6K using the 70-200 F4 so tend to stick to faster primes or manual focus in lower light.
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Dan you need a decent lens, that zooms s*** ;)
 
It renders beautiful images though as Dan has already shown. The lens itself is fine (although very expensive :eek:), the issue is the combination of low light, slower aperture and mirrorless body!
 
stevelmx5 said:
F0.95, just imagine how well rendered that eyelash will be. [emoji6]

Surely a man of your means can pick up a cheap lens like that? Alternatively, pick up an OM 50/1.8 and start practising. Still going to be better than F4 ;0)
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Well 50mm won't be great for speeches :p

You joke about fine DOF - but you can isolate people at a distance and get them all in focus! :p as you probably know, but I feel compelled to say it every time everyone thinks a wide aperture has too thin a dof.

I have used manual leica lenses on the A7S, I'm thinking I might pick up a 50mm summicron or lux until I'm ready to fund a 0.95
 
dancook said:
Well 50mm won't be great for speeches [emoji14]

You joke about fine DOF - but you can isolate people at a distance and get them all in focus! [emoji14] as you probably know, but I feel compelled to say it every time everyone thinks a wide aperture has too thin a dof.

I have used manual leica lenses on the A7S, I'm thinking I might pick up a 50mm summicron or lux until I'm ready to fund a 0.95
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No please tell me.more about this DOF and getting people in focus ;)
But I think the point is saying a faster lens maybe more ideal than the kit lens you have lol
 
Oh... I also need to lift the 6400 ISO limit on the SL, it's capable of more and will help with AF
 
dancook said:
I have used manual leica lenses on the A7S, I'm thinking I might pick up a 50mm summicron or lux until I'm ready to fund a 0.95
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So you'll 'pick up' a £1600 50mm F2 lens while you save up for the £6000 Noctilux? I really need to find another hobby where my funds match! That's why I suggested the OM as a quick start point, it's also faster than the Summicron ;0)
 
stevelmx5 said:
So you'll 'pick up' a £1600 50mm F2 lens while you save up for the £6000 Noctilux? I really need to find another hobby where my funds match! That's why I suggested the OM as a quick start point, it's also faster than the Summicron ;0)
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I already have the £300 m-sl adapter :) the summicron pre-asph can be picked up around 1000, the lux asph around 2000. since I just bought the SL and the zoom, the lux is a bit of a stretch right now.. will see when i get paid for christmas :)

these used manual focus leica lenses will probably keep their value.
 
Nuzik said:
Only you would take photos of different areas of the tree to compare ISO
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When you take photos at an event, they aren't all going to conform in some way...

The images quality is either acceptable to you or not, doesn't matter which part of the tree it is :p we are not trying to analyze the increase in grain from one to another..
 
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dancook said:
When you take photos at an event, they aren't all going to conform in some way...

The images quality is either acceptable to you or not, doesn't matter which part of the tree it is [emoji14] we are not trying to analyze the increase in grain from one to another..
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You may not be we all were.
 
Ruffmeister said:
I really wanna give that Sonnar a go! The results wide open look so nice. I've a Cron V4 at the moment and can't see me getting rid anytime soon, but at times I keep swaying to chopping it in for a Sonnar.
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I find it just takes a really beautiful photo. I owned the 50 lux asph, various voigtlanders, and currently have a elmar 2.8- But the Sonnar has less distortion than all bar the Elmar. There are sharper lens out there at f2, but i find this renders a more pleasing scene!!
 
dancook said:
I already have the £300 m-sl adapter :) the summicron pre-asph can be picked up around 1000, the lux asph around 2000. since I just bought the SL and the zoom, the lux is a bit of a stretch right now.. will see when i get paid for christmas :)

these used manual focus leica lenses will probably keep their value.
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I picked up a v4 Cron for around £500 around a year ago. I believe it's the same optical formula as the v5 too. They are only creeping up in value though. I'd be surprised if you lost anything on it.
 
dancook said:
I bought the 50mm lux it will be here tomorrow :)
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Full manual lens? At least you won't have any AF issues ;)

Just looked at the road map for Leica SL lenses, a 75mm prime's an 'interesting' focal length.
 
I think I was wrong about my conclusion with the SL and it's AF,

By paying more attention to the varying levels of the EVF when I'm viewing a scene, autofocussing and taking an image I understand how I was wrong to think the exposure dialed in affected the auto-focusing.

The EVF with it's gain, and my naked eye - made an indoor scene look lit well enough. I never appreciated how dark the camera viewed it when it's widest aperture if F4 @ 280mm as oppose to F2.8 @ 90mm

I set the camera to ISO 100 and F22, at 90mm the camera still focused in the dim light of a shadowed corner of the room and the 280mm did not.


All my lenses up to now have been 1.2 to 2.0 - and I've never had an f4 lens before
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well and truly spoilt..



Also found the 'disable simulated exposure' option too - so my studio shots won't black out when I press the shutter...
 
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Yes, come on with those 50 Lux pics Dan. Mind you I know they will look lovely.

FWIW, with all this talk of snazzy SL stuff, I totally love my M which is the best camera I've ever owned, and I've had a few, possibly more than Dan.
 
snerkler said:
Nice pics. I'd love to know how you MF with f1.4 etc lenses. I find it hard enough with split prism viewfinders let alone modern viewfinders :oops: :$:(
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it's EVF and I can zoom in and out rapidly

it's not that difficult..
 
dancook said:
it's EVF and I can zoom in and out rapidly

it's not that difficult..
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Focus zoom you mean? I still struggle to do it quickly, but I guess I don't practice enough. Did you ever MF with the D750 and how did you manage with that? I'd love to use some of the older MF lenses, or even zeiss and voigtlander and the like but I can't MF fast lenses on my D750 for toffee (except macro).
 
snerkler said:
Focus zoom you mean? I still struggle to do it quickly, but I guess I don't practice enough. Did you ever MF with the D750 and how did you manage with that? I'd love to use some of the older MF lenses, or even zeiss and voigtlander and the like but I can't MF fast lenses on my D750 for toffee (except macro).
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Yes there's a focus zoom option, so you can check focus - just pressing the 'joystick' in. Easy :D the leica-m lenses have finger tabs on and they are made for manual focusing, so easier than manual focusing an AF lens.

No I never manual focused with the d750, I only ever had the 85mm 1.8 for a start and never had an AF issues. I cannot think of any occasion where I have manually focused any AF lens, unless I was doing a technical test.

optical viewfinders are difficult with MF lenses I found, I loved my zeiss lenses but they were hard work
 
Great band pics. They are not easy (I ran a theatre for years) and could have done with an SL. What am I talking about, I still could !!
 
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