Focus Peaking more effective than RF patch

I agree that it isn't necessarily more accurate - I've misjudged the precise plane of focus by a few inches with peaking enabled. But it is very handy - especially when you aren't necessarily trying to focus on something in the center of the frame.

Steve

Shade said:
It works sure, but somehow I don't find it more accurate in my experience. Maybe I'm not using it correctly? I was using it on the c3.. Maybe the viewfinder of the Nex7 makes the difference?
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Focus peaking is not reliable for fast lenses on the LCD, but does get you in the ballpark. Looking close will do almost the same.

Now their may be some who are better than me with the peaking, but I doubt there are many who have shot more frames with the feature. Maybe someday I can declare its good enough. Not yet.

It is also quite distracting for framing, and I never use it anymore in landscapes.

BUT, I don't have an EVF.

Before the NEx I never owned an RF. Now I have a colordial IIIa and an M6, fujica gs645 on the way. The m6 is far faster than the LCD, colordial is prolly also.

Peaking is a decent feature, but should be supplemented by a "zoom" patch which can be moved anywhere in the frame, and be size adjustable. This would be so easy, but nobody cries about it, so sony is oblivious i think.

Maybe the EVF really can deliver, I can't use it on my old 5, and am waiting for the 7. The 5n is highly seductive, but I'll play with my new film toys and wait :)
 
I have M8 and the 5N with EVF.
The best way to put it is that it's convenient. Shooting wide open, I still find myself using the MF assistant(zoom). Because sometimes you just don't see the highlight wide open.

That all changed when I discovered I could just shoot in B&W mode with Raw+Jpeg. Shooting this way, the accuracy and speed of the peaking is amazing. I can see the red highlights on the B&W preview image. I was able to see the red highlight on my cat's whiskers @f1.4 ( It was hard to see in color mode)

The system is actually very capable of highlighting the in focus area even at wide open, it's just under some situation, the evf or lcd does not show the peaking color well over the live view image.

I still prefer using the RF patch for focusing. But peaking certainly is a quick and dirty way of getting consistently reliable focus.
 
I love using peaking on my Nex 5, still getting used to it but it really works!!! It IS NOT just another gimmick. This technology is still in its infancy so I expect that it'll get better with time. As someone suggested in difficult situations if you shoot BW jpeg + raw with red peaking colour it helps a lot. I've only been using rangefinders for last 4-5 years and I can't tell you which is faster for me, rf focusing or peaking. I'd say it is about the same.
Also, there is always an option of 7x 14x magnification if your subject is still.

Plus you got to love that bright lcd on Nex, apparently EVF on 5n is even better for focusing.
 
I have mine set to BW with red peaks, sharpening turned up, but it rarely lights up for eyeballs, which is what I've always used for focusing on people. I get the outline of a face, but that's not really where I want to focus when I'm at f2. Frustratingly close to being wonderful, but then not.

Is there something else I can do to improve my hit rate?
 
wintoid said:
I have mine set to BW with red peaks, sharpening turned up, but it rarely lights up for eyeballs, which is what I've always used for focusing on people. I get the outline of a face, but that's not really where I want to focus when I'm at f2. Frustratingly close to being wonderful, but then not.

Is there something else I can do to improve my hit rate?
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Try yellow colour. I usually manage to get some yellow highlights in peoples pupils if there is a strongish light source in the room.
 
I agree w/ Peter on the focus confirmation light. What could be simpler? Point the camera at your point of interest, focus until the little green light comes on, and shoot. This new system is nothing more than another unneeded, expensive gimmick.
 
Steve M. said:
I agree w/ Peter on the focus confirmation light. What could be simpler? Point the camera at your point of interest, focus until the little green light comes on, and shoot. This new system is nothing more than another unneeded, expensive gimmick.
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A little green light would be fine, provided there was a corresponding little green target on the viewfinder image showing you *exactly* where the camera actually believes you are focusing. Yet in many cases along a particular axis there could easily be multiple targets especially when shooting wider open. It'd be great if there were a digital equivalent to the analog split circle focus aide so one could be sure.

Without some visual feedback, how do you know what in your viewfinder is in focus? Hair, nose, or eye? Sign being held by a protester or the face just behind?

Now if one is shooting done at f/8 with a wide angle, zone or hyperfocal focused, then edge detail assist maybe makes no sense for that photographer in that situation.

Focus peaking is a technique used in professional video cameras costing 10 to 60x as much as any NEX camera, for example the fiber optic / Ethernet equipped Sony broadcast camera ($65,000 U.S.):

imageController

Focus Assist Functions
For easier focusing through the viewfinder, two types of focus
assist functions are newly incorporated into the HDC-1000R
Series: Viewfinder Detail and Focus Assist Indicator. To
intuitively recognize a focusing point, users of the camera
can add dedicated image-enhancing edge signals directly
to the viewfinder as “Viewfinder Detail”. The “Focus Assist
Indicator” is a helpful tool for manual focus adjustments,
especially when shooting wide-angle views. An indicator is
displayed at the bottom or other positions of the viewfinder
frame, enabling users to make more accurate and fine focus
adjustments.
Click to expand...

Personally I find it exciting to know that must-have technologies from that realm are making their way down to cameras we can use for still photography.
 
I use the yellow focus peaking in both B & W and color mode, and think that it works pretty well, even on eyes. I find it to be pretty reliable even when shooting a Sonnar wide open.
 
Just received my 5N.
Focus peaking hasn't been improved, but the feature that definitely rocks is touching to magnify whatever part of the image.

I'm still waiting for the visor to arrive from Hong Kong, but in the meanwhile the touch-to-magnify feature promises to save tons of time and hassle when focusing!
 
if just the MF zoom button and the Menu button would be reversed!
maybe I just superglue something onto the MF assist button, so it is easier to find when using the EVF :)
 
I've just updated my NEX-5 to the software with focus peaking the other day. To me, it seems great. I've just used it indoor with a Leica 50/2 at f=2 and 2.8. I do agree that the eyes don't light up most of the time. This I think is a question of how much light is in the room. I've used it in situations with very little light, but I still find it easy to get the right focus with peaking on other facial features.

However, what I would want is an EVF with peaking. I tried my same 50/2 on a Ricoh with the M-module at a camera store. Don't know if the IQ is better, but it does help having an EVF to look into. I'm rather sad the EVF for NEX-5N won't work with the old NEX-5. I don't think I want to upgrade just yet, I've only had the camera for six months...

IMHO: Focus Peaking + EVF + Full Frame Sensor + M-Mount/Adaptor = THE SINGULARITY

This focusing feature makes it (again IMHO) much more likely for us to see a full frame digital M-compatible camera from anyone but Leica. (With an RF, its more or less just Cosina that could do it). Not saying that it is better than an RF, just cheaper and more likely to be...
 
Besides the peaking you can focus the old fashioned way on the screen.

If you have 20/20 eyesight that should work fine.
Luckily for those of us aging folks with less than stellar eysight you can also magnify part of the screen and refine your focus with that.

The EVF on the Nex 5N and Nex 7 is a wonderful step in the right direction though.

With those I find I can focus without the magnufying aid for most of the time, just using the focus peaking or even without the peaking.:)
 
kanzlr said:
if just the MF zoom button and the Menu button would be reversed!
maybe I just superglue something onto the MF assist button, so it is easier to find when using the EVF :)
Click to expand...

I agree. The good thing is that, with the 5N, you can assign MF zoom to the right button on the wheel, which is a little easier to get to while shooting.
 
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