leica M2 fan
Mentor
I find that with adapted lenses ( I don't have any Sony native lenses yet) I get some shots that are so well focused and sharp. But there are other shots that even with f8 the image is fuzzy and soft and not to my liking at all. I'm using focus peaking and use extra care in focus and still don't always get great results!
I have no trouble with the Nikkor 50/1.4 AIS , Nikkor 50/1.8 AIS, Zuiko 50/1.4 and a couple others. It's pretty frustrating, can anyone give me any pointers? Any thing at all is good. TIA.
I have no trouble with the Nikkor 50/1.4 AIS , Nikkor 50/1.8 AIS, Zuiko 50/1.4 and a couple others. It's pretty frustrating, can anyone give me any pointers? Any thing at all is good. TIA.
YYV_146
Well-known
Hmmm...peaking is only a rough indication of the focus area. The best way to get perfect focus is to use the magnification function on the desired focus spot.
Also, is your adapter tight and of the correct length? A poor adapter may flex and throw the focus plane off.
Also, is your adapter tight and of the correct length? A poor adapter may flex and throw the focus plane off.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
I use a Sony A7, bought specifically to use with Leica R and Nikkor SLR lenses. I have no Sony lenses. I use Novoflex NEX/LER and NEX/NIK adapters, they're as good as it gets and highly recommended.
Focus peaking is not a panacea. I only use it when I'm in a hurry and the subject/lens works well with it, which I find is relatively infrequently.
- Get friendly with focus magnification. I have it assigned to the AF/MF button. Two clicks and you've got 5.7x, another click and 11.3x. Nail the focus right on and then don't bump it. Tap the shutter release to return to normal magnification for framing.
- Remember that camera motion is the biggest reason for blurred photographs. Practice holding the camera still. I've seen camera motion blur photographs even at 1/1000 second exposure time.
- Practice, practice, practice. Hopping about from lens to lens isn't good for practice. Learn a lens, spend a week or two with each lens, to get to know them thoroughly and see how to focus them critically.
onward,
G
leica M2 fan
Mentor
Thanks Victor and Godfrey, very salient posts with a lot of useable info.
I'll check to make sure on every point you make, thanks so much to
you both.I'll post on what I find out. Thanks again.
I'll check to make sure on every point you make, thanks so much to
you both.I'll post on what I find out. Thanks again.
Shac
Well-known
I agree with Victor and Godfrey - always worth using magnification in my experience
taemo
eat sleep shoot
agree, for critical focusing after using the peaking, i use the magnification to double check the focus. i have it configured on C1 and Af/Mf but i honestly prefer it on C1
also, to rule out the basic but you make sure that the shutter speed is fast enough for the focal length?
also, to rule out the basic but you make sure that the shutter speed is fast enough for the focal length?
Pete B
Well-known
I think there were a lot of complaints regarding motion blur and needing to use much faster shutter speeds than expected.
Pete
Pete
Godfrey
somewhat colored
I haven't found this to be an issue with the A7, I've gotten very sharp results hand-held all across the shutter speed range from 1/5 to 1/4000 second.
It might be an issue with the A7r, which has a different shutter and has been demonstrated to have vibration issues in a common range of exposure times.
G
whited3
Well-known
Focus peaking was one of my biggest concerns before I got the A7 because I planned to use only older MF lenses. So I'll try to add some of my thoughts, which hopefully end up making sense:
Overall - I tend to use focus peaking 99% of the time because I've been shooting people candidly. I've also been using mostly wide open apertures because I've been playing with the A7 indoors at night. Right now I get good hit rates, but I anticipate I will get excellent hit rates with practice. I started out with rangefinders last year (so the learning curve is fresh in mind) and so far I personally find focus peaking to be perhaps easier to learn. Either method though has its pros and cons and comes down to muscle memory and experience.
What I'm about to say might sound like "bend your knees" or "keep your eye on the ball" but hey - gotta start somewhere... The way I go about focusing is imagining the DOF plane as indicated by the peaking highlights. More than that - imagine the center of the DOF plane where critical focus is. It's not as simple as it sounds when photographing organic shapes strewn at different distances throughout the frame. A scene like that will have only a small and/or sporadic amount of peaking highlights. Combine that with simply not being critically aware of orientation with respect to a subject; I was surprised how often the swath of peaking indicated the DOF plane was at an entirely different angle than I imagined.
Anyways, with practice I like to think my DOF plane imagination has gotten much better because I am making much more purposeful focus adjustments than when I first got the A7. In other words, I seem to read the peaking better even when random things that aren't even connected to my subject are peaking.
Some other observations - just because something is peaking doesn't mean it's in focus. That may sound like a bad thing but it's not. The peaking starts off thin and flickering and gets more intense the more in-focus something is. This actually is generally helpful. E.g. when focusing on someone's face. You usually want the eye in focus. As it turns out most people's faces don't have many contrast lines for the peaking to show up on except for nostrils and, 9 out of 10 times, there's a tiny highlight reflected off the eyeball - perfect. If peaking were either full-on or full-off while at the same time the eye and maybe nostril have a pinpoint of peaking, there'd be no way to tell if the focus plane is just starting to touch the eye, or if it's centered on the eye (critical focus) because peaking would just be "on". But because peaking isn't like that, I focus until it's most intense and can generally tell when just the pinpoint of the eyeball highlight is critically focused by feeling the "bump" of the focus peaking. Yeah, it probably seems the peaking is too vague to do this, but it's not if I actively concentrate on making this happen. I've done comparisons using this method vs focus magnification and I definitely can determine critical focus quite quickly just using peaking. I'm not saying I'd never use focus mag again - just that practice goes a long way and most of the time I don't have time for focus magnification.
Last tip I have is I made the down button of the scroll wheel change peaking intensity. That way I just press repeated times (without changing buttons) to change the peaking intensity. Low light peaks less, so I use the high setting. Daylight peaks more, so I use the low or medium setting. Also stopping down has a similar effect.
Good lord I hope that was helpful. I was a nice mental exercise for myself at least.
Overall - I tend to use focus peaking 99% of the time because I've been shooting people candidly. I've also been using mostly wide open apertures because I've been playing with the A7 indoors at night. Right now I get good hit rates, but I anticipate I will get excellent hit rates with practice. I started out with rangefinders last year (so the learning curve is fresh in mind) and so far I personally find focus peaking to be perhaps easier to learn. Either method though has its pros and cons and comes down to muscle memory and experience.
What I'm about to say might sound like "bend your knees" or "keep your eye on the ball" but hey - gotta start somewhere... The way I go about focusing is imagining the DOF plane as indicated by the peaking highlights. More than that - imagine the center of the DOF plane where critical focus is. It's not as simple as it sounds when photographing organic shapes strewn at different distances throughout the frame. A scene like that will have only a small and/or sporadic amount of peaking highlights. Combine that with simply not being critically aware of orientation with respect to a subject; I was surprised how often the swath of peaking indicated the DOF plane was at an entirely different angle than I imagined.
Anyways, with practice I like to think my DOF plane imagination has gotten much better because I am making much more purposeful focus adjustments than when I first got the A7. In other words, I seem to read the peaking better even when random things that aren't even connected to my subject are peaking.
Some other observations - just because something is peaking doesn't mean it's in focus. That may sound like a bad thing but it's not. The peaking starts off thin and flickering and gets more intense the more in-focus something is. This actually is generally helpful. E.g. when focusing on someone's face. You usually want the eye in focus. As it turns out most people's faces don't have many contrast lines for the peaking to show up on except for nostrils and, 9 out of 10 times, there's a tiny highlight reflected off the eyeball - perfect. If peaking were either full-on or full-off while at the same time the eye and maybe nostril have a pinpoint of peaking, there'd be no way to tell if the focus plane is just starting to touch the eye, or if it's centered on the eye (critical focus) because peaking would just be "on". But because peaking isn't like that, I focus until it's most intense and can generally tell when just the pinpoint of the eyeball highlight is critically focused by feeling the "bump" of the focus peaking. Yeah, it probably seems the peaking is too vague to do this, but it's not if I actively concentrate on making this happen. I've done comparisons using this method vs focus magnification and I definitely can determine critical focus quite quickly just using peaking. I'm not saying I'd never use focus mag again - just that practice goes a long way and most of the time I don't have time for focus magnification.
Last tip I have is I made the down button of the scroll wheel change peaking intensity. That way I just press repeated times (without changing buttons) to change the peaking intensity. Low light peaks less, so I use the high setting. Daylight peaks more, so I use the low or medium setting. Also stopping down has a similar effect.
Good lord I hope that was helpful. I was a nice mental exercise for myself at least.
segedi
RFicianado
I've found that when using focus peaking with any camera it's best to focus wide open and then stop down if you want greater DOF. Peaking, in my experience, is much less indicative of actual focus point when shoiting stopped down. It's a bit of a pain to stop down after focusing, but if you shoot at f1.4-2.8 then it's much easier. And your hit rate will be better. Especially when combined with magnification as others have indicated.
leica M2 fan
Mentor
Thanks to all for the invaluable tips. If I could get someone's help , it is mentioned several times to assign e.g. Magnify to AF/MF button but I haven't been able to find that function at all! Help! Help! TIA to all.
YYV_146
Well-known
Turn the AE/AF lock dial to AF and press the button on the dial. That is the default focus magnification. You can also use the custom button assign function to map it to one of the C1, C2 and C3 buttons. I have it on C1 as well, I prefer the position when I'm using longer and heavier lenses and can't reach the lock dial as easily.
andy_v
Established
Thanks a lot!
Especially for the down button tip.
leica M2 fan
Mentor
Huge thanks to all of you! I did manage to get the Magnify set up and focus peaking is still active but I really like the magnification route, it really works. Thanks again, you guys are all so helpful! The best.
kanzlr
Hexaneur
I have only experience with the APS-C NEX Cameras but found their focus peaking to be hit and miss. It is sometimes hard to say if turning the focusing ring left or right increases the shimmer, or if you are there already.
really the only focus peaking that works is what Ricoh has as Mode2 on their GXR.
really the only focus peaking that works is what Ricoh has as Mode2 on their GXR.