NEX focus peaking - any tips, pointers for using it

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mco_970
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p.1 #1 · NEX focus peaking - any tips, pointers for using it

I'd be interested to hear them. I'm finding focus peaking most helpful for me when I'm zoomed in with manual focus assist (MFA). Not so useful if I'm not zoomed in, but maybe I'm using it wrong. When I'm not zoomed in, some lenses are giving me a 'sparkle' where the sharp zone of focus is, and that seems more accurate to me.

I shoot raw, but have two of my presets adjusted differently - my landscape setting has sharpness turned down, and standard has sharpness turned up, and it seems like choosing between those helps to see the focus peaking color for lower contrast versus higher contrast edges (use 'landscape' in this case). That seems to make some difference in what the viewfinder shows me.

BTW, I am using red color, and focus peaking at medium level.

What are your observations and/or settings for focus peaking?

Jan 29, 2012 at 03:04 AM

Jeff Kott
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p.1 #2 · NEX focus peaking - any tips, pointers for using it

Hi Michelle,

I've found that the best focus peaking level depends on whether I'm focusing at the shooting aperture if stopped down or focusing wide open and then stopping down. If you're focusing stopped down, you definitely want focus peaking set to low (to take into account the increased depth of field). If you're always focusing wide open and then stopping down to shoot, medium or high may be better depending on how contrasty the light is.

I'm sure you know that focus peaking shows the areas of highest contrast which is usually, but not always, the areas most in focus. I almost always use focus magnification in conjunction with focus peaking.

Jan 29, 2012 at 03:16 AM

tomrock
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p.1 #3 · NEX focus peaking - any tips, pointers for using it

I don't have any exotic lenses, but I wonder -- if you set the camera to shoot black and white, would the focus peaking still show up in color and be easier to see? You'd still get a color raw file. Would you have to shoot raw+jpeg?

Jan 29, 2012 at 12:18 PM

mco_970
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p.1 #4 · NEX focus peaking - any tips, pointers for using it

Jeff Kott wrote:
Hi Michelle,

I've found that the best focus peaking level depends on whether I'm focusing at the shooting aperture if stopped down or focusing wide open and then stopping down. If you're focusing stopped down, you definitely want focus peaking set to low (to take into account the increased depth of field). If you're always focusing wide open and then stopping down to shoot, medium or high may be better depending on how contrasty the light is.

I'm sure you know that focus peaking shows the areas of highest contrast which is usually, but not always, the areas most in focus. I almost always use focus magnification in conjunction with focus peaking.

Hi Jeff,

So do you end up changing your settings for peaking level during shooting to get the right setting?? Or do you have an idea of what setting you need based on the subject?

Jan 29, 2012 at 04:23 PM

mco_970
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p.1 #5 · NEX focus peaking - any tips, pointers for using it

tomrock wrote:
I don't have any exotic lenses, but I wonder -- if you set the camera to shoot black and white, would the focus peaking still show up in color and be easier to see? You'd still get a color raw file. Would you have to shoot raw+jpeg?

I will probably give this a try. It is easy with my setup to switch into B&W, and I had not thought about the red standing out for that setup. It also seems light it might be really useful when the LCD is hard to see in bright light.

I wonder if the light intensity at lower altitude makes it easier to see it the LCD in general. Colorado is just so bright and sunny most of the time...

Jan 29, 2012 at 04:26 PM

allebaug
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p.1 #6 · NEX focus peaking - any tips, pointers for using it

MCO,

I read (forgot) somewhere, besides using Creative Style "B&W" for MF work to also choose its Option button, and turn the Contrast down to -3. I work with this B&W with -3 setting active on the 5N most of the time, MF or AF, resulting in a brighter, more detailed and accurate viewfinder/LCD image, especially in lower light settings. I've also set the Creative Style "STD" to Contrast -3 to deliver the same general AF and MF benefits, but also produce a color Jpeg vs a B&W version when I need something quicker than working with the Raw file.

Jan 29, 2012 at 05:07 PM

Jeff Kott
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p.1 #7 · NEX focus peaking - any tips, pointers for using it

mco_970 wrote:
Hi Jeff,

So do you end up changing your settings for peaking level during shooting to get the right setting?? Or do you have an idea of what setting you need based on the subject?

I almost always focus at my shooting aperture and set focus peaking to low. When the light is too flat to get much peaking, I just rely on the magnified view.

Edit: BTW, Sean Reid of Reid reviews has recommended opening up the lens to 2.8 or 4 for focusing even when shooting at smaller apertures. I tried this and didn't find I was any more accurate than focusing with magnified view in the EVF at my shooting aperture (of course when smaller than 2.8 or 4). Another obvious advantage of focusing at the shooting aperture is that you eliminate any possible focus shift.

Jan 29, 2012 at 05:11 PM


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