1bwana1 wrote:
Dude, it is Parma Italy. I am surrounded with such beauty. It is really remarkable actually. I keep saying that Disneyland has been lying to us all theses years. It is not the happiest place on Earth...
I am limited to one sandwich there a week. This one of the more expensive places to have lunch. It is between $10 and $12 to have a big sandwich, chips, and a drink. Although Parma has a reputation of being a wealthy expensive city to live it, cost of living is a fraction of what it is in La Jolla.
I understand Italy is a bargain for us foreigners but too expensive for many Italians. Same here in Spain.
johnvanr wrote:
I understand Italy is a bargain for us foreigners but too expensive for many Italians. Same here in Spain.
Yes, Italy is very inexpensive compared to California. Especially, when one buys groceries and eats at home. Restaurants of course run a wide gamut of prices. You can spend a lot if you are willing.
Unfortunately, the post Covid inflation also affected Italy. Many things went up in price a great deal. Wages did not keep pace. I am sad to say that this is causing stress and hardship for many of my friends here. It is a Wold Wide problem it seems. We need to find a way to provide more equity for everyone and still maintain our freedoms and self determination. I am not smart enough to figure that out.
Just wondering, now the EV1 has been out long enough, how users are finding the EVF focusing compared to, say, MF on a Sony A7 series camera, or an M with the optional EVF attachment. In principle it seems to work the same way, but is that true in the implementation?
In terms of adding further focusing aids, could Leica do that just with firmware updates, or would they need a new version of the camera, e.g. with phase detect sites on the sensor?
rob_ww wrote:
Just wondering, now the EV1 has been out long enough, how users are finding the EVF focusing compared to, say, MF on a Sony A7 series camera, or an M with the optional EVF attachment. In principle it seems to work the same way, but is that true in the implementation?
In terms of adding further focusing aids, could Leica do that just with firmware updates, or would they need a new version of the camera, e.g. with phase detect sites on the sensor?
It works well, but I would prefer a focus confirmation like in the Nikon Zf (the square turns green when focus is acquired under it). For that method, I do not think that you need PDAF masking.
X2D also shows the direction and amount of focus ring movement. That is even better, but would require OSPDAF.
Thanks. Agree that focus confirmation would have been good, as you and others say. At least if it does not require PDAF on the sensor that means the possibility of a firmware addition at some point.
rob_ww wrote:
Thanks. Agree that focus confirmation would have been good, as you and others say. At least if it does not require PDAF on the sensor that means the possibility of a firmware addition at some point.
I am not sure whether focus confirmation requires PDAF. All the cameras that have it have PDAF sensors, I believe. You maybe could do it with contrast detection, but that would require software that would enable contrast detection AF which presumably is not there for a M camera that relies on a rangefinder for focus. It would be a huge and unprecedented firmware upgrade to do something like that. I don't see it happening, but hey feel free to dream. I just wouldn't hold my breath.
Steve Spencer wrote:
I am not sure whether focus confirmation requires PDAF. All the cameras that have it have PDAF sensors, I believe. You maybe could do it with contrast detection, but that would require software that would enable contrast detection AF which presumably is not there for a M camera that relies on a rangefinder for focus. It would be a huge and unprecedented firmware upgrade to do something like that. I don't see it happening, but hey feel free to dream. I just wouldn't hold my breath.
Steve Spencer wrote:
I am not sure whether focus confirmation requires PDAF. All the cameras that have it have PDAF sensors, I believe. You maybe could do it with contrast detection, but that would require software that would enable contrast detection AF which presumably is not there for a M camera that relies on a rangefinder for focus. It would be a huge and unprecedented firmware upgrade to do something like that. I don't see it happening, but hey feel free to dream. I just wouldn't hold my breath.
I speculate that the current focus peaking mechanism can be adapted for focus confirmation. CDAF is more complicated than that and not necessary. IIIRC, the D850 has a focus confirmation in live view that uses only CDAF.
SrMi wrote:
I speculate that the current focus peaking mechanism can be adapted for focus confirmation. CDAF is more complicated than that and not necessary. IIIRC, the D850 has a focus confirmation in live view that uses only CDAF.
I don't really know, but I don't think you are right. I think it would be a very major piece of software development to try to adapt focus peaking to focus confirmation, and that is exactly the sort of thing for which Leica is not that good. That said the difficulty here is just speculation on my part. I don't really know and could easily be wrong.
Steve Spencer wrote:
I don't really know, but I don't think you are right. I think it would be a very major piece of software development to try to adapt focus peaking to focus confirmation, and that is exactly the sort of thing for which Leica is not that good. That said the difficulty here is just speculation on my part. I don't really know and could easily be wrong.
Years ago my friend bought the Fujifilm GFX100 and I asked to try it. I mounted my 75mm Summilux and took a picture of him on the fly just point and shoot at f1.4 from minimum distance and the photo was sharp and in focus. It was better than a ground glass from an SLR. I didn’t use magnification nor peak and didn’t know how anyway not being my camera. That hi-res EVF was beautiful. My SL2 can’t do that. The M-EV1 has to be much better with manual focus than the SL2 which I already own to make sense.
hkrazerx wrote:
Years ago my friend bought the Fujifilm GFX100 and I asked to try it. I mounted my 75mm Summilux and took a picture of him on the fly just point and shoot at f1.4 from minimum distance and the photo was sharp and in focus. It was better than a ground glass from an SLR. I didn’t use magnification nor peak and didn’t know how anyway not being my camera. That hi-res EVF was beautiful. My SL2 can’t do that. The M-EV1 has to be much better with manual focus than the SL2 which I already own to make sense.
Well, that was something I was wondering -- is there anything improved about the M-EV1 which makes it better to use than an SLx, for example?
rob_ww wrote:
Well, that was something I was wondering -- is there anything improved about the M-EV1 which makes it better to use than an SLx, for example?
Yes, smaller, lighter and it's an M. After getting my EV1 (since I own and like the X2DII better than any IBIS camera I have ever used) I sold all my SL gear.
stgrove wrote:
Yes, smaller, lighter and it's an M. After getting my EV1 (since I own and like the X2DII better than any IBIS camera I have ever used) I sold all my SL gear.
Ha, yes. I meant though, is the MF better in any way? In theory it should be the same as any of the cameras which assist MF by magnification and/or outlines. But sometimes small differences matter.
So I went to the Leica store in Mayfair this afternoon to compare focusing with the M-EV1 to the M11 and the Q3. I came away with mixed feelings: the M-EV1 was not hard to focus. I did not need the coloured focus assist edges, just medium magnification was enough. It was quick and pin sharp. Although the principle is the same as we know, I found it easier than MF with either of the Sonys I have owned (A7R4 and A7RC).
I then tried the RF focusing on the M11. Also quick, also pin sharp. Muscle memory from decades of focusing M cameras kicked in pretty quickly. I would say, given the limitations of an in-store short test, the RF still seemed faster to me than the EVF.
They also told me the M11 has been discontinued. I would think a sure sign that a successor is not far away. So that rather complicates making a decision right now.
I am very happy with my Sony kit and the results are excellent. I just sometimes crave the old MF experience (for me) of placing focus just where I want it, with no hassle. So if I did go back to Leica it would be as an additional camera to use when I wanted to. I know it is expensive, but as with motor cars, if you deduct the expected resale value, it is not as expensive as it first appears. Pretty much every Leica item I have ever owned has been worth its original price when the time came to sell it -- less the results of inflation of course.
rob, 'the dogs that did not bark' in focus type comparisons are as follow: the focal length and identity of the lens used, light and the focal distance. Was it a 21mm, a 90mm or a 135mm? Did you focus on a woman standing 50m, or 100m down the street? In what light conditions? How did you go with an object at 0.35m with the RF camera?
These little pieces of real world usability all matter to speed of acquisition and final precision accuracy, not to mention consistency at wide apertures and RF-unfriendly focal lengths. And there is always the opening of new creative doors. These and more besides are issues that the 'RF is faster to focus' advocates so often manage to not mention.
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