[Leica] RE; Autofocusing M lenses

Fri Feb 12 18:26:18 PST 2016

I guess I should now quote the maxim by which all of us computer geeks
live:  "When all else fails, read the directions!"  :-)

(...but seriously, please let us know how you like the split image feature,
Nathan.)
--Peter

On Fri, Feb 12, 2016 at 10:22 AM, Nathan Wajsman <photo at frozenlight.eu>
wrote:

> You did really well with these, but I am intrigued by the split image—I
> had no idea Fuji had it. Maybe I should look in the manual after all.
>
> Cheers,
> Nathan
>
> Nathan Wajsman
> Alicante, Spain
> http://www.frozenlight.eu <http://www.frozenlight.eu/>
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>
> > On 12 Feb 2016, at 07:53, Jayanand Govindaraj <jayanand at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > Never tried it. I find Focus Peaking works quite well, even for my
> weakish
> > eyesight, as long as the subject is stationary. Here are some samples
> which
> > I took mainly at the behest of Alastair Firkin, with various lenses
> mounted
> > on the Fuji XT-1, all manually focused with the aid of focus peaking. All
> > are just default processed in Lightroom, with no additional processing.
> The
> > models were my niece Shreeya, and my younger son, Aditya :
> >
> > The first was an unscientific look at both the Summicron and the Fuji
> 56mm
> > as short portrait lenses, both at f2:
> >
> > Shreeya - Leica Summicron:
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/album333/Leica+Summicron+50.jpg.html
> >
> > Shrreya - Fuji 56mm:
> > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/album333/Fuji+56.jpg.html
> >
> > Then, two of  Aditya with the Tele-Elmarit 90mm wide open:
> >
> > Natural Light:
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/album333/1+Natural+Light.jpg.html
> >
> > Artificial Light:
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/album333/2+Fluoroscent+Light.jpg.html
> >
> > Cheers
> > Jayanand
> >
> > On Fri, Feb 12, 2016 at 11:47 AM, Peter Klein <
> boulanger.croissant at gmail.com
> >> wrote:
> >
> >> Ah, another check mark on Fuji's chalkboard.  Didn't know they had a
> split
> >> image. How accurate is it? One advantage of a "real" RF is that the
> >> physical baselength can be as long as can fit on the camera body,
> whereas
> >> the physical baselength of the digital split image is the diameter of
> the
> >> lens. Although some magnification could mitigate that...?
> >>
> >> I will sometimes put a Leica lens on my Olympus E-M5, usually for
> >> telephoto.  A 90mm Leica mount lens makes a rather compact 180mm
> >> equivalent.  I usually just use the digital focus magnifier.  Easy.
> >>
> >> --Peter
> >>
> >> On Thu, Feb 11, 2016 at 9:52 PM, Jayanand Govindaraj <
> jayanand at gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Both a Digital Split Image overlay and Focus Peaking as manual focus
> aids
> >>> are available on my Fuji XT-1, which accepts M lenses quite
> effortlessly
> >>> with an adapter. In fact Fuji themselves make an adapter.
> >>> Cheers
> >>> Jayanand
> >>>
> >>> On Fri, Feb 12, 2016 at 8:42 AM, Peter Klein <
> >>> boulanger.croissant at gmail.com>
> >>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> In theory it should work just fine. You leave the lens on infinity,
> and
> >>> the
> >>>> adapter does the rest.  The adapter must:
> >>>>
> >>>> -Interface to the camera's AF electronics such that the camera can
> tell
> >>> it
> >>>> "forward, back, stop").
> >>>> -Be thin enough to allow infinity focus.
> >>>> -Contain motors and a mechanism that will rack the lens out
> >> sufficiently
> >>> to
> >>>> focus the lens to a reasonable close distance. The mechanism must fit
> >> in
> >>>> the adapter. This is easier to do with SLR lens adapters. M lenses
> >> have a
> >>>> shorter back focus distance, and M to mirrorless adapters are quiet
> >> short
> >>>> compared to SLR adapters. Perhaps some of the mechanism could be below
> >>> the
> >>>> adapter, or concentric to it.)
> >>>>
> >>>> The major problems with M lenses on other cameras would still be
> corner
> >>>> smearing and color shifts, unless the sensor's Bayer array was
> designed
> >>> for
> >>>> M lenses. And would the autofocus be fast and accurate enough, and
> >> would
> >>>> using the adapter be convenient enough that you wouldn't get fed up
> >> with
> >>> it
> >>>> quickly?
> >>>>
> >>>> Personally, I'd love to have an autofocus M that also did RF focusing.
> >>> But
> >>>> as Larry mentions, it would have to be worth someone's while to
> >>>> manufacture. Most manufacturers have already passed on making their
> own
> >>>> rangefinder mechanism. Leica seems to be willing to make RF cameras
> >> along
> >>>> traditional M lines, but not to do anything radical with them.  But
> >> what
> >>>> about something entirely new by a third party--an AF camera that also
> >> did
> >>>> some sort of visual rangefinder simulation in an EVF, and was designed
> >> to
> >>>> take M lenses. Ideally, the version for M lenses would have a Bayer
> >> array
> >>>> with microlens offsets licensed from Leica.  The SLR lens version
> would
> >>>> have a more conventional sensor.
> >>>>
> >>>> All technically possible. The big question is whether there are enough
> >>>> legacy(*) lens fans, and in particular M lens fans, to make such a
> >> camera
> >>>> commercially viable.
> >>>>
> >>>> --Peter, who actually dislikes the word "legacy."
> >>>>
> >>>> On Thu, Feb 11, 2016 at 4:22 PM, Larry Zeitlin via LUG <
> >>>> lug at leica-users.org>
> >>>> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> About 40 years ago, give or take a decade, a precision camera make,
> >>>>> probably Zeiss. marketed a camera in which the focus was adjusted by
> >>>> moving
> >>>>> the film plane. This simplified lenses but had the downsides of
> >>> increased
> >>>>> expense for the camera body and the difficulty of providing enough
> >>> motion
> >>>>> for long focus lenses. The idea was abandoned after a few years but I
> >>>>> believe that with modern electronics it could provide automatic focus
> >>>> for M
> >>>>> lenses. But, of course, there would be little incentive for Leica to
> >>>> adopt
> >>>>> such a system. Maybe a third party could sell a universal camera
> >> which
> >>>>> would autofocus with all makers lenses.
> >>>>> Larry Z
> >>>>>
> >>>>> + + +
> >>>>> LUG:
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Any idea whether this would actually work or not?
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>
> http://www.thephoblographer.com/2016/02/11/the-techart-pro-lens-adapter-promises-autofocus-for-leica-m-mount-glass/#.VrywD_krJaQ
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Tina
> >>>>>
> >>>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>>> Leica Users Group.
> >>>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>> Leica Users Group.
> >>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> Leica Users Group.
> >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> >>>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Leica Users Group.
> >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> >>
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Leica Users Group.
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>
>
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