back alley
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can someone explain what focus peaking is...in very simple terms?
many thanks!
many thanks!
focus peaking?
- Thread starter back alley
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jsrockit
Moderator
Sykomor
Established
You can adjust sensitivity and change colour. I prefer high contrast and enhanced sharpness BW and yellow. Very efficient.
back alley
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and it's used for manual focussing only?
kxl
Social Documentary
It shows with AF lenses as well, as long as you have it turned on.
back alley
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kxl
Social Documentary
Yeah, it's always nice to be able to see what the AF lens is focused on.
Also, obviously the focus peaking is much more visible when there is a large area in focus, i.e., a lot of DOF versus razor thin DOF, i.e., 50/1.1 wide open at minimum focus distance -- but it is still there.
back alley
IMAGES
my old eyes might like it...easier to judge a shot before taking it...but it's almost anti rf in a way...kinda foreign.
kxl
Social Documentary
Yup - helpful for these poor tired eyes of mine as well.
And you're right - nothing at all like the pleasure of seeing two images align like an RF, although as I have posted in the past (and not to resurrect it) but why not have software-based focus peaking that shows two images that align ala RF's?
I love my NEX6.
Benjamin Marks
Veteran
I found it useful when using the rear screen to focus the NEX-5; it works better with normal to long lenses than with short ones. This is because when you are at a hyperfocal distance everything has a colored edge to it. Meh.
philipaloft
Member
I can only refer to the Nex3 and Nex5n, which I use every day.
It's true that the focus peaking colors come up on the area in focus, and it's helpful. What's particularly useful is that those cameras allow a two-stage closeup of the overall image.
For example, on your log-in image, the entire picture could be focused on, and the color fringing would be a good guide as to what's pretty sharp.
But there's a button you can push and the image would be cropped down to an area that'd cover the dog plus legs below knees allowing you to focus better from what you actually see on the LCD. Push that same button a second time and the cropping becomes tiny so that you can actually focus on the dog's nose or textile of the pants. Touch the shooting button and full picture reappears allowing for last minute composition.
It sounds convoluted, but it's fast. And you don't have to be a slave to the concept - just an aid.
Philip Barlow
It's true that the focus peaking colors come up on the area in focus, and it's helpful. What's particularly useful is that those cameras allow a two-stage closeup of the overall image.
For example, on your log-in image, the entire picture could be focused on, and the color fringing would be a good guide as to what's pretty sharp.
But there's a button you can push and the image would be cropped down to an area that'd cover the dog plus legs below knees allowing you to focus better from what you actually see on the LCD. Push that same button a second time and the cropping becomes tiny so that you can actually focus on the dog's nose or textile of the pants. Touch the shooting button and full picture reappears allowing for last minute composition.
It sounds convoluted, but it's fast. And you don't have to be a slave to the concept - just an aid.
Philip Barlow
z.bruce.li
Established
Focus peaking and Dynamic Manual Focus (for AF lenses) on my NEX-6's EVF is definitely the easiest way to focus both quickly and accurately. I wear glasses and this is by far the best, compared to the SLRs, TLRs, RF and ground glasses I have used in all formats.
mackigator
Well-known
It just works.
As mentioned above, On a NEX, you can easily assign a button to zoom in for a close up view of the focus area, in addition to the focus peaking's highlighting. With this method - flicking in and out - you can check critical focus faster than with any other camera system IMHO. I'm talking low light, long lens, etc - when eyeballs, noses, ears get easily missed in a traditional RF.
BTW, try yellow as a peaking color.
As mentioned above, On a NEX, you can easily assign a button to zoom in for a close up view of the focus area, in addition to the focus peaking's highlighting. With this method - flicking in and out - you can check critical focus faster than with any other camera system IMHO. I'm talking low light, long lens, etc - when eyeballs, noses, ears get easily missed in a traditional RF.
BTW, try yellow as a peaking color.
peterm1
Veteran
It really is critical to set the sensitivity for focus peaking to the correct level for your subject. When I first used it I had trouble sometimes seeing where the focus points were. So I increased the focus peaking sensitivity to make it more obvious. Unfortunately that then meant that a lot of things appeared to be in focus but you could never be sure that the subject you wanted to be critically focused, actually was. So I learned to set the focus peaking sensitivity to low and as the above post says a high contrast colour - I found that red worked well in daylight usually and yellow worked well in dim conditions.
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