SimonPJ
Well-known
I have had a Sony A7Riii for the past couple of years, which I bought as a long lens companion to my Leica MP240 for theatre photography. In that use it has excelled, it’s high iso file quality and reliable low light autofocus with a 70-200 f2.8 lens allowing me to capture valuable close shots to complement what I can get with a 35 or 50 on the MP240. The large file size is also a boon to allow cropping shots which are often taken in haste to capture key moments in the drama.
But I have not taken to the A7Riii for any other use apart from theatre work. I bought several adapters to allow me to use my longer Leica M and R lenses, etc., but found that manual focus via zooming in the whole screen view to show a magnified image of a portion of the picture goes profoundly against my instincts as a longtime rangefinder user to need to see at least the whole picture, and preferably some context around it, as I’m preparing to take a photo. The A7Riii’s manual focus mode of zooming in the whole view to get enough magnification to nail focus feels like a doubling of what’s already a claustrophobic SLR view of the world - from a rangefinder user’s perspective.
I think I saw that the Leica SL gives a magnified portion of the image to use for manual focus - almost like the old split image / microprism focusing spot - whilst still allowing you to see the whole image around it. Is that right? How have people found it?
Are there other high-spec mirrorless cameras which allow this approach for manual focus of adapted lenses?
Best wishes in these unprecedented times. Stay safe.
But I have not taken to the A7Riii for any other use apart from theatre work. I bought several adapters to allow me to use my longer Leica M and R lenses, etc., but found that manual focus via zooming in the whole screen view to show a magnified image of a portion of the picture goes profoundly against my instincts as a longtime rangefinder user to need to see at least the whole picture, and preferably some context around it, as I’m preparing to take a photo. The A7Riii’s manual focus mode of zooming in the whole view to get enough magnification to nail focus feels like a doubling of what’s already a claustrophobic SLR view of the world - from a rangefinder user’s perspective.
I think I saw that the Leica SL gives a magnified portion of the image to use for manual focus - almost like the old split image / microprism focusing spot - whilst still allowing you to see the whole image around it. Is that right? How have people found it?
Are there other high-spec mirrorless cameras which allow this approach for manual focus of adapted lenses?
Best wishes in these unprecedented times. Stay safe.
