The Mighty Canon P -- contrasted with M7

[aizan]

doesn't it focus on what you point it at? i thought it worked just like a rangefinder spot.

 

[jlw]

doesn't it focus on what you point it at? i thought it worked just like a rangefinder spot.

You're referring to the Contax G1/G2? There are two fixed black brackets in the finder area. The AF system is supposed to focus on what's within those brackets.

But since the brackets occupy a certain area, they very often wind up covering parts of the subject (such as both the near eye and the far eye in a close-up portrait) that are at different distances, or part of the subject plus foreground or background.

In these situations the AF system has no way of knowing which target is the one you intended; it will focus on the one that produces the strongest signal on the AF sensor.

There's a distance scale (meters only) on the LCD display at the bottom of the finder. If you remember to check this, it can help you determine when a focusing error has occurred -- for example, if your intended subject is a person's head at 2 meters, and the scale reads 5 meters, it's a good bet that the AF system has focused on the wall behind him/her instead of on your intended target. Once you're aware of the error, you can try again -- either by using the focus lock to select a more "focusable" area of the subject, or by switching to manual focusing.

However, in fast-breaking situations it's easy to overlook the display, and it doesn't really solve the problem when the target distances aren't very different (such as the near eye/far eye example above.)

When I was operating the Contax G User Pages, I got a lot of emails from people lamenting the fact that they couldn't actually see a direct indication of what it was on which the AF system had chosen to focus. Although with practice I got experienced enough with the Gs to anticipate and avoid possible focus errors, I still got a few of them myself, and I can understand why it would make many users feel insecure.

 

[aizan]

so if you point it at the near eye, the far eye may be within the bracket and create a stronger signal? how do you work around that?

 

[simonankor]

Coming in a bit late with this response but...

Thanks for the tip, Joe... I am looking around (kinda) for a cheap 100mm f/3.5 but it's not *too* high on my list. At the moment I have an SLR with a 135mm for closer portraits 😉

But maybe in a few months when I have some free cash... 😀

 

[djon]

I specifically returned to rfdrs (Ps) from SLRs for fast focusing accuracy in difficult light along with small size. Probably age, but might have something to do with casual portraiture.

*If * a camera had a *brilliant bright frame finder*, but happened to be autofocus (like Konica Hexar...or like digicams it had extreme depth of field), autofocus would probably become attractive: I just bought a Toyota RAV4 with manual transmission...manual tranny was hard to get (Vs automatic) and doesn't offer many practical advantages other than off road and fun (my reasons)...same kind of idea. Either way, the car would have been nearly perfect for my needs/desires.

IMO the main drawbacks to better pocket-sized digicams (such as my physically beautiful "old" 3.2 MP Canon Ixus) are 1) poor optical viewfinders (same as old IIF/111F) 2) inability to use bright line optical accessory finders due to zoom that can't be fixed at specific focal lengths 3)slow shutter response. Many cheap digicams are photographically better (and better built!) in most respects than Epson RD1 and *most* are higher resolution than people need, if all they want are fine 6X9" images on 8.5X11 paper.

I don't think lens interchangability is that crucial to those Leica/Canon rfdr users who are mostly into photography, rather than collection...many would be happy with fine digital bright-frame-viewfinder (Vs "rangefinder") cameras that had fixed lenses (like Canon GL17), especially if they could pocket two: a small, fast 35mm version and a fast 75mm version. I've got two Ps and three superb lenses...one, the 50 1.5, rarely gets used...so one P usually wears a 25 and the other usually wears a 35.

 

[jlw]

so if you point it at the near eye, the far eye may be within the bracket and create a stronger signal? how do you work around that?

That's one of the biggest problems with the system. You have to try to recompose so the near eye is included but the far eye is excluded, without also including anything else that would create a stronger signal. Then you lock focus, restore your original composition, and shoot.