Gfx manual focus. More clear focus indication?

[henrikfoto]

I am using the gfx, and I love it. Just one thing I am not happy with so far:

I have used the Sony A7r with old mf lenses. It is very easy to see what is is in focus
with the indication on the screen. On the gfx it is not at all thet clear. Is there anything I do wrong?
I use the focus peak and have tried the different colours. But to me it is very hard to see.

Anybody else have this problem or know what to do?

[Jim Kasson]

I am using the gfx, and I love it. Just one thing I am not happy with so far:

I have used the Sony A7r with old mf lenses. It is very easy to see what is is in focus
with the indication on the screen. On the gfx it is not at all thet clear. Is there anything I do wrong?
I use the focus peak and have tried the different colours. But to me it is very hard to see.

Anybody else have this problem or know what to do?

Try this:

http://blog.kasson.com/the-last-word/manually-focusing-the-fujifilm-gfx-50s/

Works really well, IMHO.

Jim

[henrikfoto]

Try this:

http://blog.kasson.com/the-last-word/manually-focusing-the-fujifilm-gfx-50s/

Works really well, IMHO.

Jim

Thank you!  Now I have a better understanding😊😊

[Jim Kasson]

Thank you!  Now I have a better understanding😊😊

The key thing is setting it up so there is just a tiny bit of active peaking.

Jim

[hubell]

I am using the gfx, and I love it. Just one thing I am not happy with so far:

I have used the Sony A7r with old mf lenses. It is very easy to see what is is in focus
with the indication on the screen. On the gfx it is not at all thet clear. Is there anything I do wrong?
I use the focus peak and have tried the different colours. But to me it is very hard to see.

Anybody else have this problem or know what to do?

I had a GFX for a month and returned it, in substantial part because of the inability to achieve critical focus in magnified live view. This is my primary approach to achieving critical focus, and I was astonished at how poorly implemented it is in the GFX, which is in so many other ways well thought out. I wound up buying the X1D because manual focus in magnified live view works VERY well. It is very easy to see when an object is perfectly focused in magnified live view, even under low light conditions. This surprised me, as the specs of the EVF of the GFX are better than the X1D on paper, so go figure.
I have read about using focus peaking in combination with magnified live view, but I haven't tried it with the GFX. For me, it would be a kludge, as I wouldn't want to be turning on and off focus peaking for focusing (I don't like to compose with focus peaking on) and then going into a different menu to adjust its intensity to accommodate the subject matter.

[vjbelle]

Howard...... did you use a loupe when checking for focus in live view?  Is the magnification 100% pixels?  I am amazed that Fuji could stumble on something so basic.  Not doubting your experences at all just curious. 

Victor

[hubell]

Howard...... did you use a loupe when checking for focus in live view?  Is the magnification 100% pixels?  I am amazed that Fuji could stumble on something so basic.  Not doubting your experences at all just curious. 

Victor

No, I didn't use a loupe. I have been using an A7RII and never had an issue with using magnified live view at 100%. As far as I know, the magnification in live view for the GFX can be set to 100% pixels, but I am not sure. This works great in the Sony A7RII; it works great in the X1D. In the GFX, terrible. I found this totally inexplicable, because the GFX is not the first mirrorless camera that Fuji has ever made. There are like 15,000 ways to configure SOOC JPEGs but the manual focusing in magnified live view sucks.
Nobody should take my word for it. Try it for yourself, compare it side-by-side to a Sony A7RII and report back.

[vjbelle]

As you know I shoot with a 3100 and always use a loupe in live view at 100% pixels.  That's just the way I've always used live view even going back to a 5DII..... but thats just me.  My eyesight isn't good enough - near - to utilize live view for critical focus but is good enough for framing and composition.  I had an A7Rlll for a short stint and used live view the same way when I used the lcd screen for focusing, however because the EVF was so good at full magnification I almost always used that for critical focusing.  I didn't keep the Sony but there were features about it that were impressive. The GFX is probably my next purchase but I will try before I buy.  I already have a complete Cambo rear standard ready to go for the GFX but that could easily be changed to a different camera. 

Thanks much for getting back to me.....

Victor

[hubell]

As you know I shoot with a 3100 and always use a loupe in live view at 100% pixels.  That's just the way I've always used live view even going back to a 5DII..... but thats just me.  My eyesight isn't good enough - near - to utilize live view for critical focus but is good enough for framing and composition.  I had an A7Rlll for a short stint and used live view the same way when I used the lcd screen for focusing, however because the EVF was so good at full magnification I almost always used that for critical focusing.  I didn't keep the Sony but there were features about it that were impressive. The GFX is probably my next purchase but I will try before I buy.  I already have a complete Cambo rear standard ready to go for the GFX but that could easily be changed to a different camera. 

Thanks much for getting back to me.....

Victor

Victor:
My eyesight at this point is nothing to write home about, but I have no trouble manually focusing in magnified live view with the Sony or the X1D. It works wonderfully.

[Jim Kasson]

No, I didn't use a loupe. I have been using an A7RII and never had an issue with using magnified live view at 100%. As far as I know, the magnification in live view for the GFX can be set to 100% pixels, but I am not sure. This works great in the Sony A7RII; it works great in the X1D. In the GFX, terrible. I found this totally inexplicable, because the GFX is not the first mirrorless camera that Fuji has ever made. There are like 15,000 ways to configure SOOC JPEGs but the manual focusing in magnified live view sucks.
Nobody should take my word for it. Try it for yourself, compare it side-by-side to a Sony A7RII and report back.

Here's one report: I have a7RII's, an a7RIII, and a GFX. I have no problem with manual focusing in magnified modes with any of them. I do use peaking on all the cameras.

Jim

[hubell]

Here's one report: I have a7RII's, an a7RIII, and a GFX. I have no problem with manual focusing in magnified modes with any of them. I do use peaking on all the cameras.

Jim

Thanks, I think you just confirmed my point and the point of the OP again that manual focusing in magnified live view is poorly implemented and imprecise with the GFX. You just feel that there is a workaround by always turning on focus peaking in combination with magnified live view and then adjusting the sensitivity (and possibly the color) of the focus peaking. That may work for you, but if the magnified live view functioned properly in the first place, all of that wouldn't be necessary.

[Jim Kasson]

Thanks, I think you just confirmed my point and the point of the OP again that manual focusing in magnified live view is poorly implemented and imprecise with the GFX. You just feel that there is a workaround by always turning on focus peaking in combination with magnified live view and then adjusting the sensitivity (and possibly the color) of the focus peaking. That may work for you, but if the magnified live view functioned properly in the first place, all of that wouldn't be necessary.

It may not work the way you want it to work, but, for me, it works fine. If I can find a convenient way to make a piece of photographic equipment do the job at hand, I don't worry much about how it could have been made differently. BTW, I use peaking on the D850 and the a7RIII, too, so there's not much difference there. I do think the GFX press/turn control is the best way to control magnification of the three camera families.

I actually find peaking sufficiently useful that, when I was using the D810, I sometimes hooked it up to an Atomos Shogun so I could use the peaking in the Shogun. Now, with the D850, I don't need to do that.

Jim

[hubell]

It may not work the way you want it to work, but, for me, it works fine. If I can find a convenient way to make a piece of photographic equipment do the job at hand, I don't worry much about how it could have been made differently. BTW, I use peaking on the D850 and the a7RIII, too, so there's not much difference there. I do think the GFX press/turn control is the best way to control magnification of the three camera families.

I actually find peaking sufficiently useful that, when I was using the D810, I sometimes hooked it up to an Atomos Shogun so I could use the peaking in the Shogun. Now, with the D850, I don't need to do that.

Jim

Circle back. It was not ME that started this thread and said he was very disappointed that manual focusing in magnified live view doesn’t work in the GFX the way he expected it to work.
To be clear, we are different. I am sure you were the kind of guy who very proficiently programmed your VCR. I was not. You are today the kind of guy who is comfortable with a menu system that offers 20,000 ways to configure your camera and will spend the time to do it and remember the exact details as to how you set the camera up. I am not. I want something that is streamlined with very few options and just works. It’s not a matter of right and wrong. We are just different.

[pschefz]

there are not a lot of settings to consider? i agree with Jim's blog post on which color and settings to choose, (which is pretty much the same as any other camera with peaking, find a setting that works for you and leave it there) i never really use the magnified focus...even when shooting with manual focus but when i do i don't find it much different then other mirrorless i have shot with.....for slow shooting and critical focus i shoot tethered so i dont really use the camera....

i have not seen a perfect EVF yet....as much as i prefer them to a mirror at this point, i havent seen the perfect one yet....leica SL: nice and big but anything dark-ish goes black....A7RIII is just too crispy for me....GFX is pretty nice IMO but i tend to underexpose to save highlights, so things get a little muddy as well....like everything, i am pretty sure next years solutions will be a step up....and we will still complain:)