Focus peaking v. magnification

Michael L NYC 99 wrote:

I'll throw in my 2 cents re: focus peaking and magnification. I first had focus peaking on my G6 and found it very good and quite accurate. I assigned peaking to a function button and used magnification by pressing the rear wheel. The G6 also allowed changing the magnification by spinning the rear wheel. When focusing past infinity, the peaking would show less detail, so you would know you went too far.

Focus peaking is somewhat different on my E-M10. I also assigned peaking to a function button and had to assign magnification to a function button as there is no comparable rear wheel push on the E-M10 as on the G6. Magnification size also cannot be adjusted on the E-M10. Whereas the G6 only highlighted edges that were in focus, the E-M10 also highlights flat surfaces.

I used focus peaking and magnification last night with my E-M10 on a distant object and found that turning the focus ring past infinity did not change the peaking display. The peaking stayed constant, at least to my eye, from just before infinity to past infinity, which obviously is not accurate for sharp focus. I had to turn off peaking to get the best focus. Focusing on a closer object may produce more accurate results with peaking.

All the above described using Voigtlander lenses and not auto focus lenses.

My summary is that peaking and magnification work well together on the G6 and not as well on the E-M10. I still would use peaking on the E-M10, but rely on magnification for fine tuning as others have said.

Regards

Michael

Thanks Michael, it is good to get feedback on how well focus peaking works on different makes and models.

Somehow I think that users who might not use focus peaking or have never seen it must think that all focus peaking systems are equal.  They are certainly not and some are much more effective than others.

Also focus peaking and auto focus?  Only one manufacturer that I know has this facility, the others restrict it to manual focus assist only.  Those that use auto focus almost exclusively might be quite ignorant of just what it might do and think they hardly need it.

However "good" focus peaking also gives a very good indication of the depth of field  being used by the lens and it is also good practice to use an AF lens an see how the focus peaking reacts to the focus point.  In that way you can get used to judging how to read focus peaking correctly and also get a much better feeling for the dof being used  than any over-riding "dof button".  In fact even with AF in use adjusting the aperture setting on the Ricoh GXR-M will visually see the dof denoted by the focus peaking ripple in and out as dof is altered.

On the Ricoh GR - a predominately AF based camera with fixed prime lens - focus peaking can be used in both AF and MF.  Using magnified pinpoint focus and focus peaking the AF can be used to "pinpoint" focus on a pin point (well almost).  This is Ricoh mode2 focus peaking which is completely different from the other focus peaking methods.  All focus peaking methods other than Ricoh mode 2 play "hunt the thimble" for flickering edge enhancements, except the Sony unmagnified system which tends to hit the user's screen with a dollop of jam.  But the Ricoh mode2 is brilliant.  It looks odd, but what it does is convert the image to grey scale with enhanced outline edges. The sharpness of the enhanced edges denotes the degree of focus.  Out of focus is more fuzzy-thick and in focus sharp outline. As a result you can see the composition in what I call "stick figure" outlines and you look for the sharpest "pattern" (which our eyes are remarkably good at doing) rather than search for clear in-focus detail.  As a result mode2 works well at all magnifications and best for detail at magnification levels.  Furthermore you are dealing with focus peaking over the whole screen very visually as the outlines are on everything in view and point of focus infinitely variable.  Not just the outlines that are precisely in focus - there are variations of precision quite clearly identifiable.  Seeing is believing as this focus peaking effect is very hard to descibe in words.

The upshot is that all focus peaking assist systems are good manual focus aids but they could also be used in both focus modes (AF/MF) to judge depth of field.  The better systems scale strength well to magnification level and give a more constant feedback to the user.  Because your camera focus peaking is not terribly useful does not mean that all focus peaking systems should be judged by it. Some focus peaking implementations are very good and the Ricoh mode2 system is outstanding and cross AF/MF.  To this is added the very neat touch where the Ricoh camera will allow a soft press of the shutter as a simple toggle.  You can have focus peaking in magnified mode working away to judge focus and a soft press of th shutter will switch to normal unmagnified view for composition and framing, release the soft press toggle and you are immediately back in magnified focus peaked view to check the focus.   Back and forth as the photographer uses the two most important requirements of the craft - good focus and good composition.

Mode2 is so quick to use that a practised user reaches almost AF focus speeds and it is really very possible to track focus a moving object in manual focus using this assist type.

Therefore I rate the Panasonic focus peaking assist as second best of those that I know to the Ricoh mode2 type but the Ricoh user has been "imaged up and finished" and through a cup of coffee and a nice scone whilst the Panasonic person has been hunting for the edge flares in a low contrast subject.