Focus peaking v. magnification

Old Listener wrote:

Tom Caldwell wrote:

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.

For my uses, manual focus on the Panasonic G6 is very quick with focus peaking. I couldn't manage a single sip of tea in the time required to get in focus.

Manual focus on tiny objects at close range has become easier and more sure-fire. I've used focus peaking for hundreds of shots and found it to be very accurate. I work in a more relaxed manner and have more keepers with the G6 as opposed to working with a DSLR.

That's a big payoff.

A fair point.  All focus peaking is good and useful just that some types are more useful than others - Ricoh's mode1 is not unlike  the others in that it has highlighted twinkling edge flares that when sought out show the edges in focus.  With the emphasis on "sought out".

Mode2 is unlike all others as the whole outline of an object is sharpened when in focus.  the sharpening increases as focus improves until it pops and the exact point of focus can be easily seen screen wide. The sharp line "pattern" is very easy to see and detect and therefore makes "in focus" instant and very certain.

However it is a shock to those who like to see a "perfect image" in focus when it reaches "most perfect".  Both are simply different preferred ways of working.  For some the perfect-focus image and framing are everything.  I like framing best and am happy to use a "machine" to tell me that I have focus nailed.  Not much different from using auto focus in its own way.  Except that you have to soft press the shutter to see "composition mode".