LX3 manual focus question

[DavidMaven]

I have a Ricoh GR-D and love the "SNAP" focus mode, which allows pre-setting a focus distance (e.g. hyperfocal). Custom settings can be configured so that power-up defaults to SNAP focus mode, which I love for fast-draw street shooting and low-light shooting (where the AF is not as fast or reliable) with an external optical viewfinder in the hot-shoe.

Is there a comparable ability on LX3? I know it has manual focus, but I can't tell from the PDF manual that I downloaded if the LX3 can be power-up to a consistent pre-set manual focus distance, or if it has to be set back to desired manual focus distance each time you power-on the camera.

Thanks so much, ahead of time!
--
Galleries: http://www.dheller.net

“The sheer ease with which we can produce a superficial image often leads to creative disaster.” -- Ansel Adams

 

[Fred Goudie]

as far as i know there is no hyperfocal or focal length save settings.What is really frustrating is that... the dof at f4 is 3ft - infinity.

In manual focus mode the vertical hyperfocal zone is preset to 6ft - infinity , so the focus has to be adjusted to 3ft.

Your settings cannot be saved so have to reset everytime camera powers down or switched off.

I hope this can be corrected with later firmware updates, it would make a big differance to me...Lx3 is great otherwise.

 

[John Bean (UK)]

Is there a comparable ability on LX3?

There is not, and it's an annoying omission.

There is one useful work-around though: the LX3 has a "focus" button that can be used to do AF while in MF mode. The AF/MF is on a hardware switch so if MF is set the camera will power up in the chosen mode and is always at infinity; one press of the focus button will establish your chosen distance and away you go.

A second option is more useful under more controlled conditions or if there's no handy AF target in the scene: the focus scale has a dynamic DoF "bar" that resizes according to focal length and aperture; after power on you can quickly attain true hyperfocal focus by nudging the focus until the top of the DoF bar just clears the infinity mark. The Ricoh "snap" focus isn't true hyperfocal, it's just an average fixed setting.

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John Bean [BST ('British Stupid Time' - GMT+1)]

 

[RoelHendrickx]

I had all but ignored that AF button (it's also still a very new camera for me), but you gave it a good purpose.

Some other thoughts on manual focus are here :

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1033&message=32352917

Is there a comparable ability on LX3?

There is not, and it's an annoying omission.

There is one useful work-around though: the LX3 has a "focus" button that can be used to do AF while in MF mode. The AF/MF is on a hardware switch so if MF is set the camera will power up in the chosen mode and is always at infinity; one press of the focus button will establish your chosen distance and away you go.

A second option is more useful under more controlled conditions or if there's no handy AF target in the scene: the focus scale has a dynamic DoF "bar" that resizes according to focal length and aperture; after power on you can quickly attain true hyperfocal focus by nudging the focus until the top of the DoF bar just clears the infinity mark. The Ricoh "snap" focus isn't true hyperfocal, it's just an average fixed setting.

--
John Bean [BST ('British Stupid Time' - GMT+1)]

--
Roel Hendrickx

lots of images : http://www.roelh.zenfolio.com

my E-3 user field report from Tunisian Sahara: http://www.biofos.com/ukpsg/roel.html

 

[John Bean (UK)]

I had all but ignored that AF button (it's also still a very new camera for me), but you gave it a good purpose.

I use it a lot. In MF I use it to AF of course, and in AF I use it to allow me to very easily move the focus point anywhere on the screen, avoiding the need to re-frame off-centre subjects. I'd be very upset if I was deprived of it, that's how much I rely on it.

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John Bean [BST ('British Stupid Time' - GMT+1)]

 

[DavidMaven]

Thanks for the replies. While the AF button in manual focus mode sounds good for using the LCD for framing, I was hoping for a pre-set manual focus ability or zone focusing settings that are retained after power-up to for fast (instant!) shooting after powerup when using an external optical viewfinder.

If it had such, it would be the solution for me. I love the Ricoh SNAP mode, but the image noise does get a bit heavy at anything but low ISO settings.

--
Galleries: http://www.dheller.net

“The sheer ease with which we can produce a superficial image often leads to creative disaster.” -- Ansel Adams