LX2 Slow Autofocus?

[szymon]

Folks,

For snappy shots, it seems to me that the LX2 autofocus is very slow. Am I just imagining things? I know that "slow" is very very subjective, but I found that even with a very fast shutter speed it is substantially slower than any of my other cameras; a fraction of a second, yes, but a perceptible fraction, which for certain types of shot (for instance a shot of a dolphin jumping out of the water) can make a huge difference.

Even when 'pre-focussing' by holding down the shutter release half way, it seems that the time to release is significantly higher than when using manual focus before the event.

Anyone else have an opinion?

-simon

 

[Trevor G]

You are better off, frequently, presetting manual focus, if you have the capability.

Regards

Trevor Ginaus

PS Even an average DSLR like my pentax DS2 can have difficulty focussing quickly on moving objects. Choosing a high-contrast subject always helps autofocus

http://trevorg.smugmug.com

Folks,

For snappy shots, it seems to me that the LX2 autofocus is very
slow. Am I just imagining things? I know that "slow" is very very
subjective, but I found that even with a very fast shutter speed it
is substantially slower than any of my other cameras; a fraction of
a second, yes, but a perceptible fraction, which for certain types
of shot (for instance a shot of a dolphin jumping out of the water)
can make a huge difference.

 

[John Bean (UK)]

You don't leave it on macro do you? That will significantly slow down the AF.

The other thing is that by default the camera doesn't freeze the LCD while focusing like most do. This also slows it down, but a custom AF setting allows you to override this (modes marked with "H" in menu).

Finally, multi-point focusing also affects speed. Use single point if you want speed. Fastest is single-point "H" mode.

--
John Bean

PAW Week 38:
http://waterfoot.smugmug.com/gallery/1082841/3/97517668/Large



Index page: http://waterfoot.smugmug.com
Latest walkabout (4 April): http://waterfoot.smugmug.com/gallery/1348582

 

[szymon]

Indeed - I use the high speed single point focussing most of the time. The LCD freezing was rather disconcerting at first, but I got used to it as the auto focus was noticably faster than "normal" mode. I haven't yet used the macro AF mode at all (need to work out what that one does, assuming it simply lowers the minimum focal length for auto-focus).

I guess that it comes down to what Trevor says - best off with manual focus for this kind of shot.

Cheers,

-simon

 

[John Bean (UK)]

I haven't yet used the macro AF mode at all (need to work
out what that one does, assuming it simply lowers the minimum focal
length for auto-focus).

Yep, that's exactly what it does.

--
John Bean

PAW Week 38:
http://waterfoot.smugmug.com/gallery/1082841/3/97517668/Large



Index page: http://waterfoot.smugmug.com
Latest walkabout (4 April): http://waterfoot.smugmug.com/gallery/1348582