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Manual Focus Peaking Accuracy


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Is there any way except focus magnification to improve the precision of the manual focus using peaking? When I used a Nikon FM2 the center prismatic focus aid was very crisp and with no slop. But the color peaking in my a6000 requires me to move the focus back and forth to find the center of a range of focus distances. I already use the most precise setting and both yellow and red depending upon the color(s) of the subject.

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Hi, I stopped using peaking (too unreliable) and instead I now do the following (I shoot raw, so the following settings will not affect the actual picture but only the visualization in the finder):

 

- first I set the camera to "Vivid" picture style, and upped to the max contrast, saturation and sharpness (all +3)

 

- at this point I can just look through the viewfinder and watch for the same kind of "shimmering " (for lack of a better term) you normally see in a traditional viewfinder (like the one in your Nikon Fm2) when the image is in focus

 

This method works a treat and, contrary to peaking, doesn't cover your subject with a ton of colored tiny dots

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Hi, I stopped using peaking (too unreliable) and instead I now do the following (I shoot raw, so the following settings will not affect the actual picture but only the visualization in the finder):

 

- first I set the camera to "Vivid" picture style, and upped to the max contrast, saturation and sharpness (all +3)

 

- at this point I can just look through the viewfinder and watch for the same kind of "shimmering " (for lack of a better term) you normally see in a traditional viewfinder (like the one in your Nikon Fm2) when the image is in focus

 

This method works a treat and, contrary to peaking, doesn't cover your subject with a ton of colored tiny dots

 

Your eyes must be better than mine. I can just barely see the "shimmer". That said, it does seem to agree with the focus done with the magnifier. I will need to try this in better light; its night here, now. As Jagger said, sometimes you don't get what you want but you get what you need. THANKS.

 

EDIT:

The manual says:

Vivid:

The saturation and contrast are heightened..

Landscape:

The saturation, contrast, and sharpness are heightened ..

 

So I tried Landscape instead of Vivid and left saturation at normal, raising sharpness and contrast each to +3 or maximum. For me, that worked better to the extent that I can match the result of magnification. without the fuss of using it.  And yes, I do have to turn off the Peaking to keep it from obscuring the "snap" of sharp focus on a sharp image (lettering on a print-out in this case).

So, DOUBLE THANKS.

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You're double welcome! :)

 

BTW, I forgot to specify that the results of this method are highly lens-dependant.

 

The more micro-contrast (the "pop") a lens has, the easier is to see the "shimmering". To a lesser extent the same goes for sharpness.

 

For example it works a treat with Contax Zeiss glass (tons of micro-contrast), while it is a tad difficult or impossible to see the effect with some old, low-contrast glass maybe shot at full aperture. The same, btw, applies to peaking as well.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

I've been testing a new-to-me Nikkor 300mm AI-S which is totally manual. I had the usual problem with sloppy peaking per the above. Then I suddenly realized I've been doing the exact opposite of what is needed. I set the creative style to neutral and went into minus numbers for contrast so that it will be LESS likely to peak. I'm still trying to test it and as usual the light is lousy. Initially this seems to make a major difference in the accuracy and in a good way. However I still have to prove it's correct by getting some good test images. More to come.

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I use focus peaking but not for focus accuracy.

For accuracy I use the MF assist [magnifier].

 

Peaking is useful to me, with my legacy lenses,

to watch the "in focus" plane sweeping thru the

depth of the scene as I'm turning the focus ring.

It looks like a veil or rain of sparkley red confetti,

passing back and forth thru the scene as I focus.

 

While this is not the greatest of super accurate

focusing aids, visually it provides verrry useful

info, presented in a very graphic manner.

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I too have been using the shimmer effect to judge focus, especially when there are patterns in the frame (hair, shirt designs etc)

 

Focus peaking is awesome if you can catch the highlights in the eyes. The moment the eye highlights turn red you shoot

 

Still trying to get quick enough to shoot moving kids using a full manual lens. They move a ton, with utter disregard for the poor photographer [emoji29] [emoji29] [emoji29]

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I use focus peaking but not for focus accuracy.

For accuracy I use the MF assist [magnifier].

 

Peaking is useful to me, with my legacy lenses,

to watch the "in focus" plane sweeping thru the

depth of the scene as I'm turning the focus ring.

It looks like a veil or rain of sparkley red confetti,

passing back and forth thru the scene as I focus.

 

While this is not the greatest of super accurate

focusing aids, visually it provides verrry useful

info, presented in a very graphic manner.

 

 

I too use peaking for this, but only when I'm shooting images that need to be stacked to extend the depth of field (a fairly recurring occurrence with the high megapixel count of the A7r).

 

You shoot an image, move the focus ring so that the peaking "strip" slides a bit backward, repeat as many times as needed.

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....... When I used a Nikon FM2 the center prismatic

focus aid was very crisp and with no slop. .........

Actualleeeeeee ..... those prismatic focusing aids in old

SLRs are aimed at opposite sides of the exit pupil. You

see them as being in the center, but the images that they

present for "merge-to-focus" derive from the far edges.

And THAT is a source of inaccuracy, especially with wide

angle lenses, with which the prism aids are sorely needed

since the general "ground glass" surround becomes rather

useless due to the apparent DOF of the wide angle lenses.

 

Unfortunately, those wide lenses tend to suffer curvature

of field, meaning the focus at the edges can be quite a bit

different than the focus in center, or in between. OTOH an

advantage of focus peaking is that you can focus equally

well in any part of the frame, wherever a subject happens

to be. If a lens has curvature of field, you could focus it, at

wide open, on the classic brick wall target [perfectly head

on, square to the axis] and as you dial focus you will see

the peaking gather into the center or spread out toward the

edges and then into the corners, while the peaking effect

is diminished in the center as the corners "light up".

 

In more scenarios than you'd expect, curvature of field is

working in your favor, keeping more subject matter in focus

throughout the scene than one might expect of a midrange

f/stop. Acoarst, there are also scenarios where the opposite

can occur, but stopping down a bit more usually fixes that.

 

--------------------------------------------------------

 

Acoarst, MF-assist can also focus anywhere in the frame but

you hafta call it up, and manuever the focus box to where it's

needed. Peaking can light up a subject anywhere in the frame

without the distraction of steering it onto the subject. If you're

focusing wide open but shooting at least two stops smaller,

peaking is more than accurate enuf, even for pixel peepers

[assuming the peaking is employed properly]. Using a native

lens, or any sort of "smart" adapter, means that indeed you

ARE focusing wide open even if the dialed-in f/stop [aka the

Working Aperture] is a smaller stop ... thaz called "auto iris"

or "auto diaphragm", for anyone not up on lens mechanicals.

 

FWIW, auto iris is what transformed the SLR, 50 yrs ago, from a

curious contraption into a convenient and popular type of camera.

Built-in exposure meters, focusing aids, continuous viewing and

all other improvements came later. The later features enhanced

the usability of SLRs, but the auto iris initially established the SLR

as a usably convenient general purpose camera.

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