Focus made easier
If you have issues nailing focus on the Leica M11 rangefinder for example, especially when shooting with the lens wide open you can add the Visoflex V2 in the hot shoe.
This is an electronic viewfinder and for some, it’s easier to use because it is closer to the electronic viewfinder experience you find for example a Sony A – series camera.
The Visoflex 2 is adaptable to the Leica M11 and backwards-compatible with Leica’s M10 models (M10, M10 Monochrom, M10R, M10-P and M10-D) if they have the newest firmware installed (released, May 2022).
For the M9 you need the Visoflex III with a right-angle horizontal viewfinder which I find more disturbing than beneficial.
The eye sensor will detect if you are close to the viewfinder (it reacts to the light let out when your face closes out the light) for automatic activation, but first it has to be set up for that in the menu.
Set up in the menu before use
To set up your Leica M camera you go to the main menu and follow these steps:
Main Menu > Display Settings > EVF > LCD = EVF extended.
Now the EVF automatically turn on and off when you bring your eye up to it but be aware that the option to use the LCD screen for focusing now is disabled.
Playback at the back screen is still available as usual. You can still Play back your images and access the menu using the play and menu buttons on the camera back.
Automatic zoom function to focus
It’s possible to use a setting that makes the automatic zoom function active when adjusting the focusing ring. Personally, this is a feature I avoid as I find it very disturbing that the picture zooms in and out when composing. Instead, I recommend setting the peaking off and using the screen without disturbing or misguiding lines, or setting the contrast lines on a minimum tolerance for the highest accuracy.
Focus peaking
Focus peaking shows as red lines where it detects the contrast is highest, but you may experience that the contrast of some areas, in reality, being out of focus is shown as in focus because the higher contrast is captured.
Focus peaking works best when only a very small amount of peaking is present at the image in the viewfinder, so especially when shooting wide open fewer contrasty elements will be present, as the narrow depth of field washes out contrast in the out-of-focus areas.
With a little training, as when using the range finder window, you will learn to nail focus without using the guiding contrast lines.
