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XF Feature Update 2, Capture One 9.1

Christopher

Active member
Impressed with the new firmware so far. They gave my iq150 the XF control menu and shutter/lens controls so I'm super happy! :thumbs:

No exposure heat map so phase one are still money grabbing b******ds as far as that side of functionality is concerned since they insist on supporting this only on iq2/3 series. :thumbdown:

Yes it is das that a IQ 150 or my IQ 180 is so crippled only to make money.
 
M

mjr

Guest
I uploaded a quick unlisted video to YouTube here https://youtu.be/-g9S-4gaIf0

which shows what I am interpreting from the descriptions I have read as the way to use autofocus along with the new focus stacking tool. Those of you who have been able to use autofocus with the tool, could you take a look and let me know if I’m missing some little thing, or if my camera just doesn’t seem to be operating the same way?

I’ve reset the camera to defaults to make sure it isn’t a setting I’ve changed, and I’ve tried this with 3 of my 4 lenses (40-80LS, 75-150 non LS, and 240LS).

thanks
Hi Wayne

I was driving all day yesterday so only just got round to looking again at what I did. Strangely I can't get it to work since I updated to the latest firmware released unless I use the dials to set the focus points but what I did previously was af, go to the screen, press the gear button where the lens would rack out and back to the point, press the first right hand button and it stored that point, then back out, af on second point, back, press the gear again and then the other right hand button to set that value. Now with this firmware it just goes back to the first focussed point again and only changes if I use the dials to go to the second point. I'm sure they will get it sorted out, it's a useful feature if it works! Others have said that the accuracy is not good but to be honest I just shot to see if the lens moved, I haven't checked how accurate it is.

Mat
 

gerald.d

Well-known member
Unless you have a LS lens ...
Aha! Good point! (although the FPS will control the LS on Hasselblad H lenses)

But regardless of whether you (are able to) use the leaf shutter or focal plane shutter, I'd always recommend people to use a Phase One back (preferably CMOS) for timelapses if they are able to.

Kind regards,


Gerald.
 

Craig Stocks

Well-known member
I uploaded a quick unlisted video to YouTube here https://youtu.be/-g9S-4gaIf0

which shows what I am interpreting from the descriptions I have read as the way to use autofocus along with the new focus stacking tool. Those of you who have been able to use autofocus with the tool, could you take a look and let me know if I’m missing some little thing, or if my camera just doesn’t seem to be operating the same way?

I’ve reset the camera to defaults to make sure it isn’t a setting I’ve changed, and I’ve tried this with 3 of my 4 lenses (40-80LS, 75-150 non LS, and 240LS).

thanks
I have not found any useful way to use autofocus with focus stacking, you have to use thhe control wheels to set the focus distance. You can determine the focus settings with live view, by eye looking through the viewfinder, by the distance scale on the lens or by simply remembering motor control unit settings from previous usage (such as a near/far landscape composition).

Also, with the second firmware release you have to set the XF AF Priority to "Release."
 

Wayne Fox

Workshop Member
I watched your video. Dumb Question....Did you watch Phase Ones Focus staking video? Follow those steps, at least I did and it works fine, first time I tried it it worked. You adjust focus with rear and front dials. Take a look ...again if you have seen it and try again.

Don
yes I watched the video. It does not demonstrate how to use autofocus to set near and far points, just how to use the dials to manual focus. It has been claimed you can use autofocus using the method I tried but it doesn't work for me.
 

Wayne Fox

Workshop Member
Hi Wayne

I was driving all day yesterday so only just got round to looking again at what I did. Strangely I can't get it to work since I updated to the latest firmware released unless I use the dials to set the focus points but what I did previously was af, go to the screen, press the gear button where the lens would rack out and back to the point, press the first right hand button and it stored that point, then back out, af on second point, back, press the gear again and then the other right hand button to set that value. Now with this firmware it just goes back to the first focussed point again and only changes if I use the dials to go to the second point. I'm sure they will get it sorted out, it's a useful feature if it works! Others have said that the accuracy is not good but to be honest I just shot to see if the lens moved, I haven't checked how accurate it is.

Mat
Touching the gear button usually causes the lens focus to move back and forth, and does not reliably return it to the position set with autofocus. Sometimes the difference is dramatic.
 

Altdo

New member
Hey Wayne...
The simplest solution to the confusion, assign the 2nd Shutter to Auto Focus. Go to the Focus Stack Tool, press the 2nd Shutter to Auto Focus, switch the lens to MF and then back to AF, save value. done.

The method you made in the video is 100% correct if you want to use Half Press for Auto Focus. When you return to the tool, and press the "?" this will travel FROM and then back TO the last AF point the camera confirmed.
So, when you've said that sometimes the difference is dramatic it is more than likely because the last time you used Auto Focus it didn't CONFIRM an AF point. It may seem counter intuitive because you hear the camera lens "move" but it only moves FROM and then back TO the point you previously found. This is what I believe I could hear in your video... a lot of movement to find the AF point, enter the Focus Stack tool and then a quick "in/out" movement of the lens to verify that exact location is reached to allow saving.

Again... simplest solution for you and others, assign another button for Auto Focus. This way you can use Auto Focus within the Focus Stack tool.

*the conflict in the workflow you want to use is that the Half Press Shutter is designed to always exit any tool or menu and bring you directly to the main menu, ready to fire. This is described in the manual to always provide an "emergency" exit so you can fire the camera immediately when necessary and not worry about exiting menus to get back to the capture ready stage.
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
A little bit unintuitive but it works. I set the bottom 2nd shutter button to AF and was able to work through the sequence ok. The key thing is shifting AF on the lens to manual and then back to record the focus unit setting. You would expect that XF to record that value when you actually invoke AF but apparently that's too easy and only gets recorded when you shift the lens in and out of AF mode.

Thanks!
 

Altdo

New member
A little bit unintuitive but it works. I set the bottom 2nd shutter button to AF and was able to work through the sequence ok. The key thing is shifting AF on the lens to manual and then back to record the focus unit setting. You would expect that XF to record that value when you actually invoke AF but apparently that's too easy and only gets recorded when you shift the lens in and out of AF mode.

Thanks!
It does record that value, if you use the Dials within the tool. These are controlled values, 1x or 10x per dial "click". To remain precise you can use these dials as intended and the camera knows how much it is moving exactly. If you use MF or AF it needs to go out of AF and back into AF to verify/measure how much it has moved.
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
The intuitive way would be to auto focus on the far point and have the value show up and then press the far point in the focus stack (top button), then refocus via AF on the near point and have that value show up and assign it to near point (bottom button) without all of the AF->MF shenanigans.
 

Paul2660

Well-known member
The clutching back from MF to AF seems to cause problems with the 55LS for me as when you switch back over from MF, to AF, the motor moves the focus off of the correct location. I have the older 55LS with the twist lever for MF to AF.

This did not seem to happen with the 35 LS. But I need to try that lens again.

The only way I can seem to get a good fix with the 55mm LS is to use the dials to get the fine focus while in AF mode and record the setting.

Paul C
 

Wayne Fox

Workshop Member
The intuitive way would be to auto focus on the far point and have the value show up and then press the far point in the focus stack (top button), then refocus via AF on the near point and have that value show up and assign it to near point (bottom button) without all of the AF->MF shenanigans.
It seems possible when the tool was designed, using autofocus wasn’t part of the thought process. Despite all the comments here (touch the gear button, make sure the lens actually locks focus before touching the gear button, etc.) the process if trying to use autofocus is too involved and cumbersome and to this point I haven’t been able to use it reliably. To me this is how the steps break down ...

1. Change camera settings so the rear button is not set to AF (in the PODAS workshop I attended the first thing they demonstrated was how to disable AF on the shutter and enable it with the rear button, guessing many photographers use it this way.
2. Perform AF on the near point. You may need to move to MF and AF and back. move to the Focus Stack screen and touch the gear button. The lens may or may not return to the correct point. If it doesn’t, touch the shutter button and acquire focus again, then move back to the FS screen and touch the gear again. Assume eventually you will get the correct point set.
3. Repeat the process again for the far point. Again it may not work correctly so watch the lens closely to insure it is returning to the correct point, then set the far point.
4. Move back to the main screen and lock the mirror up so it doesn’t slap between every exposure.
5. Go back to the FS screen and carefully depress the rear button since timer delay or vibration detect is not honored. There does seem to be some slight delay but it doesn’t seem to be based on the current camera settings or vibration detect ... it may or may not be a long enough delay. It might be advisable to reshoot that particular point from the main screen to insure against camera vibrations from having to physically press this button.
6. Return the camera to your preferred setup.

I think for right now it’s easier just to AF on the near point, compose , throw the camera in manual focus, and gradually rotate the lens to the far point or to infinity.

As it stands the tool is nice for those doing manual focus and live view. When my IQ3 100 comes in, I may find myself using it more often.

It would be nice if the FS tool simply honored all settings in the main capture screen and all buttons function as setup by the user. So move to the FS screen, autofocus the near or far point using whatever button allows this or manual focus with the dials (and a half shutter press doesn’t flip back to the mains screen), set the point, focus the other point, set that point, then trip the sequence by any normal method. Timer delay and vibration detect honored just like from the main screen. Additionally the camera should be smart enough to know the mirror can stay up, and in the case of an LS lens, the FP shutter can stay open (if they engineered this into the new body), so vibrations are minimized.

I’ve sent these ideas to a couple of dealers, other than that I’m not sure how to get feedback to Phase.
 

Transposure

New member
.....it would be nice if the fs tool simply honored all settings in the main capture screen and all buttons function as setup by the user. So move to the fs screen, autofocus the near or far point using whatever button allows this or manual focus with the dials (and a half shutter press doesn’t flip back to the mains screen), set the point, focus the other point, set that point, then trip the sequence by any normal method. Timer delay and vibration detect honored just like from the main screen. Additionally the camera should be smart enough to know the mirror can stay up, and in the case of an ls lens, the fp shutter can stay open (if they engineered this into the new body), so vibrations are minimized.

I’ve sent these ideas to a couple of dealers, other than that i’m not sure how to get feedback to phase.
agree!
 

Christopher

Active member
As far as I can tell the camera uses the normal time delay when activating focus stacking. This means it only delays if you actually have a delay in the camera.

Can people say more about what lenses they use ? I tried it today with a 150LS Blue Ring with 600images and it worked perfectly every time. My 110LS however would even work at all with focus stacking. Have to check that out later at home.
 

digitalBerg

New member
Does anyone know what this means in theory?

"Our HAP-1 system ensures that we can grow, customize and accelerate autofocus to meet the needs of the world’s most demanding photographers. Improvements have been made to increase accuracy in low light conditions, ensure focus of various low contrast materials in even light, and improved precision when using the XF Camera System handheld with behavior changes initiated from the systems several accelerometers."

I have big problems with SK80LS and the autofocus. The focus shift though out the focusplane. Is this a common problem?
When i focustrim the 80mm for 1meter, it is out of focus from 1,35meter (+/-) and gets worse the longer the focalplane goes..

Thanks,
 
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