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Sony NEX peaking feature.... No more squinting eyes
  • OMG... see this. Peaking feature is nothing new, but being able to do so easily from a small camera body is definitely a game changer... I think. In some cases this could eliminate the use of external monitor. Can you imagine using Voigtlander 25mm 0.95 with built-in peaking feature?



  • 13 Replies sorted by
  • Takes the pain out of focusing with manual lenses by the looks of it.
  • panasonic TM-700 also have this feature. not useful for me. zooming picture center while focusing better
  • NEX peaking feature can be used during live video recording. Magnification can't. This is a killer feature for MF video. Cheap ext monitors don't support it. But it drains the batter faster and needs contrasty scene.

    If GH2 ever supports it, we could have histogram, audio metering, highlight clipping on LCD or EVF. Busy screen. But I highly doubt Panasonic is going to update firmware on GH2... at this point.
  • This isn't the same as peaking - but - I'm wondering if it would be possible to display the variable-bitrate that the GH1/2 is encoding at in real-time. The bitrate co-varies directly with the amount of sharpness (hard edges) arriving at the sensor. You could potentially use that value to focus, with the camera pointed at a static scene.
  • I don't think so. What if subject moves? Slight change in lighting condition? We can't be a tape reader like the guy from "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator" ;)

    The human eyes can detect color change easily. Peaking is the solution... I guess.
  • GH1/GF1 has peaking...really it does! Just not multicoloured ;-)

    Thing is to me...nearly all footage ive seen on the NEX looks soft and out of focus :-0
  • Yeah... the aliasing :)

    I've seen good candid photos from NEX-5 & legacy lenses using the peaking feature.

    It seems only CDAF system can support peaking on LCD and EVF. The question is when... by Panasonic.
  • Many MF fast lenses are priced around one tenth of AF fast lenses. This peaking feature makes it practical to use cheap MF lenses. We knew it already. Expect more price hike in legacy lenses.

    Non-CDAF bodies can't have peaking feature. None of Sony's SLT bodies supports it. Yeah... SLT owners are pissed off.

    I guess mirrorless will take over lower dslr market pretty soon. 2012? 2013?
  • >Non-CDAF bodies can't have peaking feature.

    Why do you think so?
    It is something like simple FIR filter, so can be used on any sensor.
  • Never mind!
  • The focus peaking is the feature I miss the most off my jvc hd7 1080i camcorder. I knew the gh1 didn't have live hdmi out but I just found out the gh1 doesn't even have live sd video out so I am looking into a magnifying glass of some kind that I can attach to the gh1 lcd that would allow me to monitor focus for anything while using an fd lens. Otherwise changing focus live while using an adaptor and an old fd lens is basically impossible except for a non moving object you set focus up to before recording. I thought the gh1 would at least have live sd video out, I can't believe it.
  • gh2's live hdmi is limited. it's enabled only in 1080p mode. no ETC either.

    peaking is the answer. but gh1 has zero chance. gh2 has little chance. gh3 has some chance.
  • I have a nex-5 with a leica summicron 40mm f2... and to be honest, I was so excited about the new peaking feature... only to find it just doesn't work that well. Focus on faces, objects just doesnt work that well. and so I rather use the manual focus assistant.