Slow to focus

[crumpledhero]

Even ever a trip comes up, I will be worrying about which camera I ought to take along with me. I'm very happy with my Nikon D3 but about 6 months ago, bought a M8.2. Compared to the DSLR, the M8 is of course much slower in terms of focussing. I wonder if its just me or do you all have this uncomfortable feeling that one might loose the shot due to slow focussing with the M8.2.
I love the compactness of this camera but not its speed.

[gilpen123]

In my over a year use of RF IMHO hyperfocal or scale focus are the style one has to do for fast moving action and street photography. The wide open selective focusing may not be good for this type of shots but where still life or landscape are the subjects then critical focusing is needed. My process is to focus near where the action may be and anticipate. That way, I can always adjust +/- the focusing tab in a quick and reasonably accurate focus area. I find apertures 5.6-8.0 normally does the job and if pushed 4.0 is also acceptable provided I am fairly accurate in judging the distance.

[crumpledhero]

Good tip Gil. I'm off to your country, Philippines where I used to live for 7 years, tomorrow to shoot the aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy. Here's hoping that the Leica won't let me down.
Thanks for your input.

[gilpen123]

Oh really! When are you arriving and who are you working with? I can probably see you when you're here. Are you a Singaporean?

Originally Posted by crumpledhero

Good tip Gil. I'm off to your country, Philippines where I used to live for 7 years, tomorrow to shoot the aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy. Here's hoping that the Leica won't let me down.
Thanks for your input.

[crumpledhero]

"Oh really! When are you arriving and who are you working with? I can probably see you when you're here. Are you a Singaporean?"

Yup, I'm from Singapore and I'm travelling with my family. I've volunteered to do some shots for a welfare organization who will be sending a team up to assist with the disaster and would love to meet up with fellow photographers in Manila however, my timing is so tight so I guess it would have to wait till my next trip.

[gilpen123]

Oh ok then. Let's meet up sometime when you're schedule is not tight. Goodluck and be safe.

Originally Posted by crumpledhero

"Oh really! When are you arriving and who are you working with? I can probably see you when you're here. Are you a Singaporean?"

Yup, I'm from Singapore and I'm travelling with my family. I've volunteered to do some shots for a welfare organization who will be sending a team up to assist with the disaster and would love to meet up with fellow photographers in Manila however, my timing is so tight so I guess it would have to wait till my next trip.

[crumpledhero]

Thanks for your reply. Good to know that I still have my good old Nikon if all else fails.

[swoop]

I'm faster on my M8 than most autofocus systems.

[maddoc]

In bright light with good contrast and no regular patterns in the scene, an AF DSLR system is faster (.... and maybe up to 80 % the focus where it is supposed to be) compared to an rangefinder but in dim light (available light) I haven't seen (used) any DSLR that focuses a) fast b) correct under most conditions ...

Originally Posted by nikonhswebmaster

It has become common (dare I say fashionable?) to use rangefinder cameras wide open, and search for exact focus... which is not going to be anywhere near as fast, especially at first, as using a fast AF DSLR. You can become more skilled however, with practice.