Page 273 - Friedman Archives

Peaking Level / Peaking Color 273

Figure 6-9: The wonderfully useful Peaking Level function puts a splotch of
color over things that are sharp when you’re focusing manually. Here you can
see the slight differences between the function’s three settings: High (left), Mid
(middle), and Low (right).
What does it do? It highlights (via a color splotch) all the areas of the
picture which are in focus RIGHT NOW. If you see a splotch on your
subject in your chosen color, you know that part of your composition is
sharp. (How does the camera know when something is in focus?
Whenever there’s strong microcontrast among adjacent pixels. This means
that if the contrast is mild the peaking function may not show you any
colors – even if it’s in proper focus. But don’t let that scare you off – try
this feature, it’s quite useful.) Figure 6-9 shows an example of this feature
in use. In this instance the peaking color is set to RED and you can see the
minor differences between when the function is set to High, Mid, or Low.
There are two menu settings required to invoke this feature: The first is
MENU  2  Peaking Level  [Choose from Low, Mid, High, or
Off. (Off is the factory default.) Basically this setting dictates how thick
the splotch of color is. I personally prefer “mid” myself.