RustyBug
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 p.3 #15 · Thoughts or experience with the Leica M240? | |
rscheffler wrote:
At least most of what I shoot on Leica, I usually have time to establish exposure with a test photo or two, and go from there based on the histogram. If it's sunny, with the M240 I already know that I like ISO 200 and 1/500 f/8, or any equivalent combination.
And more so with the newest cameras/sensors, being off half a stop, one stop, or more, usually isn't a major issue given how much can be recovered in post. So yeah, I'd be all-in for an option to disable metering if Leica continues with the open, shut-open-shut-open sequence for a single exposure. It just seems so contrary to Leica 'purity, simplicity and minimalism.'
As I've harped on previously, it baffles me that the ultimate M experience of entirely silent *usability* across the typical Leica M use cases, hasn't yet been made possible via a stacked sensor. I'd give up the 1/3-1/2 stop of DR and 10MP the a1's sensor cedes to the M11's in a heartbeat, if I had the choice.  I'd even take the a9 series's 24MP sensor....Show more →
+1
Sunny 16 is a longstanding tool, that for many has become a "lost art". When I got my first digital camera's it seemed like they needed to be more like Sunny 13 (test photos), but your point about understanding what your "incident light" levels are is key. In camera metering is reflective metering. Once you know your incident light level ... you're pretty much golden, unless you are in changing light conditions.
And, even with that, it's easy enough to assess how big a swing those changes are (i.e. sunny side of street vs. shadow side of street), e.g. three stops. That, combined with the post-latitude one can alternatively "split the difference", so that you are "off" by 1 - 1.5 stops, well within todays processing latitude.
As to the open / shut / open / shut experience of the M11 (I don't have one), I was running some test shots yesterday (what else you got to do in a car dealer, service waiting room), cycling through apertures / focus distance to build some "muscle memory" for zone focusing.
In the course of doing that exercise, I switched over to Live View to punch in and set exact focus to compare against my results from zone focusing. As it turns out, I reshot the sequence in Live View (meant to return to RF after focusing). When I reviewed the images, I was surprised by how much difference my handheld performance was at the lower shutter speeds (below 1/125 on a 50mm) when using Live View vs. the RF. I'd known this from testing before, but when I got into the f/8+ territory this time, it was "Whoa, that's junk." in terms of my technique with the Live View and slower shutter speeds. I'm used to being able to handle 1:1 or better (e.g. 1/30 on a 50mm), but with the Live View, I couldn't do it, whereas with the RF, I could.
Just another data point, that it would be nice if Leica could give the option for the "Live View" style metering vs. the "off the blades" metering vs. "disabled", in order to provide the user with choice of "responsiveness". Sure, the Live View metering may be more thorough analysis of the scene ... but, part of the rangefinder experience is the simplicity > expedience / reaction capability. Forcing the user into a more thorough analysis, metering ... yeah, it's a bit antithetical to the RF ethos. I can dig on adding the thoroughness (forcing more internal motion), but at the expense of reducing the responsiveness / vibration control ... not a trade-off that everyone will dig. Granted, a bump in ISO can keep the SS higher. I figure it makes a two stop diff in my SS requirements, when shooting with the Live View vs. RF (regarding 1/125 or slower).
YMMV
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