Manual Exposure? Preset White Balance?

[Geno]

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I have had the M8 several weeks now and still a novice with fast moving subjects and rangefinder focus, been trying to guess and preset for action. Missed many shots trying to focus, tomorrow an eyepiece diopter adapter should arrive for my reading glasses replacement. Will make it easier to see the rangefinder patch without my reading glasses

Being new to Leica and the M8 I have experimented with exposure mode Aperture vs. Manual I tend to follow the Manual mode.

Many others out there still follow the handheld meter and set the camera or allow the A Mode to set it for you?

I have not had too much of a problem with white balance and allow auto to remain enaged.

I may next time do a manual setting and see if there is more consistency.

Any comments on experience with shooting auto white balance vs preset?

I have been using the JPEGs from camera and still need to load the Leica download software

May I ask do others use the Leica software? Or Adobe Bridge downloader?

Thanks again for all your help and comments.

Few shots from this afternoon…..

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[Nicoleica]

Hi,

 

I'd say you have pretty much got the hang of focussing an RF camera. Fast moving action can be quite challenging at the best of times. As far as WB goes, I normally use AWB as I find it pretty good most of the time. And, especially if you are shooting DNG, you still have total freedom to adjust it later.

[jaapv]

Nicole is right on all her points. I would like to add that JPGs out of the M8 are not particularly good, with this camera it pays to shoot DNG. You don't have to load any Leica software to use DNG; all current editing programs handle Leica DNGs.

To download the files from the card reader I use ImageIngester Pro, as it sorts, tags and numbers the files automatically whilst adding copyright info to the Exif. As a file browser Adobe Bridge is fine, Lightroom has it incorporated, Capture one is quite adequate nowadays as well.

[ptarmigan]

I'd agree, jpeg is not the best way to get the most out of the M8 and LR3 does an awesome job of RAW conversion I might add.

 

As for exposure, I suspect you'll find most on here use manual, so one option is to shoot an initial test image using auto and then manually adjust to get the exposure you want for your shots. You do need to keep an eye on changes in light levels tough. As for WB, I only use auto in mixed lighting conditions, the rest I set for daylight normally at 5800 and for artificial light I use the relevant pre-set. Using a fixed WB makes it easier for batch adjustments, crucial for weddings and the like.

 

Focusing a RF is an art. There are two things that will help you. Firstly, practice estimating the subject to camera distance and then check the focus. Keep doing this at various distances and you'll get a good feel. What you hen do is as you approach something, you estimate the distance, set the lens accordingly and then as you move the camera to your eye you fine-tune focus and snap the shot.

 

You've not said what lenses you use but a 35mm cron is a relatively easy beast to focus at f2 or 2.8 whereas a 75 cron is an absolute bugger and I'd recommend f2.8 or f4 until you get the hang of it. A 50mm lens is somewhere in between. Watch for back focus issues too. If you've a sumilux then you have less margin for error at 35, 50 or 75mm. Good luck and don't panic if it takes a while and lots of practice to get the hang of the M8.

[wstotler]

I'd agree, jpeg is not the best way to get the most out of the M8 and LR3 does an awesome job of RAW conversion I might add.

 

As for exposure, I suspect you'll find most on here use manual, so one option is to shoot an initial test image using auto and then manually adjust to get the exposure you want for your shots. You do need to keep an eye on changes in light levels tough.

 

As for WB, I only use auto in mixed lighting conditions, the rest I set for daylight normally at 5800 and for artificial light I use the relevant pre-set. Using a fixed WB makes it easier for batch adjustments, crucial for weddings and the like.

 

This is good advice on all three points. I tend to use the Daylight preset without modification to set the WB, when shooting in sunlight. (I used to use auto, but this made results trickier to deal with across a batch job in post.) At night, it's the preset for the light I have. (I shoot DNG only, so WB is adjusted in post, if it has to be adjusted.)

 

Also, look into an incident light meter--like the Gossen DigiSix, something dirt simple--to aid with your exposure settings. I started using one two years ago and my self-inflicted exposure issues vanished. (It also aided me in *really* understanding light and the relationship between ISO/speed/aperture.) With an external meter like this you can read the light, dial in settings, and forget about it (and the heavily center-weighted metering of the M8). Until you get really comfortable. In any case, you're shooting manual if you want consistently good results.

 

As to focus, something to remember is that it will take a lot of practice--I recommend practicing over and over with the most wide-open aperture you can as much as you can. It will kick your a$$ to start with for moving targets, so don't be disappointed! Figure on 2,000+ shots really concentrating on aperture-wide-open focusing work/practice before you learn to really nail it. I cannot recommend presetting focus, BTW, more than "in the moment" and moment to moment. E.g., zone focusing is good to understand, but rely instead on your self-training to get to "focus-recompose-shoot" about as fast as you can say the phrase. (This is all assuming you aren't doing this now and may be an unfair assumption.)

 

Your shots above look technically sound, given the speed at which people must have been moving.

 

Cheers!

Will

[ptarmigan]

This is good advice on all three points. I tend to use the Daylight preset without modification to set the WB, when shooting in sunlight. (I used to use auto, but this made results trickier to deal with across a batch job in post.) At night, it's the preset for the light I have. (I shoot DNG only, so WB is adjusted in post, if it has to be adjusted.)

 

Also, look into an incident light meter--like the Gossen DigiSix, something dirt simple--to aid with your exposure settings. I started using one two years ago and my self-inflicted exposure issues vanished. (It also aided me in *really* understanding light and the relationship between ISO/speed/aperture.) With an external meter like this you can read the light, dial in settings, and forget about it (and the heavily center-weighted metering of the M8). Until you get really comfortable. In any case, you're shooting manual if you want consistently good results.

 

As to focus, something to remember is that it will take a lot of practice--I recommend practicing over and over with the most wide-open aperture you can as much as you can. It will kick your a$$ to start with for moving targets, so don't be disappointed! Figure on 2,000+ shots really concentrating on aperture-wide-open focusing work/practice before you learn to really nail it. I cannot recommend presetting focus, BTW, more than "in the moment" and moment to moment. E.g., zone focusing is good to understand, but rely instead on your self-training to get to "focus-recompose-shoot" about as fast as you can say the phrase. (This is all assuming you aren't doing this now and may be an unfair assumption.)

 

Your shots above look technically sound, given the speed at which people must have been moving.

 

Cheers!

Will

 

Will

 

As if to prove a point, I shot an open-air jazz concert over the weekend - mostly daylight but with some tungsten spots. I would normally have set the WB manually but somehow I managed to leave the WB on auto which is odd as I rarely use auto and typically reset the User Profile at the end of a shoot. My User profiles don't have auto WB in them either!

 

Anyway, my error and I am now having major issues normalising WB across the images, I shot around 60 images and seem to have what appears to be 25 different WB settings! Even tweaking them all manually has left a handful that are just different!

 

As for hand-held meters, I love em and use a Sekonic L-398M Studio Deluxe. I used to own a Sekonic Spot meter but ended up selling it no I shoot mostly digital.