D-Lux 4: Problems and Questions

[Memslott]

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Can anyone help me, please? I am new to Leica and have been photographing buildings (mostly). When the sky plays a prominent role it comes out correctly; albeit a little flat and washed. But if the building cuts off significant parts of the sky it comes out white or gray. The building should pop out against the blue; against the gray/white it is washed. Clearly I am missing some setting.

 

Another problem. In Manual mode I cannot change the exposure level. I see the scale. I hit the toggle keys but nothing changes. I would use this in tricky situations to lighten a short but also for photographing documents...ok, ok, this is overkill, but it happens.

 

Any suggestions, please?

 

Memslott

[elgenper]

Can anyone help me, please? I am new to Leica and have been photographing buildings (mostly). When the sky plays a prominent role it comes out correctly; albeit a little flat and washed. But if the building cuts off significant parts of the sky it comes out white or gray. The building should pop out against the blue; against the gray/white it is washed. Clearly I am missing some setting.

 

Best solution: use spot metering to find correct exposure for the building vs the sky. If not too far apart, use an in-between setting, based on how dark you want the building to be (this is the germ of the famous Zone System....) and set it manually. Shooting raw will give far more latitude for post processing than jpeg.

 

Another problem. In Manual mode I cannot change the exposure level. I see the scale. I hit the toggle keys but nothing changes. I would use this in tricky situations to lighten a short but also for photographing documents...ok, ok, this is overkill, but it happens.

 

Any suggestions, please?

 

Memslott

 

It´s not overkill at all; it´s the key to really get control of what you´re doing.

 

The thing is, you don´t use the toggle keys for this, but the joystick (RTFM, as the saying goes.... ). You select what it sets (shutter speed or f/stop) by pushing sideways, then you change the value by pushing up or down. You may have to activate it first by just pressing inwards.

[Memslott]

Thank you. I will print out and memorize. This is very helpful. My problem now is that I am in Göteborg and there aren't too many sunny days in the forecast. A thousand thanks.

[LRF]

I really recommend you buy " Photographers guide to the Leica D-Lux 4" by A.S White.

You can get it quite cheaply on amazon and it is the best accessory you can buy for this great little camera. It's a shame the factory manual is so poor.

[farnz]

I really recommend you buy " Photographers guide to the Leica D-Lux 4" by A.S White.

You can get it quite cheaply on amazon and it is the best accessory you can buy for this great little camera. It's a shame the factory manual is so poor.

+1

 

Pete.