Rapid exposure compensation

[innerimager]

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This may have been known/obvious to others, but not to me. Rather than using the menu to change exposure comp., as long as you are willing to give up the aperture you selected, there's a much faster way of changing exposure comp in the M8. In AE, of course, lock the exposure with a half press, then simply change the aperture, and the exposure varies accurately by the amount of change. There are lot's of situations where I don't mind changing aperture by a half stop in terms of DOF, and sometimes even a whole stop, and in these situations this is a very fast method. Of course if you want 1/3 changes, the menu gets this exactly, but you can approximate using the aperture ring as the changes are continuous, or be exact by 1/2 stop increments. Hope this helps someone else who didn't realize this out of the box like me! best....Peter

[Hartmonstr]

Thanks, Peter, that's a hidden nugget I wasn't aware of. Kind of like finding one of those obscure but helpful Photoshop keyboard shortcuts you never knew about.

 

I'll be using this one today.

 

John

[innerimager]

Sure thing John. Definitely one of those ideas that's really staring you in the face but somehow gets missed! ....Peter

[sm23221]

Brilliant idea!

[george +]

You taught me something Peter. Very valuable. Many thanks.

[fuchs]

Absolutely brilliant. Thank you very much, Peter. I was one complaining loudly about the awkward exposure compensation method Leica chose, and suggesting remapping that function into the back panel control dial.

 

Thanks again for the more useful tip of the week!!!!

 

Ed

[dannirr]

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I assume you mean in Continious shooting mode? Otherwise the shutter speed would not lock.

 

Danni

[chetccox]

I believe if you read the first post he is referring to aperture, not shutter speed, in A mode. You can indeed change the aperture once you have exposure lock.

[dannirr]

I believe if you read the first post he is referring to aperture, not shutter speed, in A mode. You can indeed change the aperture once you have exposure lock.

 

No, I think you misunderstand me. I know he is saying you change the aperture to achieve the "bracketing". But, that only will work if shutter speed is constant. In AE mode, you can lock the shuttter speed (which is autmatically chosen by the camera) with a shutter buttin half-press - BUT when the shutter is fired, that lock is released. So, changing aperture would result in a new and different shutter speed and no effective change in exposre and thus no bracketing.

 

So, to make his technique work (as I'm sure it does), there are only 2 possible ways that I can see:

 

1.) Set the shutter speed manually then alter the aperture a few times to "bracket"

 

2.) Set the camera in continious mode shooting, and alter the aperture a few times to "bracket". By using continous mode, the auto selected shutter speed will remain locked until the shutter release button is no longer pressed - and thus altering aperture will effectively "bracket".

 

Danni

[chetccox]

Why don't you try it on A mode. Lock the exposure. Let us say you choose f 8 and it shows 1/250 second. Now simply change the aperture. The shutter speed stays at 1/250 so if you choose f 11 the picture will be darker. If you choose f4 it will be lighter. I have used this technique for a long time and thought it was obvious.

[rvaubel]

Why don't you try it on A mode. Lock the exposure. Let us say you choose f 8 and it shows 1/250 second. Now simply change the aperture. The shutter speed stays at 1/250 so if you choose f 11 the picture will be darker. If you choose f4 it will be lighter. I have used this technique for a long time and thought it was obvious.

 

I thought it was obvious too. An even faster way, that doesn't even involve changing the apeture is to chimp your shot then meter an area that gives you the compensation you want, then lock it with a half press, recompose and shoot. It sounds more complicated than it is. As a benifet, your camera stays in the default componsation state so you don't have to change anything back. In the film days this wouldn't work because it involves instantaneous digital feedback, at least for the first few shots. Using this method has improved my exposure success rate to almost 100% (except for the occasional blatant error).

 

Rex

[andym911]

It works exactly the same as M7 , that is how I always did exp comp...very easy and simple without faffing about with menu's.

 

good idea to post this though.

 

andy

[Jamie Roberts]

Rex--an even faster way, which I use all the time, in A mode is not to chimp at all but meter something a third stop different, lock, and recompose and shoot. Voila.

 

In M mode you just need a reference handy. With wedding dresses, and the meter pattern in the M8, I've found I just point it at the white point, and overexpose till the the dot in the middle is also firing up the little arrow to the right.

 

A really old trick that works wonders, too--

 

You can also meter your hand under typical light with an external meter, note the EV difference between what the meter gives you and a gray card.

 

Then when you're shooting quick meter your hand, apply the adjustment EV manually and presto--perfect portable gray card exposure every time.

 

OK, so it looks weird when you use your hand. But you've always got your hand, um, handy.

[innerimager]

so many ways to skin the 18% gray cat. ;>)

I would use the technique I posted, which really is pretty simple and I'm sure well known but glad to be of help to others like myself, when I'm shooting an unchanging scene repeatedly. I'd stay in single shot, frame and lock, adjust aperture, shoot, return aperture, and repeat as necessary. But what I have been doing is metering a value of anything in the light that is reasonably neutral, locking, framing and shooting. Actually, if it's like this, I usually just go manual anyway. best...Peter

[george +]

I think it is a good solution where a quick fix is required. Thanks again.

 

Of course on my old M5 I could see how far my meter needle was from the exposure needle and do these adjustments on the fly.

 

And the Epson, I think, has a specific dial on the outside.

 

An external adjustment, ugh, could be nice. And you can call me lazy.

[Guest stnami]

............. a grey matter version of spotmetering....

[innerimager]

IOf course on my old M5 I could see how far my meter needle was from

exactly why I just bought a banged up but perfectly functioning M5 for $575, just to have the experience of total manual control of exposure, with a continuous shutter speed dial, unique to the M5, and a read out of shutter speed in the finder, not again seen till the M7/MP/M8, and, especially, that analogue meter that lets you get a very good feel for under/over exposing as needed. best......Peter

[george +]

Oh Peter, I am glad you agree. And I know this is becoming a bit tiresome - and I love my M8 - but IMHO the M5 had better human engineering features.

 

And, ugh, I am still looking for vertical suspension of the camera, which is more stable that way - and you can grab the right side without becoming entangled in the strap. I hope you guys for give me for looking for features like that. I shot with that camera for 35 years - one gets accustomed to things.

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[steve_l]

Jamie- No need to meter a gray card along with your hand....the old Zone System trick works here, meter you hand and place it in Zone 6 (Caucasian skin), a gray card would fall in zone 5...so what you do is just meter your hand and open up a stop from that. Worked for me for 30 years....

[ho_co]

...a continuous shutter speed dial, unique to the M5...

Peter--

Actually, all M cameras have always had continuous shutter speed except at flash-synch 1/50 and at the cam changeover point, which varied among various models. If you take an M2 and set at, say, 1/125, you can dial the speed up in as small steps as you wish to get to 1/250. The MR4 meter showed the continuous metering, though of course it was attached to the top of the camera instead of being visible in the finder as was the case in the M5.

 

The M5 was a thoroughgoing breakthrough camera in many, many ways. As I recall, Leica did away with the slow train, so that its shutter didn't have the cam changeover. May be wrong on that, though. But gee, even a beat-up M5 is a beauty of design, with forward-facing meter illuminator, speed visible in finder, direction icons in finder to tell you which way was opening the aperture and which way was closing it, compensated meter so that even with the range of lenses Leica had made, if they metered on the body, they metered right! Before the M8, the M5 was Leica's engineering triumph IMHO.

 

--HC