M Firmware/Hardware Improvements Thread

[hugo]

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EXPOSURE COMPENSATION

 

Issues

 

1) The focusing button on the front is really small and stiff and i cannot use it 4 out of 5 attempts when trying to set the exposure compensation. I have properly working hands but the button is impossible to press easily. And to press it consistently i have to adjust my grip to an awkward one which is not good for taking the photo.

 

2) I upgraded from the M9 to the M mainly for the use of the EVF adapter and live view capabilities. Now that i have it, it turns out that you can only see a preview of the final image after half depressing the shutter. This is too late and defeats the purpose of having live view. I understand that Leica want to give a bright view for accurate focussing but why not just use the 'bright' view only with focus assist. When i shoot in a room, the exposure needs to be set first and then the focus as the exposure is normally constant for the whole room where ever i go but the focus can change each shot. At present the firmware treats it the other way around.

 

Solution. This could all be fixed in the firmware with 2 additions;

 

a) Allow exposure compensation to occur when ever you turn the Setting Dial while the camera is ready to take a photo (without the need to press any other button).

 

Allow the live view and EVF to display what the final picture will look like without need to half press the shutter. The current setting of showing how a '0 exposure compensation' looks can be maintained for the focus assist feature.

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[chris_tribble]

I still don't understand why those who need exposure compensation don't use the rear SET menu - it's easy to access and simple to control. I always prefered this method when I used exposure compensation on the M8 and M9 - I'd do the same with the M (though I prefer to shoot manually most of the time...)

[nunnzzzz]

I really wish the M had the ability to do Bracketing with 3, 5 AND 7 exposures as opposed to just 3 or 5 that it has now. The M9 and m9P could do all three!

[wlaidlaw]

I still don't understand why those who need exposure compensation don't use the rear SET menu - it's easy to access and simple to control. I always prefered this method when I used exposure compensation on the M8 and M9 - I'd do the same with the M (though I prefer to shoot manually most of the time...)

 

Chris,

 

For me it is so you can compensate without taking your eye off the viewfinder or EVF. I often know when I am going to need plus or minus compensation, even without chimping or looking at the histogram.

 

Wilson

[Yarosuav]

Chris,

 

For me it is so you can compensate without taking your eye off the viewfinder or EVF. I often know when I am going to need plus or minus compensation, even without chimping or looking at the histogram.

 

Wilson

 

Exactly. Need to be able to set EV compensation while looking through the viewfinder.

[hugo]

Chris,

 

For me it is so you can compensate without taking your eye off the viewfinder or EVF. I often know when I am going to need plus or minus compensation, even without chimping or looking at the histogram.

 

Wilson

 

Exactly. The whole thing for me is about live view shooting with an EVF. (as i said a huge reason i upgraded). At the moment with the M, if you want to shoot this way you a) can't properly adjust exposure compensation and can't see the final image as you adjust it (you have to wait to half press the shutter). So it really is a totally useless feature. SO i will go manual for now but hope i can use my camera for the reason i bought it soon enough with a firmware update.

 

To all the manual shooters, why even bother upgrading to an M?

[Jeff S]

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To all the manual shooters, why even bother upgrading to an M?

 

 

The M can be used just like the M9 as a manual camera, but with the potential advantages of weather sealing, faster Maestro processor, longer battery life, 2m frame lines, illuminated frame lines, quieter shutter, better build quality, ability to focus better with long lenses, live view (that helps check camera/lens focus calibration), better tripod thread, better screen, video capability (that can be used to record and document scenes, even if general video capability isn't important), higher ISO capability, and probably several other things I'm forgetting at the moment.

 

Of course IQ is another issue, one that I'm waiting to test before I conclude that the other features warrant a change.

 

Jeff

[Rick]

Manual WB Bug - M(240)

 

Problem: White Balance settings that are manually set to a specific color temperature in the set menu revert back to "WB Auto" in the camera LCD when reviewing pictures.

 

Example: In "SET" menu: White Balance/Color Temperature; change color temp to 2500. Take picture. Repeat and change to 2800. Take another picture. Repeat and change to 3000. Take picture. Review pictures in camera on LCD: All temps displayed correctly in camera on LCD review for all pictures taken in this set. (ok so far)

 

Next, change back to White Balance/ Automatic. Take picture. Review in camera on LCD and previous set of pictures taken with a manual Temp will now display "WB Auto" - not the specific color temps they were taken with although, the color temp of the displayed picture will be correct.

 

It sometimes takes several reviews on the LCD and several changes of WB to Auto review cycles to elicit this behavior. It is reproducible on my camera.

 

I posted this in another thread but, thought it would be better to keep these all together in one place in case Leica reads these.

[pico]

Menu item: Dump Parameters

 

Whenever I have a problem with a program, or with a digital device, I wish to have some way to record, upon demand, at least one thing - the parameters chosen by the user - IOW, all the menu item settings plus camera time/date, battery state, up-time since boot or wake-up, etc..

 

It would be great if Leica had such an option to create a '.txt' file in the root of the SD card (or a diagnostic sub-directory) so that it could be read by any computer, shared by the rest of us, and so-forth.

[k-hawinkler]

pico,

 

That's a great idea. Thanks.

[wlaidlaw]

Manual WB Bug - M(240)

 

Problem: White Balance settings that are manually set to a specific color temperature in the set menu revert back to "WB Auto" in the camera LCD when reviewing pictures.

 

Example: In "SET" menu: White Balance/Color Temperature; change color temp to 2500. Take picture. Repeat and change to 2800. Take another picture. Repeat and change to 3000. Take picture. Review pictures in camera on LCD: All temps displayed correctly in camera on LCD review for all pictures taken in this set. (ok so far)

 

Next, change back to White Balance/ Automatic. Take picture. Review in camera on LCD and previous set of pictures taken with a manual Temp will now display "WB Auto" - not the specific color temps they were taken with although, the color temp of the displayed picture will be correct.

 

It sometimes takes several reviews on the LCD and several changes of WB to Auto review cycles to elicit this behavior. It is reproducible on my camera.

 

I posted this in another thread but, thought it would be better to keep these all together in one place in case Leica reads these.

 

Rick,

 

Do I understand correctly that this is a case of the information displaying correctly, rather than an imaging fault. In other words, the camera is not retrospectively changing the WB after the shot was taken, if you have reverted from a manually set WB to Auto. Have you checked to see if it has changed the EXIF when you look at the image in a computer. If it is not, that seems a very strange fault, as I always assumed that the camera generated the image data it displays on the LCD from the EXIF of that image.

 

Wilson

[Rick]

Rick,

 

Do I understand correctly that this is a case of the information displaying correctly, rather than an imaging fault. In other words, the camera is not retrospectively changing the WB after the shot was taken, if you have reverted from a manually set WB to Auto. Have you checked to see if it has changed the EXIF when you look at the image in a computer. If it is not, that seems a very strange fault, as I always assumed that the camera generated the image data it displays on the LCD from the EXIF of that image.

 

Wilson

 

Correct and no I have checked the computer EXIF.

[digitalfx]

I don't know if this irritating feature is only on the Olympus VF-2, which I am using or also applies to the Leica EVF-2. When you press the select VF button on the EVF when in live view, it correctly switches the view from the rear LCD to the EVF. It will also switch on LV on the EVF, if you are not in LV. However, when you press the button again, this switches live view off not returns it to the rear LCD, as it does on the Olympus cameras which it also fits. I know you can return the view to the rear LCD by pressing the LV button but to my way of thinking that does not make ergonomic sense. The rear LV button should be LV on/off and the button on the EVF, the select button. What do others think?

 

 

+1

 

also a menu option to have Rear LCD the default choice for playback. I prefer to use only the LCD for playback, even when using the EVF for focus/framing

[digitalfx]

I still don't understand why those who need exposure compensation don't use the rear SET menu - it's easy to access and simple to control. I always prefered this method when I used exposure compensation on the M8 and M9 - I'd do the same with the M (though I prefer to shoot manually most of the time...)

 

Because it requires taking your eye away from the viewfinder. Ideally you should be able to quickly adjust exposure compensation with your thumb while remaining in the viewfinder. I would love to see an option to use the thumb wheel.

 

Also, why dont we have shutter speed display in the rangefinder lcd? in the dark its a pain to figure out the shutter speed.

[dierk]

I got my new M last Friday and sent it back on Monday - and don't want a new one!

The sensor was covered with dust and looked like the milky way. I better don't show the picture here. Is the sensor collecting dust being on live view by static electricity?

 

My findings and suggestions to Leica after using the new M for a few hours:

 

Auto-ISO

on normal shooting I never use Auto-ISO, I want to control the ISO myself. And when I switch to manual exposure I don't want to change my ISO settings automatically without control and knowing, what ISO is used!

 

As mentioned here often, Auto-Iso is not working in manual exposure mode. I use this function since many years with Nikon and Leica M9 and MM to prevent motion blur (on the 75mm I use 1/250, it is useless, to spend so much money on a lens and take blurred images)

 

bracketing:

what I did not find here: on all three M9, MM and the M it is not possible to bracket exposures on manual mode (no problem with Nikon! even with TTL flash). I need and use it for HDR panorama shots, when the light changes between the images. Leica, why not? it is just a matter of design.

 

focus field:

the fixed field in the middle is useless in most situations. When the DOF is very shallow (for example with f/1.4 or even 0.95), you can not recompose the image after focusing without moving out of focus again - and end up with focus bracketing like we did with the range finder.

For table top and stills the movable focus field is a must, as on a tripod I can not change the camera position all the time.

 

For shooting tilted lenses (I use the Micro Nikkor 85mm for most close ups and want to use the Canon 17mm TSE) the move of the focus field is an absolute must, as moving the camera is useless, when the focus plane is not parallel to the sensor!!

 

menu:

the menu is a mess. For example the bracketing is hidden deep in the menu and when you switch the camera off and on again, the menu starts at the beginning again and the bracketing is off again. When you are in a situation, when you need bracketing for all pictures, you always have to find it in the menu again. Absolutely inexceptable!

Why is the bracketing not in the SET any more??

Why is the menu not organized in system, exposure, play,... ?? (like other cameras are!)

Why is there not a collection of the recently used settings at the beginning of the menu?? (like other cameras have)

 

R-lenses:

I found only M-lenses in the lens selection menu, no R-lenses! Are the R-lenses only accessible with the Leica R-adapter??

Will the recently used lenses (of course the ones, that I have) stay at the top of the list or do we always have to scroll endless down again?

 

My solution:

I am waiting for the FF NEX!

 

Leica,

please try to be more creative in the programming and have a look from time to time, how other good cameras are programmed! Not all Leica users are classical street photographers and new customers have other demands to the camera. When the next M will come in about 2-3 years, there will be a lot of FF mirrorless cameras out and the design has to be better than with this M to be accepted on the market.

I hope, you will get it!

dierk

[digitalfx]

I would be helpful if the info display could be displayed with out the shaded bar along the top and bottom. The shaded bar is too dark and hides a portion of the frame. It is not necessary

[verbivore]

1. Exposure compensation requires an awkward press of a button on the front of the camera while turning the dial; this should be unnecessary.

2.The histogram cannot be viewed through the EVF during shooting without a lot of other distracting junk superimposed on the image.

3. With EVF or Live View, there is a considerable lag before and after exposure while the shutter closes, opens, and then closes again; an electronic first-curtain feature, like that on the Sony NEX series, would be welcome.

4. There is an electronic horizon feature, but it cannot be superimposed on the live view or EVF image, rendering it useless for anything but tripod work.

5. There’s no easy way to change the ISO value as you look through the EVF.

[LocalHero1953]

The need for a separate EVF has always seemed a temporary fix which is at odds with Leica's philosophy of simplicity.

 

While I would not wish to see the M body get any bigger, I hope that progress in miniaturised engineering will allow the EVF to be integrated in the body. I suspect that progress in VF technology will also eventually allow a hybrid O/EVF to be developed - the best solution, though maintaining the advantages of both is likely to be difficult.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[lct]

The need for a separate EVF has always seemed a temporary fix which is at odds with Leica's philosophy of simplicity... I hope that progress in miniaturised engineering will allow the EVF to be integrated in the body...

Thanks no thanks. Leica's philosophy has always been to use Visoflexes and accessory finders to complement the rangefinder. The EVF is no more than a electronic Visoflex, hence its name of "Visoflex EVF2". This is the only way to keep the simplicity of the OVF, which has never been so good BTW, and also to compose and focus at waist level if need be.

[CheshireCat]

1) Allow fast User Profile switching: keep front focusing button pressed + direction pad left/right. Viewfinder LED display: "U1", "U2", "U3", "U4" (cycles only through the ones present).

 

2) Display ISO changes in viewfinder: Keep ISO button pressed + pad up/down. Viewfinder LED display: "IA", "I200", ...

 

3) The M takes forever to wake up even from sleep mode. Waiting seconds before one can take a picture is ridiculous.

 

4) Add "5 seconds" choice to "Self Timer".

 

5) Remove useless stuff from menu: no more JPEG, Sharpness, Saturation, Contrast, Colorspace. This is a camera, not Photoshop. White Balance must unfortunately remain for movie mode (until we get RAW video).

 

6) Add "1080p30" and other 30 fps choices to "Video Resolution". 25 fps are only ok for PAL countries.

 

7) Add H.264 All-I movie compression.

 

... or just make the firmware Open Source, and we will take care of everything