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Exposure compensation preview & AEL/AFL metering memory lock problems


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Hi, I very recently took delivery of my Leica Q, but have just had to send the following concern to the dealership (who cannot comment on them):

 

I have just found time to familiarise myself with the new Leica Q, and I am really sad to have to report two issues with the function of the camera, both are connected to the preview of exposure:
 
1. In aperture priority mode, adjusting exposure compensation to a positive value does not preview any over exposure, i.e., the image on the LCD and in the EVF remain normally exposed. Moving to a negative value does adjust the exposure in the LCD & EVF, as one would expect. This fault seems to be consistent. Actual photos taken with exposure compensation do portray the adjustments.
 
2. Setting the thumb button to act as an AEL/AFL metering memory lock (described on page 186 of the manual) gives very unexpected results. I like to have the option of an AE lock function when working in aperture priority, but if I set the thumb button for this and then switch the camera to manual, the LCD screen and EVF do not preview any over or under exposure values at all. To achieve this, I have to go back in to the menus and turn the thumb button to control either digital zoom or combined AEL/AFL. There is no mention that one would have to do this in the instructions. I am also not convinced that using the thumb button in aperture priority is functioning correctly as, again, there is no visual indication that the exposure is locked when holding the button down and moving to another lighting situation.

Can anyone advise if either of these issues are present or replicable on their Leica Q? I am considering returning it in the next few days, but that will put me back in a lengthy queue for a replacement,and I want to be sure the above two issues are not inherent in the camera.

 

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Stephen

welcome to the forum and welcome to Leica.  I'm sure you tried most combinations of settings to enable your preferred shooting style.  I've tried to replicate issue 1, and I do recall that other users came up against the exposure preview issue.  However , I wonder if you just need more time to find the optimal settings.  First, I would ask you to ensure that you are working with the aperture ring on the lens set "away from A".   That allows my camera to display a superimposed exposure compensation scale which is fully adjustable on screen.  The EVF or Screen both immediately display the effect of the compensation - both over and under, and the graph on Preview reflects the effects as well.

Re: issue 2

I have my thumb button configured for the 28-35-50 crop options, but I did switch to AEL/AFL to check.   As you have found, holding exposure or focus and re-adjusting doesn't include visual feedback so it's a bit of a leap in the dark.  I'm sure it's on the agenda for the firmware update.

I would suggest giving yourself some time to find how it works.  I've got mine set up on auto ISO, and exposure is very reliable within the limits I have set.    It took a while to recognise the logic and effect of switching between A (aperture) or manually selected apertures.

you should also ensure that you have selected PASM mode in the menu.   It takes time to understand how it works and I familiarise myself  with one mode at a time!  

 

good luck.

Edited by lucerne
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Hi,

On my Q in aperture priority mode the behavior is as follow: Negative exposure compensation darkens the image in the viewfinder and the histogram moves to the left. Everything normal. However, positive exposure compensation does not change the image in the viewfinder and doesn't change the histogram. However images taken take into account the exposure compensation.

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I wonder what's different.  On my Q in Aperture priority mode adjusting the exposure compensation dial does change the exposure in the viewfinder for both negative and positive compensations.   I tried this with various settings for exposure and it worked the same way on all.

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Stephen

welcome to the forum and welcome to Leica.  I'm sure you tried most combinations of settings to enable your preferred shooting style.  I've tried to replicate issue 1, and I do recall that other users came up against the exposure preview issue.  However , I wonder if you just need more time to find the optimal settings.  First, I would ask you to ensure that you are working with the aperture ring on the lens set "away from A".   That allows my camera to display a superimposed exposure compensation scale which is fully adjustable on screen.  The EVF or Screen both immediately display the effect of the compensation - both over and under, and the graph on Preview reflects the effects as well.

Re: issue 2

I have my thumb button configured for the 28-35-50 crop options, but I did switch to AEL/AFL to check.   As you have found, holding exposure or focus and re-adjusting doesn't include visual feedback so it's a bit of a leap in the dark.  I'm sure it's on the agenda for the firmware update.

I would suggest giving yourself some time to find how it works.  I've got mine set up on auto ISO, and exposure is very reliable within the limits I have set.    It took a while to recognise the logic and effect of switching between A (aperture) or manually selected apertures.

you should also ensure that you have selected PASM mode in the menu.   It takes time to understand how it works and I familiarise myself  with one mode at a time!  

 

good luck.

 

Thanks for the in depth reply, yes, I have tried various aperture settings and am definitely only getting under exposure previewed. My second point was mainly trying to point to the fact that I can't set the thumb button to AEL and at a subsequent point work in full manual mode and preview the exposure, over or under. This just seems wrong to me!

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The symptoms suggest that your  aperture is wide open when you do your test. So...you can reduce, and it works, but you can't open any wider.   

However, I've tested at f/1.7 and that's maximum aperture yet I can still introduce exposure compensation The reason is that the camera is automatically  changing ISO up and down. 

 

Would you you like to first experiment with auto ISO and see if you can get positive and negative compensation.

Then try setting a fixed ISO (say 400).   Compensation should still work.   Perhaps you have been setting your ISO so high that the system can't compensate with more exposure.

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The symptoms suggest that your aperture is wide open when you do your test. So...you can reduce, and it works, but you can't open any wider.

However, I've tested at f/1.7 and that's maximum aperture yet I can still introduce exposure compensation The reason is that the camera is automatically changing ISO up and down.

 

Would you you like to first experiment with auto ISO and see if you can get positive and negative compensation.

Then try setting a fixed ISO (say 400). Compensation should still work. Perhaps you have been setting your ISO so high that the system can't compensate with more exposure.

Thanks. Positive exposure compensation started to work properly with smaller aperture (from 5.6). It also worked with iso set from auto to 100. What is very strange is that it seems that exposure compensation seems to work nicely even when I came back to auto iso even wide open. I will do some more test tomorrow.

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I wonder what's different.  On my Q in Aperture priority mode adjusting the exposure compensation dial does change the exposure in the viewfinder for both negative and positive compensations.   I tried this with various settings for exposure and it worked the same way on all.

+ 1  Mine does the same, show both negative and positive exposure adjustment in either aperture priority or manual exposure.  

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Thanks for the replies. I tried several resets and it was still the same, until last night when I did try one more time: reset, turned camera off, removed battery & card. Hey presto! It was working as it should. 

 

A new problem has emerged over the past few days though (I'm always lucky in this respect), and I guess I should start a new thread, but basically, I was getting an off-putting white screen flash on the LCD & EVF when removing my finger from the shutter after prefocussing. But, this only happened on apertures above f4, f1.7-4 are fine.

 

Anyway, I have to report that this has all left me feeling uneasy about the camera, so I've returned it for a refund. I'll probably reorder in a while, or when the firmware gets an update. 

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Hi,

After my last post the positive exposure problem appeared again. I have thus reset the camera several times without effects. I then tried to reset the camera, turn the camera off, remove the battery, put it back and turn it on and... everything works perfectly since then. I hope this firmware problem will not come back again.

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