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Exposure Preview


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It is without any doubt, the worst camera manual I have ever come across in 50 years of using Leicas (and reading their manuals). Leica should look at some of their early manuals, where the illustrations were of high quality and the text actually related to both the illustration on or around that page and also how someone might use their new camera. In addition, Leica also did joint publishing efforts of books, which explained everything in far greater detail along with very useful hints on photo technique as well. The index is hopeless and I have found virtually nothing by searching it. Some things just don't work as described in the manual. I know that translation from German to English, presumably by some technical bureau, without being properly checked by a native English speaker, who was also very familiar with the SL, has not helped either. 

 

Since so much of the essence of this camera is driven through the operation of the buttons and menus, this should have been illustrated stage by stage instead of having to constantly refer backwards and forwards to the appendices. The manual starts with a lengthy diatribe covering all the usual charge the battery up and safety backside protecting rubbish, all in great detail, when pretty much all of us could work this out for ourselves or weren't interested one iota. Does anyone really buy a camera like an SL and not know how to mount a lens? What is missing, is to go through all the controls one by one with a picture of each, explaining what one push does, two pushes and a long push. Then explain the customisation options for each control and not only what you can do but also what you cannot do e.g. move magnify to a different button other than BL.

 

I believe one forum member is hoping to capitalise on the manual's dire quality and rush out a book on the SL. I hope he does. 

 

Wilson

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In the Camera menu there is a selection for Exposure Preview, which can be either on or off.  I can't find any explanation in the manual and I can't see any difference with it on or off.  Anyone know what this is?

 

Experimenting with this option, with Exposure Preview set ON (default), the EVF/LCD reflects the actual exposure behavior when the shutter release is at the half-press position (the same as enabling Exposure Simulation/DOF Simulation with the FN button, page 219 in the English section of the instruction manual). Exposure Simulation/DOF Simulation requires the camera to have control of the lens aperture for best effectiveness, so it looks like this option is best used with dedicated lenses. The Exposure Preview setting is probably needed for when using flash indoors. Turn it OFF to prevent the viewfinder going very dark when the shutter is half-pressed.

Edited by ramarren
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Experimenting with this option, with Exposure Preview set ON (default), the EVF/LCD reflects the actual exposure behavior when the shutter release is at the half-press position (the same as enabling Exposure Simulation/DOF Simulation with the FN button, page 219 in the English section of the instruction manual). Exposure Simulation/DOF Simulation requires the camera to have control of the lens aperture for best effectiveness, so it looks like this option is best used with dedicated lenses. The Exposure Preview setting is probably needed when for using flash indoors. Turn it OFF to prevent the viewfinder going very dark as when the shutter is half-pressed.

 

Thanks, Godfrey.  That's exactly right.  A function I don't think I'll be needing much.  

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It is without any doubt, the worst camera manual I have ever come across in 50 years of using Leicas (and reading their manuals). 

 

It is the first manual that I have seen in which after they have the battery charged and in place, you still have to read a dozen pages to find out how to set the clock.  And don't even ask about choosing its language...

 

scott

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It is the first manual that I have seen in which after they have the battery charged and in place, you still have to read a dozen pages to find out how to set the clock.  And don't even ask about choosing its language...

 

:rolleyes:

 

In the Nikon D750 manual, I was rather taken aback by the fact that after 16 pages of warnings and then 14 pages of diagrams of the camera with buttons/knobs/displays listed below, the next most important to me bit of information (how to set the ISO and other Auto-ISO parameters) didn't come up until page 134. 

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 What is missing, is to go through all the controls one by one with a picture of each, explaining what one push does, two pushes and a long push. Then explain the customisation options for each control and not only what you can do but also what you cannot do e.g. move magnify to a different button other than BL.

 

I believe one forum member is hoping to capitalise on the manual's dire quality and rush out a book on the SL. I hope he does. 

 

I think the idea of an errata and suggestions for the manual thread is a good one.

 

One control that should also be discussed is nose control.

 

scott

Edited by scott kirkpatrick
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Well I would imagine it does the same as the 'setting effect' with the Sony A7 which is explained as follows in their online guide

(Would be good if Leica did something similar)


Setting Effect ON (default setting): 
Displays Live View in conditions close to what your picture will look like as a result of applying all your settings. This setting is useful when you want to shoot pictures while checking the results of the shot on the Live View screen.

Setting Effect OFF
Shows Live View without the effects of exposure compensation, white balance, [Creative Style], or [Picture Effect]. When this setting is used, you can easily check the image composition. 
Live View is always displayed with the appropriate brightness even in [Manual Exposure] mode. 
When [setting Effect OFF] is selected, the s_view.png icon is displayed on the Live View screen.

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The Sony example shows how this manual gets confusing -- it never tells you why you might do something.  Or gives a high level picture of the state of the machine.  Even Sony, which has a terrible track record in UI, seems to have become aware of that need.  Here's an example:

 

Mode lock is a clever but different way to keep from still and video modes from interfering.  Mode lock ON means that if you are in still mode the video button is inactivated, and if you are in video mode the shutter button does not interrupt things.  Great idea, but I still have not found out how to put the camera into still mode.  Where did I miss that one?

 

I've been accused of treating the manual like dogma, but I will pick up my SL in its box far from any camera store or any experienced users, and this will be very interesting. 

 

scott 

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The Sony example shows how this manual gets confusing -- it never tells you why you might do something.  Or gives a high level picture of the state of the machine.  Even Sony, which has a terrible track record in UI, seems to have become aware of that need.  Here's an example:

 

Mode lock is a clever but different way to keep from still and video modes from interfering.  Mode lock ON means that if you are in still mode the video button is inactivated, and if you are in video mode the shutter button does not interrupt things.  Great idea, but I still have not found out how to put the camera into still mode.  Where did I miss that one?

 

I've been accused of treating the manual like dogma, but I will pick up my SL in its box far from any camera store or any experienced users, and this will be very interesting. 

 

Still mode is the default that the camera is in when you turn it on. The LV button toggles you between Still mode and Motion mode. 

A normal press on the LV button switches the camera to motion mode for previewing and capturing videos, a second press returns you to capturing still exposures. 

Mode lock prevents you from accidentally recording video when you're shooting stills, and accidentally interrupting movies with still shots when you're recording video.

 

There are many issues with the instruction manual, scott, but I don't think this is one of them. It's pretty obvious...  :rolleyes:

Edited by ramarren
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Godfrey, you've spent enough time with the camera and its manual that it all makes perfect sense to you.  I don't have a camera yet, and am channelling the first-time user, who will be pretty confused without a little helpful coaching.  Certainly if she tries to get that coaching from the manual, which must be read cover to cover.

 

The simple explanation of what the LV button does is a good example.  It's obvious and unforgettable once you see it, but not in the manual.  Basic camera settings starts on p. 186, KeyLock is described on p. 192, but LV is never mentioned.  If we continue into the section "basic photo settings" it's not there.  On to Photo Recording Mode, with more detail of the button functions to taking a photo or a video.  Still no mention of LV. It toggles them is the answer to my question "but how do you get into photo mode or out of photo mode into the video modes?"

 

You've answered my question, and I don't think I will have any trouble remembering, but the manual did not tell me.

 

scott 

 

Edit:  I found something!  On page 177, it says tap the shutter button to activate photo recording mode. push the button to take a picture, press the LV button to activate video preview mode and push the video release button to start video recording.  A second press will stop recording (I am almost certain) but it still doesn't tell me how to get back to photo mode.  Pressing LV again is certainly one of the things I might then try.  

Edited by scott kirkpatrick
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As I said before, you're viewing the instruction manual as if it were dogma ... "Everything not explicitly described does not exist or is unknown."  :rolleyes:

 

Good instruction manuals for cameras (and other devices) are generally written to be used with the device in hand. There's a wealth of infrastructural information that comes from simply having the device in your hands to press buttons, turn knobs, and see what happens that is, at best, verbose and clumsy to articulate in words alone. A manual written to your dogmatic expectations would be too tedious and lengthy for most users to read, making the manual nearly worthless. 

 

I realize that you're studying the manual with the camera absent, preparatory to receiving the camera. I did the same. I found I knew a lot about the camera when I received it, but the haptics of working with it when it arrived quickly went well past what any reading of a manual could provide. That's as it should be. 

 

It's a fine line between having enough information to understand how something works and describing every point of minutiae in overly excruciating detail. Most people don't need to be told how to engage Still mode since the camera always wakes up by default in still mode when you power it on. As you note, the manual does tell you how to enter motion recording mode. It might have been nice if they put a sentence in there that said, "To return to still capture mode, press the LV button again," but I suspect that with camera in hand the vast majority of users will discover that for themselves ... It is easy to predict that pressing the LV button a second time returns you to the previous mode based on the camera's overall control logic. 

 

To me, the point of a good teaching manual (as opposed to the referency kind of thing the current instruction manual is) is to give a user a sense of the overall logic of the camera and articulate key things from which they can explore the device, not the manual, in a straightforward way to build knowledge and expertise. And of illustrating basic concepts and capabilities early so as to give the user a reasonable mental map of the subject matter to be traversed. I am not a fan of overly wordy manuals which list and articulate all minutiae from every possible perspective. I find the sheer weight of all those words makes my understanding of the device much slower. That's my opinion, you're welcome to disagree. 

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