Problem: aperture fixed at 1.7 even in automatic mode.

[fquora]

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I have a strange problem with my Leica Q. With all controls (including the aperture) set to A the aperture remains fixed at 1.7, with the other controls (ISO, shutter speed) changing with light conditions. Manually changing the aperture using the aperture ring works well, but the automatic position doesn't seem to work. Any suggestions?

[barjohn]

Point toward a very bright light source and see if it changes.  It should have to stop down assuming your ISO is already low.  In a room it will favor wide open unless there is more light that would result in an over exposure.

[fquora]

Even if you point to a bright light source or in daylight the automatic setting will stay with an aperture as open as possible. That means that most of the times the aperture will be at 1.7 or 2, resulting in low depth of field. I find this a surprising choice of automatic settings, with the software preferring to increase the speed to over 1/1000 rather than increase the aperture in real life situations.

 

The result of this choice in the automatic settings is that the camera will in most cases take pictures with the lens fully open, resulting for example in pictures of groups of people in daylight with only one person in focus. I was not expecting this kind of behaviour of the camera and other users may find themselves in the same situation.

[LeftyS]

"Even if you point to a bright light source or in daylight the automatic setting will stay with an aperture as open as possible."

 

This is quite normal, how can you expect the camera to know how much depth of field you need ?

[dadohead]

Use Program Shift. If you have all Auto set (auto ISO, auto aperture, auto shutter), you will see a P in the lower left of the viewfinder; the camera will pick the widest aperture and fastest shutter speed and lowest ISO for your metered scene. This is an initial assumption the software makes, and in a camera with a lens this good, is absolutely warranted from my point of view. If you want more depth of field, use the thumbwheel to shift the program; it will start reducing the shutter speed while stopping down the aperture. When the shutter speed gets to about 1/60, increasing the aperture with the thumbwheel will lock the shutter speed at 1/60th (because, you know, camera shake) and begin increasing the ISO. This continues until you get to f 16. The P in the lower left of the viewfinder will be appended with a * sign to show you are shifting the "program." If the camera sleeps, the shift is lost. Most decent cameras do something similar, although the primary assumptions might be different.

 

And as long as we are on this subject, the Leica manual is, without question, one of the the worst technical manuals I have ever had the misfortune to encounter, especially in a product with so many settings that can contradict or modify one another, even allowing for localization issues. We all have our "In a product this expensive, I'd expect…" quibbles, but I'd definitely expect a more thorough manual; it seems like an afterthought. Put the Q book against a Nikon or Canon manual and there is really no comparison.

[Krusty]

Hi, i have the same Problem. My aperture is aways fixed at 1.7! even if i switch in manual aperture mode and turn it to 16, i see a 1.7 in the viewfinder... I bought my q 4 days ago...

[Krusty]

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Hah... i found it. In the menu "Scene programs" i had switched on "Fully automatic". Now i switched to PASM and now i can change the aperture. 

[Nikonian233]

On 7/27/2017 at 1:33 AM, Krusty said:

Hah... i found it. In the menu "Scene programs" i had switched on "Fully automatic". Now i switched to PASM and now i can change the aperture. 

Thank you. I had mine on HDR, switched to PASM and all works now. Manual pretty crappy.

[Nikonian233]

On 12/23/2015 at 11:06 AM, dadohead said:

Use Program Shift. If you have all Auto set (auto ISO, auto aperture, auto shutter), you will see a P in the lower left of the viewfinder; the camera will pick the widest aperture and fastest shutter speed and lowest ISO for your metered scene. This is an initial assumption the software makes, and in a camera with a lens this good, is absolutely warranted from my point of view. If you want more depth of field, use the thumbwheel to shift the program; it will start reducing the shutter speed while stopping down the aperture. When the shutter speed gets to about 1/60, increasing the aperture with the thumbwheel will lock the shutter speed at 1/60th (because, you know, camera shake) and begin increasing the ISO. This continues until you get to f 16. The P in the lower left of the viewfinder will be appended with a * sign to show you are shifting the "program." If the camera sleeps, the shift is lost. Most decent cameras do something similar, although the primary assumptions might be different.

 

And as long as we are on this subject, the Leica manual is, without question, one of the the worst technical manuals I have ever had the misfortune to encounter, especially in a product with so many settings that can contradict or modify one another, even allowing for localization issues. We all have our "In a product this expensive, I'd expect…" quibbles, but I'd definitely expect a more thorough manual; it seems like an afterthought. Put the Q book against a Nikon or Canon manual and there is really no comparison.

Could not agree more. Manual is shit.