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Series X cameras peculiarities


Guest DrPix

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Guest DrPix

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Every now and then someone mentiones problems with X-cameras´ exposure consistency/"quality". I´ve been using ALL series X cameras for years now, i.e. X1, X2, X-Vario and X113. Variation in how they meter the light and, consequently, influence exposures is considerable! Practically all cameras I´ve used "behaved" differently - in most cases overexposed, sometimes rather badly. What was rather strange is the fact that, in some cameras, Jpegs exposures were "different" than DNG exposures of the same picture (checked in Lightroom). I had a chance of testing various samples of the same X-model; there were obvious differencies (sometimes minor, sometimes very apparent!) in both exposures and also "sharpness" - we´re talking about SAME shooting conditions! I´ve sent some of them to Solms for the check-up; once they said there´s nothing wrong with the camera (despite OBVIOUS faults) - I sent the same camera back again, this time with both Jpeg and DNG samples, and some other technician agreed with me and calibrated the camera properly!

It seems that, so called Quality Control, is not what the cameras´ prices would suggest! If you are "lucky" than you get what you paid for! It applies not only to Leica of course; ALL major manufacturers exhibit the same "consistency".

Mind you, I LOVE Leica, use it exclusively all the time and, when I am "lucky" they render magic pics (subjectively...).

The only 2 X-Leicas I have had, there was a very first X1 and the one I am shooting with now, X-E, that were perfect out of the box! Som IT CAN BE DONE!

Complain and complain again, don´t tak NO for an answer.

http://andrzejponiatowski.zenfolio.com/

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Guest DrPix

Exposure is determined by software on digital cameras.

There are no adjustments to calibrate exposure on a digital camera AFAIK.

You mean that every camera has its own "software" version that cannot be calibrated? Why do they differ then?

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Guest DrPix

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Standard industry algorithm is to expose for an average brightness of 18% on every shot.

 

http://www.photography.ca/photography-tips/basic-metering/

 

Toshi

Then why, two identical cameras expose differently in identical (controlled) environement? And why one of them is always overexposing and the other is almost always correct? Where has the "standard industry algorithm" gone?

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Then why, two identical cameras expose differently in identical (controlled) environement? And why one of them is always overexposing and the other is almost always correct? Where has the "standard industry algorithm" gone?

 

Probably one camera has the exposure compensation set to a positive value.

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Guest DrPix

Probably one camera has the exposure compensation set to a positive value.

You must be joking! If you don´t have any more constructive remark do not reply!

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If the camera in question exposes incorrectly send it in for Service.. No need to argue or get iffy" on the technical side if there are adjustments within the camera - cool.. Let the tekkies do their thing.. Then again some might use the word "anal" in reference to certain Posts...

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Guest DrPix

If the camera in question exposes incorrectly send it in for Service.. No need to argue or get iffy" on the technical side if there are adjustments within the camera - cool.. Let the tekkies do their thing.. Then again some might use the word "anal" in reference to certain Posts...

Read my first thread carefylly. Then you´ll see how "tekkies" do their job sometimes. "Anal" or not (what a ridiculous "expression") the reason I started this was because of MANY complaints about some Leicas´ exposure problems. Everything can be corrected of course (developing dngs) but, still, there shouldn´t by any problems of this kind at THIS level of camera "sophistication"!

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There's actually one other possibility.

 

Most cameras meter the scene with the aperture fully open and calculate the exposure for the desired aperture.

When the photo is actually taken, the camera sets the aperture prior to taking the shot, so the exposure is correct.

However if the aperture were stuck wide open, then the shot would be overexposed for all aperture values less than wide open.

 

Toshi

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You must be joking! If you don´t have any more constructive remark do not reply!

One of the more frequent causes for cameras misbehaving is - indeed - some setting or other which the photographer failed to notice when doing the test. There's, of course, not only the exposure control but the measurement technique which can have an influence in the result.

 

Since you mention neither settings used nor whether you explicitly checked all relevant settings of the cameras, mentioning the possibility of user errors is relevant. If you don't like members thinking about what you write, don't write here.

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Read my first thread carefylly. Then you´ll see how "tekkies" do their job sometimes. "Anal" or not (what a ridiculous "expression") the reason I started this was because of MANY complaints about some Leicas´ exposure problems. Everything can be corrected of course (developing dngs) but, still, there shouldn´t by any problems of this kind at THIS level of camera "sophistication"!

Many many thousands of Leicas are built and sold, I would imagine only a very small number of owners even know or care about this Forum, you infer a large number of cameras are "exposure suspect" I doubt that is the case! Additionally as these cameras have the availability of manual control the photographer can compensate.. Two cars of the same ilk drive differently, twins have different personalities, so why not 2 cameras of the same ilk producing differing exposures.. Not ideal, life's tough" get a hard hat""

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  • 2 weeks later...

I use two Leica X cameras, an X2 and an X Vario. They are like two friends: I get along with both of them, but I do not expect (or desire) them to behave the same way. While I'm sure differences between items of the same type will be minimal, you have to get to know each individual camera. Leicas are partly hand-made, and anyway nothing under the sun is identical to anything but itself. Variations between cameras are, I think, a good thing, even if the occasional not-so-good camera may slip thorough and reach the market. Exchange it, and don't fret. 

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