Metering Issues

[wjgoretsky]

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I've just returned from a trip to China, where all I took was my Leica Q.  Fantastic choice.

 

On occasion, but regularly occurring, was an issue where I was shooting in SINGLE mode, auto focus, auto aperture and auto ISO and auto shutter speed.  The metering was completely blown out and couldn't resolve the scene.  It sometimes corrected, if I changed to CONTINUOUS shooting mode, but not always.

 

I would typically have to set the shutter speed to a setting, like 1/125 or 1/250 in order to take a picture.  I just don't know why the auto sensors have been going whacky on me.  I haven't had this experience before and I've been using the camera in all of it various modes, so I'm quite familiar with the operation of this camera.

 

Has anyone else experienced this, or is this a know issue?  I'd like to see what others have to say, before I make a decision on having it serviced or inspected by Leica.

 

Thanks

 

Winston

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[kismetsky]

What metering mode are you using?

 

I've had an occasion or two where I would forget to switch back to multi-point (my usual) from center-weighted. I would end up fiddling with the exposure comp dial instead before realizing I had changed the setting.

[Leica Guy]

Agreed. Check that you're not on single point metering. I don't have my camera with me so I don't know the correct Leica label. Spot metering. Put it on multi-area and I expect that'll fix the issue.

[dadohead]

I have had a similar issue, as have others. Search for the thread "Q shooting blanks." It seems to be a software bug. You can fix it by just changing the shutter speed dial from "A" to some other setting and then back to "A." If you actually took overexposed frames, I'll bet the shutter speed is 1 sec. The Q seems to get stuck on it. It's a problem that is difficult to reproduce on demand. If you have the back button set to AEL, that overrides the exposure compensation in the finder so you won't see that you're overexposed unless you look at the metering bars. 

[wjgoretsky]

I was using the spot metering, so it makes sense that if others have experienced this issue it's not an isolated incident to my camera. I've set the metering to multi-area and will try this, otherwise if I need spot metering, I'll set my shutter speed manually to overcome the problem.

 

Let's hope this is corrected in an upcoming firmware update.

 

Thanks for your help with this.

 

Winston

 

 

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[beez]

I don't think this is a firmware problem. In my experience, the spot meter setting works just like all the others in terms of how it works with the auto features. But, its field of view is tiny, and it's very sensitive. When using it, if you move the camera even slightly, and it lands on even the smallest reflection or bright spot, or an area that's much darker, it will meter for that, and the frame will be very dark or blown out. I've found the only time to use it is when you're dealing with someone or something that is being shot against the strongest possible backlight, where it would be impossible to get a reading any other way.

[Black]

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I don't think this is a firmware problem. In my experience, the spot meter setting works just like all the others in terms of how it works with the auto features. But, its field of view is tiny, and it's very sensitive. When using it, if you move the camera even slightly, and it lands on even the smallest reflection or bright spot, or an area that's much darker, it will meter for that, and the frame will be very dark or blown out. I've found the only time to use it is when you're dealing with someone or something that is being shot against the strongest possible backlight, where it would be impossible to get a reading any other way.

 

And that's how you should be using it really. Spot metering for backlit situations or contre jour and average/matrix metering for pretty much any other situation.

[jaapv]

I don't think this is a firmware problem. In my experience, the spot meter setting works just like all the others in terms of how it works with the auto features. But, its field of view is tiny, and it's very sensitive. When using it, if you move the camera even slightly, and it lands on even the smallest reflection or bright spot, or an area that's much darker, it will meter for that, and the frame will be very dark or blown out. I've found the only time to use it is when you're dealing with someone or something that is being shot against the strongest possible backlight, where it would be impossible to get a reading any other way.

I think you are spot-on (excuse the pun) No camera can do the metering for you without getting it wrong occasionally. Correct exposure always needs the input -and knowledge- of the photographer.