exposure preview ...

[leica1215]

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I have mine set on PASM for exposure preview, but confused how does it work? when I press the shutter button half way mine doesn't reflect anything, it reflect darker or brighter only when nothing is pressed, so I turn the iso or shutter speed I can get preview of what it will be.

 

is this right? 

[geetee1972]

I'm not entirely sure I understand what you're problem is but this might help.

 

The manual states that in version 3 firmware at least, pressing the shutter button half way gives you the exposure preview in all modes where this is enabled, but in practise, I never see any difference either; the image I see before I press anything, is the image I end up with. I do notice a very slight change when pressing the shutter, but it's so slight that it's barely noticeable (maybe a fifth of a stop) and often not at all noticeable. I'm not sure why that is the case. Obviously this is separate to having the shutter button set to AE lock.

 

There are a couple of other features that I've learned about on here that aren't clearly articulated in the manual. One is that when shooting in M mode with PAS enabled (not PASM), it's possible to adjust just the brightness of the image displayed in the EVF by pressing down and holding for a second the left silver button (i.e. the one without the red dot on it) on the top pannel. That brings up the exposure compensation dial, except that in this instance, all it adjusts is the brightness of the display, it doesn't affect exposure. If you do the same thing in all other modes, then that is standard exposure compensation.

 

Also keep in mind that if you have set the ISO to float then even in M mode that will change the displayed exposure without you having to do anything else as the camera will auto adjust the ISO to get the exposure it thinks you need.

 

It is confusing and I'm not sure I've answered your question but part of that confusion arises from the fact that the displayed EVF image has by definition to be a processed JPEG image so to all intents and purposes when you're shooting under normal lighting conditions, whatever images is being shown through the EVF is going to be more or less what you're taking.

[Dr. G]

I'm not entirely sure I understand what you're problem is but this might help.

 

The manual states that in version 3 firmware at least, pressing the shutter button half way gives you the exposure preview in all modes where this is enabled, but in practise, I never see any difference either; the image I see before I press anything, is the image I end up with. I do notice a very slight change when pressing the shutter, but it's so slight that it's barely noticeable (maybe a fifth of a stop) and often not at all noticeable. I'm not sure why that is the case. Obviously this is separate to having the shutter button set to AE lock.

 

There are a couple of other features that I've learned about on here that aren't clearly articulated in the manual. One is that when shooting in M mode with PAS enabled (not PASM), it's possible to adjust just the brightness of the image displayed in the EVF by pressing down and holding for a second the left silver button (i.e. the one without the red dot on it) on the top pannel. That brings up the exposure compensation dial, except that in this instance, all it adjusts is the brightness of the display, it doesn't affect exposure. If you do the same thing in all other modes, then that is standard exposure compensation.

 

Also keep in mind that if you have set the ISO to float then even in M mode that will change the displayed exposure without you having to do anything else as the camera will auto adjust the ISO to get the exposure it thinks you need.

 

It is confusing and I'm not sure I've answered your question but part of that confusion arises from the fact that the displayed EVF image has by definition to be a processed JPEG image so to all intents and purposes when you're shooting under normal lighting conditions, whatever images is being shown through the EVF is going to be more or less what you're taking.

 

If I set a cap on the ISO I can sometimes see a significant difference shooting in low light if my shutter speed is set too fast.  It gives me the option to decide whether I want to try to shoot with a slower shutter or manually bump us the ISO. FWIW, I'm shooting hand held. 

[ramarren]

With Exposure Preview enabled for PASM, you'll see more differences when you half-press the shutter release if you use AutoISO in Manual exposure mode and get to the limits of exposure, where the sensitivity range has moved to either your set high or low points. In the middle of the range, you won't see any difference. You'll also see some differences if you are in Manual exposure mode with AutoISO set and Exposure Compensation set as well. 

 

The SL has lots of these subtle behaviors. As you come to understand them, in most cases you find they are just right and work very well. In some cases, of course, whomever designed them has some ideas about what works nicely that are counter to yours so you have to just accept them and work around them ... but at least it shows that the SL (like all other Leicas) was at least designed by people who *had* some notion of what works well for a photographer. I'd rather this than some other cameras where many of the options only make sense if you can think in the logic of a marketing manager or development engineer—they have nothing to do with thinking about doing photography except from the outside without actually doing it. 

Edited December 20, 2017 by ramarren

[thighslapper]

I have mine set on PASM for exposure preview, but confused how does it work? when I press the shutter button half way mine doesn't reflect anything, it reflect darker or brighter only when nothing is pressed, so I turn the iso or shutter speed I can get preview of what it will be.

 

is this right? 

 With PASM in manual mode the EVF or LCD reflect exactly what is on the sensor  ....... so with a fixed iso you can adjust speed, exposure etc. and see in real time what the actual effects are on the final image. 

 

Ideal for landscape photography where you can fix iso and aperture then adjust exposure times to get the image that you want .... even with 10 stop ND and graduated filters .....

 

...... plus you have the histogram and clipping as well to improve accuracy. 

 

Previous options involved half pressing the shutter or other buttons. 

Edited December 20, 2017 by thighslapper

[leica1215]

I have tried to explore other possible cause, I found the problem is I used previous profile setting which I saved in SD before update to version3.0, after update the 3.0 I move the SD card to this SL and used the previous profile setting. 

 

I switch to user 2 profile and set the way I like, then override to the original profile which exposure preview won't work, then its good to go.

 

I don't get it why previous profile exposure preview not working, I think I turned it on.. anyway. thanks you all

[Jared]

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In general, one wants exposure preview on. That means that the view you get in the viewfinder (whether befor or after you half press the shutter) is close to what the sensor will capture. I say close because the dynamic range of the chip is greater than the dynamic range of the viewfinder.

 

So why would you ever want it off? Imagine you are using manual, off camera strobes as your primary light source in a studio environment. You put your camera in manual mode. You set your shutter speed to your highest synch speed. You set your aperture to give you the DOF you are looking for. You put the camera on base ISO. You adjust the power output of the strobes to correctly illuminate your subject given the camera settings. Now, when you look through the viewfinder things are likely to be so dark you won’t even be able to compose or pick hour AF point. The camera is trying to show you that it thinks you are severely underexposed. It doesn’t know about the strobes. So you turn exposure preview off. Now the viewfinder will brighten up to give you a nice, bright view! It isn’t representative of what the camera thinks your picture will look like because the camera can’t predict the effect of the strobes, but you can compose and focus.

 

Turning off the exposure preview is primarily for studio use in manual mode.

[FlashGordonPhotography]

Exposure preview on the SL is a bug bear of mine. I don't like Leica's implementation and there are also major usability glitches.

 

Originally EP was on half press of the shutter button. With f.w. 3.0 it's supposed to be live (ie; always on). Personally i had a strong usage case for the original version and then Leica removed it. They could have had both but they don't. It's stupid. Yet on the M, which hardly ever gets flash love they give you a choice. Just not the SL.

 

In PAS EP works as expected. You increase the brightness (usually with exposure compensation) and it's reflected in the viewfinder. Sometimes if your out of the meter's range (3 stops) the EP doesn't show and you're on your own.

 

in M mode EP is weirdly, still affected by exposure compensation, even though that doesn't affect the exposure. So unless exposure preview is set to zero you're not getting an accurate EP. However since Leica also don't give ANY other way of changing the EVF brightness it can be handy for that. Still daft though.

 

In M  mode EP will be automatically disabled if you use a TTL flash, even if it is on PASM in the menu. But it doesn't disable it in P, A or S modes. Just M. It's the stupidest idea I've ever heard of for TTL flash. How is one supposed to judge background exposure for fill flash. And why isn't it that if you don't want EP with flash you just turn EP off like the other modes?

 

You can't turn off EP in PAS modes. Weird.

 

EP is only a brightness simulation. There's another exposure preview that will also stop down the lens to show a proper exposure preview. Double tap the front button.

 

All in all it's a mess. Easily fixed but Leica don't seem to have an actual photographer involved in some of the strange decisions in the SL firmware.

 

Gordon

[thighslapper]

Blame Doug and the Birds.

 

In an effort to extend usability Leica has created a real muddle that seems to follow no real logic.

 

I sorted out what I wanted and saved it as a 'tripod' preset for landscape use and have ignored all the other permutations. 

Edited December 21, 2017 by thighslapper

[Likaleica]

Blame Doug and the Birds.

 

True

[PARIS-14]

Hello to all.

Really sorry to dig up this topic a year later, but I am getting really frustrated for not being able to fully disconnect the Exposure Preview mode in the view finder of my SL (firmware 3.3 + Leica 24-90) while working in Manual mode and using manual strobes.  I shoot in manual, PASM mode. There is not ON/OFF button any longer in the Preview menu: just PAS or PASM!

I set the aperture and shutter speed to match the flash power. Then I press the shutter release button and, for 1 second, the screen is bright and clear (certainly to allow to focus), but instantly it gets dark again. And the view finder remains dark showing me that I am underexposed. OK, the camera doesn't know that I am using strobes... But I need to see the face of my client to be able to direct them during the shooting session.

I have red many forums and the SL user manual (again & again) and I am not able to entirely turn off the "Exposure Preview mode".

So, my question is: is there a way to keep a clear and bright image (back screen or viewfinder) while shooting?

Many thanks in advance for your help.

 

Edited January 22, 2019 by PARIS-14

[Chuck Albertson]

Have you tried shooting with PAS preview enabled? That effectively turns off exp preview in a manual studio situation.

[hoppyman]

I am not sure I follow what some users are reporting here.
SL FW3.3 24-90, M exposure, 1/180 f/9.5 ISO 100 as I use the camera almost entirely in studio with studio flashes.
Exp Preview PAS I get a continuous brightened easy to see to focus image in EVF. In PASM I do not.
The only difference I see in both settings is that the displayed focus points disappear when I half press. I don't see the logic behind that though. My focus operation (as with the S) is to be in MF anyway with AFs actuated only by the back button.
Like Doug mentioned earlier, I reported this issue a couple of years back (local representatives said that the engineers were aware and had multiple reports already). The switch to having PAS or PASM option solved this completely for me.
I wonder if Auto ISO or exposure compensation affects what people are reporting? Well Exposure compensation makes no sense in manual exposure as far s I can see, while Auto ISO does of course

 

Edited January 23, 2019 by hoppyman

[PARIS-14]

Thanks for your answers 🙏. I will try to apply your recommendations and will keep you informed of the outputs.👍