Longest shutter speed on 'T'

[Mark Pope]

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I'm interested in using ND filters on my CL.  I know that the longest shutter speed that can be supported in M mode is 30s.  Does anyone know whether the T setting allows the shutter be kept open for longer than 30s and whether there is a maximum time period?

 

Thanks

 

Mark

Edited February 23, 2018 by Mark Pope

[scott kirkpatrick]

I didn't even know there was a T setting.  I checked it out in the hope that a T exposure might allow longer than 30 sec, or might not be always followed by an equal dark frame exposure for subtraction.  The answer is no to both hopes.  T will let you go up to 32 sec, and there is always an equal delay for the dark frame. 

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[Mark Pope]

Scott, thank you.  I had a feeling that it would be a rhetorical question, although it does seem odd to have a T setting that doesn't appear to offer any significant advantage over the shutter speed settings that can be set.  Perhaps Leica might consider disabling the dark frame on the T setting (or making it a user option) as well as enabling longer exposures.  

[scott kirkpatrick]

Leica is a firm believer in dark frame subtraction.  They have received many complaints from people shooting at night without changing anything.  The SL has a B setting that you reach after 30 minutes of timed (mechanical) shutter settings.  I suppose it has some purpose because the mechanical times are spaced out at 1/3 stop intervals, and someone might decide that instead of the choice between 24 minutes and 30 minutes they needed exactly 26 minutes exposure.  But I am not going to do the experiment to see if can hold the camera in B for more than  30 minutes and then see if it goes into dark frame mode for the B time.  T (press the shutter button to start, press again to stop) makes more sense for this than B (press and hold, which I hope can be done with a wifi app). 

[thighslapper]

  Perhaps Leica might consider disabling the dark frame on the T setting (or making it a user option) as well as enabling longer exposures.  

 

This comes up with monotonous regularity from the M9 onwards. Leica has always turned a deaf ear. 

 

I cannot see them changing. Unless they come up with both sensor and processing electronics that generate less heat then both maximum exposure time and NR is going to stay restricted. 

[Mark Pope]

Then what is the point of the 'T' setting if all it does is mirrors the shutter speed settings that are already available?

[scott kirkpatrick]

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Then what is the point of the 'T' setting if all it does is mirrors the shutter speed settings that are already available?

That may be a question that Leica has never asked themselves because noone has ever used it.