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Anyone Else Find the Instruction Manual Difficult?


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I just returned from a two week motorcycle trip from El Paso, Tx., to Key West, Fl., and it was the first time I really used the MP240 extensively (still like film a whole lot).  Anyway, I have gone through the manual a couple times but was surprised when I was shooting in "A" and could not initially figure out how to adjust exposure compensation.  I went back to the menu several times and could not figure out how to turn it off.  But I did figure out how to adjust it to "0" when shooting auto but was really trying to disable that feature.  It was never a problem in manual which is my preferred mode.

 

Anyway, I pulled the camera and manual out today and "Aw haw!" as they say.  Now I know the Leica digitals are famous for their simple menus which even an old film shooter like myself can almost understand but I am wondering if there are any more mysteries which might be hidden.

 

Maybe Leica could pay for a better translator or perhaps I should just learn the camera more.  

 

By the way, I think the MP240 will be in my inventory a long time.  It is certainly a step up from my M9.

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Orange, Tx to ELP is 870 miles on I10.  I did it in two days and was pleasantly surprised by the light traffic through Houston at 4:30-5:00pm.  Rode my small Versys 650 wishing I had taken my BMW GS.  

 

Had a lot of fun on the way to Florida stopping in Vicksburg, Ms., National Historical Park.  The reconstruction of the USS Ohio, a gunboat sunk during the seize of Vicksburg is amazing.  And the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola is HUGH.  I was there when in opened in 1976 or 1977 and it was one building. I got my Navy wings in May, 1977.

 

I have found that I enjoy the Leica M but the Fuji X70 in a pocket makes a great team mate as the lens is a fixed 28mm equivalent on a large sensor.

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Orange, Tx to ELP is 870 miles on I10.  I did it in two days and was pleasantly surprised by the light traffic through Houston at 4:30-5:00pm.  Rode my small Versys 650 wishing I had taken my BMW GS.  

 

Had a lot of fun on the way to Florida stopping in Vicksburg, Ms., National Historical Park.  The reconstruction of the USS Ohio, a gunboat sunk during the seize of Vicksburg is amazing.  And the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola is HUGH.  I was there when in opened in 1976 or 1977 and it was one building. I got my Navy wings in May, 1977.

 

I have found that I enjoy the Leica M but the Fuji X70 in a pocket makes a great team mate as the lens is a fixed 28mm equivalent on a large sensor.

I’ve got a lot of time on I-10.

I made Chief in ‘83. Total time 30 years.

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Well, I spent eleven years in the Marines, primarily as a CH46 pilot and two years of that was on amphibious carriers in the western Pacific.  I really enjoyed my time aboard ship and the flying was certainly challenging.  Since I was single, the port calls were all awesome.

 

I spent the next twentytwo years flying for US Customs doing drug interdiction.  I started in Jacksonville, Fl., but went to Puerto Rico in 1993.  This was my first time back in Florida since I left.  I actually reconnected with other Marines who I had not seen since 1984 and a former flight surgeon in Pensacola whose wedding I photographed in 1989.  And, friends from my time as a news photographer in Ohio in 1975 who found me on the internet.  So, besides a great motorcycle trip, seeing all the former shipmates and friends made it a great time.

 

In looking back at photos from the western Pacific cruises, I can't believe we were ever that young (or thin).  I carried an M4-2 or M4P on those cruises and think I got my M6 about 1985.  And my Kodachrome slides from that era still look good.  Can't say the same about Ektachrome.

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I just returned from a two week motorcycle trip from El Paso, Tx., to Key West, Fl., and it was the first time I really used the MP240 extensively (still like film a whole lot).  Anyway, I have gone through the manual a couple times but was surprised when I was shooting in "A" and could not initially figure out how to adjust exposure compensation.  I went back to the menu several times and could not figure out how to turn it off.  But I did figure out how to adjust it to "0" when shooting auto but was really trying to disable that feature.  It was never a problem in manual which is my preferred mode.

 

Anyway, I pulled the camera and manual out today and "Aw haw!" as they say.  Now I know the Leica digitals are famous for their simple menus which even an old film shooter like myself can almost understand but I am wondering if there are any more mysteries which might be hidden.

 

Maybe Leica could pay for a better translator or perhaps I should just learn the camera more.  

 

By the way, I think the MP240 will be in my inventory a long time.  It is certainly a step up from my M9.

 

 

In a feeble and probably futile effort to return this to the original question, I have always found it a good idea to download manuals as a .pdf from the Leica website support page. That way you can search for answers etc. quite easily, and even print off parts which you may need for future reference. Besides which, a .pdf is a lot lighter to carry when travelling.

 

Gerry

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... shooting in "A" and could not initially figure out how to adjust exposure compensation.  I went back to the menu several times and could not figure out how to turn it off.  But I did figure out how to adjust it to "0" when shooting auto but was really trying to disable that feature.  ....

Please forgive me for asking, but what do you think is the difference between setting the exposure compensation to zero and turning it off? In both cases the camera exposes the frame exactly as advised by the exposure meter.

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If turned off, I don't have to worry about using the dial by accident.  Perhaps, it is just an idiosyncracy and I admit to not knowing initially why the camera was making weird exposures in "A" but working fine in manual.  As I was walking around Vicksburg shooting the OHIO, it was making me crazy.

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Well, I spent eleven years in the Marines, primarily as a CH46 pilot and two years of that was on amphibious carriers in the western Pacific.  I really enjoyed my time aboard ship and the flying was certainly challenging.  Since I was single, the port calls were all awesome.

 

I spent the next twentytwo years flying for US Customs doing drug interdiction.  I started in Jacksonville, Fl., but went to Puerto Rico in 1993.  This was my first time back in Florida since I left.  I actually reconnected with other Marines who I had not seen since 1984 and a former flight surgeon in Pensacola whose wedding I photographed in 1989.  And, friends from my time as a news photographer in Ohio in 1975 who found me on the internet.  So, besides a great motorcycle trip, seeing all the former shipmates and friends made it a great time.

 

In looking back at photos from the western Pacific cruises, I can't believe we were ever that young (or thin).  I carried an M4-2 or M4P on those cruises and think I got my M6 about 1985.  And my Kodachrome slides from that era still look good.  Can't say the same about Ektachrome.

Oh......I’m sorry I didn’t elaborate. I spent 30 years and never set foot on a ship. I was a Seabee. Alumni of 2nd Infantry Training Regiment.

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I agree, David Taylor's book is almost essential. I learned a lot about my M-240P from it when I was new to the camera. The PDF form of the manual is also great and I've had occasion to look at it when traveling and trying to use a flash (something I never use on home turf.)

 

I find the Exposure Comp (using the horizontal Wheel) essential, too, so do not ever turn it off, especially when shooting outside on a sunny day. I do not recall ever having it adjust accidentally - tho many's the time I've forgotten to move it back to null and wondered why my pics were vastly over- or under exposed! This is easy to do if you do not chimp the screen after every shot (a bad practice to use consistently, as everyone comes to see, when they miss photos because their head was down looking at every pic taken!)

 

In the dozen years this Buckeye has lived in northern NM I have never been to El Paso (at least 6+ hours away on my R-1200RT.)

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I have suggested for many years that Leica pay someone like Jono Slack, who beta tests the hardware anyway, to proof read the English language manuals. I have wondered in the past, if Leica use the Google translation engine for their manuals, first from German to Swahili and from there to English. The CL manual is even more basic and perfunctory than the M240 one. They might as well have written it in shorthand. If Leica can't or are not prepared to write a decent manual, then perhaps they should record a video in each of the languages for their principal sales markets, taking people through the features of the camera. For those not used to complicated cameras, setting up the customisation of controls on the SL, must have been a nightmare. 

 

Leica are very lucky that Andreas set up this forum some years ago, as generally it is a far batter source of knowledge than the majority of the manuals. 

 

Wilson

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I ordered the David Taylor 2014 book from Amazon.co.uk and received a book on crochet knitted toy making! To be fair, the supplier has admitted to a picking error and has promised to supply the book without delay.  We'll see. 

 

In the meantime if anyone has any spare knitting needles I may be able to supply them with a crochet-knit cuddly rabbit in time for Easter. Anyone with spare wool?  :wacko:

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Spare wool should not be an issue in the UK!  When I did the C2C walk in northern England last fall, sheep were by far the most common domestic animal I saw.  There might have been a few cattle or horses but none of my photos reflect that.

 

Wool is my favorite natural fibre.  Has anyone ever seen a hypothermic sheep?

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