Newbie TL user

[amethyst]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I was given a TL (not TL2) as a retirement gift a long while back. It has the Summicron 1.2/23 ASPH lens. 

I found it difficult to make the switch from film and over the past years have made very little use of the TL. In the past I shot slide film and picked the best for printing (Cibachrome).  I understand that those days are over and I only mention it to give insight as to the sort of photography I preferred back then. In recent years I have just been pointing and shooting with a Canon Lumix DMC-LX5 which is a neat little camera but has made me lazy. 

However, I took the TL to Iceland recently as my main camera. The results have been very disappointing.  I used it in SCN/auto mode exclusively as I thought this would cope better than me with the challenges of massive waterfalls, spray, glaciers etc.  Pretty well all the waterfall shots are very over-exposed. The distance scenery shots are fine. Some indoor shots are massively underexposed!

Settings were SCN/auto, ISO auto, 16M jpeg, 0 exposure comp, white balance. I wish I had used RAW - at least then I would have a chance of making good some of the worst over/under exposed shots.

Perhaps the TL was designed for a particular aspect of photography rather than the general amateur user? 

Any advice will be gratefully received before I  go back to my LX5, or my old Canon AE-1, not to mention the daddy of them all - my delightful Konica Hexar (b/w only now).

John

[Marac]

Hello John. I understand your frustration, it is never an easy transition from film to digital, the media behaves a lot differently and sadly, as you found out, auto settings can deliver poor results.

 

1st tip - Shoot in RAW (you worked that one out already).

I would also set the exposure comp to -1

the rest is just you getting used to how the camera behaves. It is a great camera & the lens is also stunning.

Try running through the menus and set up a couple of USER SETTING for different situations, for example, B&W, full manual (I shoot my CL like this).

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[wda]

John, welcome.

A simple piece of advice: learn how to read and understand the histogram associated with each shot. (Refer to your instructions manual ) Wayward exposure should have been picked up much earlier and corrections made accordingly. Just try it right now and report back whether it is helping you.

[LocalHero1953]

+1 for using the histogram, and avoiding Scene modes - or any mode where you cannot adjust exposure.

I use A (aperture priority) mode, always with A on one dial and exposure compensation on the other. I adjust EC until the histogram does not touch the right hand end of the scale.

Dealing with water and light in Iceland is bound to be tricky. Water is bright and reflective of the sky, but the Iceland landscape which may occupy much of the scene, is dark. This will result in the average exposure being correct but the very bright water overexposed. 

If you're new to digital then remember: expose for the highlights and recover the shadows later. This is the opposite for most film.

[amethyst]

Many thanks to all!  This is all very useful advice.  I'm encouraged to keep going. 

On the histogram, I could never make much sense of it but now that I know it is a key aid, I will make more of an effort! The manual is good but even with specs I need a magnifying glass!

[nicci78]

TL live histogram is totally unreliable. 

Sadly you have to take a shot and chimp with RGB histogram ON in order to check exposure and adjust your next image. I know not really easy. 

Contrary to other hybrid Leicas such as Q, CL or Q2. With the TL what you see is NOT what you get. It is really frustrating. Combine with slow operation, it is hard to use it. 

However DNG produces in PASM mode are absolutely gorgeous. Just remember to adjust the exposure yourself. TL metering is totally dumb.