Highlight Headroom

[adan]

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6 hours ago, jaapv said:

Expose to the right is a technique to reduce shadow noise at the expense of blowing non-essential specular highlights.

Well, I always heard/read "expose to the right" explained as - expose to the right as far as possible without blowing highlights. That caveat was usually included in the explanation, but the internet can be like the game "Telephone" - where messages get garbled with repetition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_whispers

From the M8 on, I have just always used a nearly permanent -0.7 exp. comp with the semi-spot classic metering of Leica digitals. It just covers too small a part of most scenes for fast grab-shot metering when there simply is not time to hunt around for a medium-gray.

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[pgk]

On 5/22/2020 at 4:39 PM, a5m said:

As far as filters go, introducing something in the optical path of a lens will have an impact on image quality. Whether it’s noticed/matters depends on the person. Although I don’t have a comparison worthy of sharing, I found in my testing of two 3 Stop X4 Breakthrough filters that they wouldn’t work for me.

I have yet to see any definitive test which has shown that a clean, quality, planar filter has any deleterious effect on image quality under normal photographic conditions. The filter is so close to the front of the lens that its highly unlikely to have any effect which can actually be ascertained with current sensors because the changes in the optical path are so minimal. Shooting macro can be different because subject distance and filter start to get closer together. In fact I can vouch for the fact that using a macro lens behind a thick (~5mm) optical glass port, underwater, does have an effect with corners degradation, but this is a pretty extreme situation. In the distances encountered using a Leica RF lens, if you can see a drop in quality then the filter has a real problem which should be immediately obvious. 

[jaapv]

54 minutes ago, adan said:

Well, I always heard/read "expose to the right" explained as - expose to the right as far as possible without blowing highlights. That caveat was usually included in the explanation, but the internet can be like the game "Telephone" - where messages get garbled with repetition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_whispers

From the M8 on, I have just always used a nearly permanent -0.7 exp. comp with the semi-spot classic metering of Leica digitals. It just covers too small a part of most scenes for fast grab-shot metering when there simply is not time to hunt around for a medium-gray.

I took it from the original book that elaborated the principle, Real World Image Sharpening by Bruce Fraser and Jeff Schewe (2nd version) in which they introduce a division between highlights that must be protected (AKA need detail) and specular highlights that can remain blown.

Now that I mainly use histogram-compensated exposure  on the CL, I find that the needed EV correction varies between -2 and +2, which, to me, means that in the past a fair number of high contrast shots that I took by tuning the EV down must have lost quite a bit of DR, and equally that the highlights cannot have been perfect on a number of other shots. Added to which I also find that quite a few lower contrast subjects can be safely overexposed and pulled back in post, giving noise reduction.

[mujk]

I have found that a surprisingly large part of my M10 (and also my M9) shots are very "conservatively" exposed without using any exposure compensation at all. This means that there are usually very few blown highlights and that I usually lift both shadows and mid tones in PP in order to get the image look right. In situations with a bright sky or backlight I have for many years always metered off something that is low/dark in the image and locked exposure before recomposing and often do some exposure bracketing with this method as well. I think the simple, center-weighted metering in M cameras (in "OVF mode") actually produces quite deterministic results once you learn how it works.

[a5m]

On 5/26/2020 at 9:33 AM, LBJ2 said:

Good to hear Breakthrough has a 60mm ND filter now. When I was shopping for a 60mm ND filter last Feb 2019, I don't think they offered 60mm--in fact not many brands offered 60mm at the time. I ended up with B+W 3-stop and then realized in some cases I needed more and bought B+W 6-stop too and am happy with both. I've seen the comparisons and reviews ( hard to tell which are real comparison reviews and which are marketing/sponsored TBH). My first choice was Breakthrough based upon what I was reading but am now happy with the B+W. In the end I really like to shoot @ f0,95 and haven't needed to use either 3 or 6-stop as often as I thought I might. I think it's easier to just look for good light, but handy to have the ND in the bag when circumstances warrant. Also my M10 allows for plenty of push pull in post, so I've been able to get away with more than I thought in post processing when pushing the 0,95 scene at 1/4000. 

Yes, a friend had a similar experience and tried to convince Graham at Breakthrough to offer 60mm. I guess he finally listened.

I know, hard to tell who’s being objective, but Breakthrough seemed to often come out on top. I did some testing today with the new B+W. Need to repeat on an overcast day so there’s no overexposure and I can compare without adjustments, but think I’m still seeing loss of sharpness. Hoping it’s very minimal, if any. A plus is it allows for the E58 Noctilux hood to fit with no issue.
 

Agree 100% - better to just look for better light. Like you I went a while without needing an ND filter, but those afternoon shots from the other day were too much and it got me thinking.

[LBJ2]

11 hours ago, a5m said:

Yes, a friend had a similar experience and tried to convince Graham at Breakthrough to offer 60mm. I guess he finally listened.

I know, hard to tell who’s being objective, but Breakthrough seemed to often come out on top. I did some testing today with the new B+W. Need to repeat on an overcast day so there’s no overexposure and I can compare without adjustments, but think I’m still seeing loss of sharpness. Hoping it’s very minimal, if any. A plus is it allows for the E58 Noctilux hood to fit with no issue.
 

Agree 100% - better to just look for better light. Like you I went a while without needing an ND filter, but those afternoon shots from the other day were too much and it got me thinking.

I also wrote Breakthrough last February about a 60mm ND filter. Very responsive team, but they couldn't make any commitments of course. Sounds like others put in the same request. Good of them to respond with a 60mm ND. I don't see many offering 60mm and I hope this has sold well for them.

I'm happy with the IQ with the B+W and do not see any signs of sharpness hit when using the B+Ws. PITA to screw on/off carefully when I am using the kit with a very expensive lens, but otherwise like you I am happy the filter and hood work well together too. I don't see any sharpness issues with my B+Ws, but from what I've read many technical tests and real-world reviews posted agree that most high quality filters do not impact lens resolution. But never say never, easy to adjust in post otherwise.

Either way, if the filters give us the opportunity to use this incredible lens wide open more often that's a very good thing IMO.

Edited May 28, 2020 by LBJ2