Leica MP lightmeter : 1 stop underexpose

[Manuparis]

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Hello

I change my system to leica M last november (M 10 r + MP).. and i was having the feeling that my images were underexposed. 

I checked today witha greycard, a dedicated spotmeter and a sekonic lightmeter.

The lightmeter and the spotmeter were having the same reading while the M10R is 2/3 of a stop underexposed and the MP 1 stop underexposed. 

Do you know why and do you know that kind of issues ?

 

Thanks

 

 

Manu

[jaapv]

ISO values for digital cameras are not really comparable to ISO values for film. A variation of 1EV value is not unusual. Film values are defined by densitometry and sensor values by equivalence to the film results, which gives camera makers quite some leeway.

In the end, there is nothing really new here - a measured exposure is nothing but an aid, which must. be interpreted by the photographer according to his taste and experience. 

We are lucky to live in a digital age, where we can adjust exposure quite significantly in postprocessing without much trouble or quality loss, unlike analog photography, where we need to control the developing process to get things right.

[Mr.Prime]

I wouldn’t care about the digital camera, for many reasons and some stated already.

However, I would expect the film camera to be better calibrated. I say that not based on experience as my M’s have no meter. Nevertheless, I wonder if the lightmeter can be calibrated, I’d have been wanting it to be within 1/3 stop, the shutter speeds should also be accurate to a fraction of a stop. On my old M’s I’ve no idea how bad the shutters are.

I assume you used daylight (or a daylight spectral lightsourcej, as this is what I’d expect the MP to be calibrated against.

 

Edited July 8, 2022 by Mr.Prime

[maxfairclough]

That has not been the experience with my MP. 

I had never shot film before. Came from a Leica M10. Set ISO to box speed, and everything I pointed it at felt and looked right to me. 

I believe the MP is metering heavily center-weighted. That is to say light from the entire scene
influences the reading, but the reflected light from the central subject has the most effect on
the final reading. the degree of center weighting varies a little bit from lens to lens due to
factors like optical vignetting