geraldseligman Posted August 11 Share #21  Posted August 11 Advertisement (gone after registration) I’m new to the Leica system, so I’m still early in the learning phase. I’m drawn to high contrast situations so this question on capturing highlights without blowing them out is pertinent. Had a great setting the other day but completely blew the highlights. This is an M11 Monochrom The meter was on multi. Just switched to highlight metering, so I’ll go back. Now, if only I can get these 8 people to realign… Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 7 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/354286-exposure-metering-what-to-use/?do=findComment&comment=5846816'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 11 Posted August 11 Hi geraldseligman, Take a look here Exposure Metering - what to use?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Jeff S Posted August 11 Share #22  Posted August 11 14 minutes ago, geraldseligman said:  Now, if only I can get these 8 people to realign… Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! And have the 9th, out of line, reposition. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smogg Posted August 11 Share #23  Posted August 11 (edited) Highlights-1EV on a sunny day on M11. This is %99.9 guarantee that you will not burn out the highlights. On Q3/Q3 43, SL3 -2/3EV Edited August 11 by Smogg 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgeenen Posted August 12 Share #24  Posted August 12 vor 20 Stunden schrieb Smogg: This is %99.9 guarantee I would not be that confident. This sample photos were taken with a Q2 and about -1EV on an overcast morning. At the time of capture the sun just glimpsed through the trees. Although -1EV, the highlights are blown out, but it really did not matter (I think). The samples show the original picture and the crop I have chosen. I emphasized the blown highlights and deep shadows with an S-Kurve, that's all I did (besides the crop and BW conversion in Lightroom). Conclusions: Setting -1 EV might be a reasonable rule of thumb, but it is not failsafe. If there are blown highlights, try to incorporate them into your image message. In Gerald's photo I would try to make the big trees darker, the path and the people a bit lighter and keep the highlights as they are (or give them a bit of haze...). Anyhow, I like that composition and the moment a lot!  Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 4 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/354286-exposure-metering-what-to-use/?do=findComment&comment=5847267'>More sharing options...
Smogg Posted August 12 Share #25  Posted August 12 28 minutes ago, jgeenen said: I would not be that confident. This sample photos were taken with a Q2 and about -1EV on an overcast morning. At the time of capture the sun just glimpsed through the trees. Although -1EV, the highlights are blown out, but it really did not matter (I think). The samples show the original picture and the crop I have chosen. I emphasized the blown highlights and deep shadows with an S-Kurve, that's all I did (besides the crop and BW conversion in Lightroom). Conclusions: Setting -1 EV might be a reasonable rule of thumb, but it is not failsafe. If there are blown highlights, try to incorporate them into your image message. In Gerald's photo I would try to make the big trees darker, the path and the people a bit lighter and keep the highlights as they are (or give them a bit of haze...). Anyhow, I like that composition and the moment a lot!  Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Did you use highlight weighted metering with a -1EV correction and it wasn't enough? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliot Harper Posted August 12 Share #26 Â Posted August 12 Shoot manual exposure, no problem at all, you can't blame anything else other than yourself. Â 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted August 12 Share #27  Posted August 12 Advertisement (gone after registration) 1 hour ago, Smogg said: Did you use highlight weighted metering with a -1EV correction and it wasn't enough? Corrections without knowing what you are correcting, how much and why are useless. Exposure is determined by the photographer, not the camera, that is no more than a tool. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smogg Posted August 12 Share #28  Posted August 12 24 minutes ago, jaapv said: Corrections without knowing what you are correcting, how much and why are useless. Exposure is determined by the photographer, not the camera, that is no more than a tool. This is not true, in my experience. Highlights metering does a pretty good job of doing this automatically in natural light (the camera knows what it is correcting). However, -1EV correction is still necessary to guarantee the safety of the highlights. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgeenen Posted August 12 Share #29  Posted August 12 vor 2 Stunden schrieb Smogg: Did you use highlight weighted metering with a -1EV correction and it wasn't enough? No, not on the Q2.  On the M11 I tried it but I found the decision of the metering not very useful (mostly too little to be practical). So I am back to good old center weighted metering  which I usually use with aof counting aperture and shutter speed „clicks“ to correct for the lighting situation. I would love to have the +/- 3 scale of the LCD/EVF but the nostalgic arrow system in the finder is better than nothing. I try to avoid using the correction dial - it is the least ergonomic control on both the M11 and the Q2. how much I miss the elegance of the OM-4 metering system…. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted August 12 Share #30  Posted August 12 1 hour ago, Smogg said: This is not true, in my experience. Highlights metering does a pretty good job of doing this automatically in natural light (the camera knows what it is correcting). However, -1EV correction is still necessary to guarantee the safety of the highlights. So your camera knows exactly which part of your composition must be correctly exposed, which highlights must be protected and which  not, the dynamic range of your subject, etc.?  It must be a Sony with built-photographer’s brain. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smogg Posted August 12 Share #31  Posted August 12 14 minutes ago, jaapv said: So your camera knows exactly which part of your composition must be correctly exposed, which highlights must be protected and which  not, the dynamic range of your subject, etc.?  It must be a Sony with built-photographer’s brain. I almost always save all the highlights. I can always pull out the shadows in post-processing. Of course, I won't do a portrait with these settings in backlight without a fill flash if I care about the face being properly exposed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted August 12 Share #32  Posted August 12 Bit problematic with the limited DR at higher ISOs. I set EV comp by the histogram in the EVF. Automation and set values don’t work for me. It turned out that saving highlights and ETTR can vary between -2 and +2 or something close. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smogg Posted August 12 Share #33  Posted August 12 1 hour ago, jaapv said: Bit problematic with the limited DR at higher ISOs. I set EV comp by the histogram in the EVF. Automation and set values don’t work for me. It turned out that saving highlights and ETTR can vary between -2 and +2 or something close. Of course, with a histogram you will be more precise. But I don't like using live view on the M11, it ruins the zen😃 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenykepesz Posted August 13 Share #34  Posted August 13 vor 13 Stunden schrieb jgeenen: how much I miss the elegance of the OM-4 metering system…. i fully agree, @jgeenen - that Olympus OM-4 Ti had an amazingly 'elegant' multi-point spot-light-meter, very useful ! i imagine that's something to achieve with a simple FW upgrade in the M11-D :: using the fx button as spot selector, the selected points counted in the VF as [ 1,2,3,etc ], the computed light meter value shown as [ -2,-1,0,+1,+2,whatever ] as compared to the current actual settings... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted August 13 Share #35  Posted August 13 3 hours ago, fenykepesz said: i fully agree, @jgeenen - that Olympus OM-4 Ti had an amazingly 'elegant' multi-point spot-light-meter, very useful ! i imagine that's something to achieve with a simple FW upgrade in the M11-D :: using the fx button as spot selector, the selected points counted in the VF as [ 1,2,3,etc ], the computed light meter value shown as [ -2,-1,0,+1,+2,whatever ] as compared to the current actual settings... Reminds me how far we have drifted from the M concept. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraldseligman Posted August 13 Share #36 Â Posted August 13 On 8/11/2025 at 8:35 AM, Jeff S said: And have the 9th, out of line, reposition. Sneaky little bugger... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraldseligman Posted August 13 Share #37  Posted August 13 He must be anti-symmetry.  Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraldseligman Posted August 13 Share #38  Posted August 13 1 minute ago, geraldseligman said: Sneaky little bugger...  On 8/11/2025 at 9:04 AM, Smogg said: Highlights-1EV on a sunny day on M11. This is %99.9 guarantee that you will not burn out the highlights. On Q3/Q3 43, SL3 -2/3EV I've read tips of photographers who do that routinely with the M11 Monochrom. I've now set it that way, plus a yellow and orange filter to experiment with. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraldseligman Posted August 13 Share #39  Posted August 13 23 hours ago, Smogg said: Did you use highlight weighted metering with a -1EV correction and it wasn't enough? I used a yellow filter and -0.3. Learning, learning... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted August 13 Share #40 Â Posted August 13 A filter does not affect the metering of the camera, as it measures the light coming in through lens+filter. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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