jlancasterd Posted September 29, 2006 Share #1 Posted September 29, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) Nowhere in any of the reviews of the M8 have I seen any reference to the ability of this camera to bracket exposures when shooting multiple exposures (as is easily done with the DMR, for either half or full stop differences in exposure). If auto-bracketing is possible with the M8 it must presumably be accessed via one of the menus - can someone who has handled the camera say whether there is such a facility? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted September 29, 2006 Posted September 29, 2006 Hi jlancasterd, Take a look here Bracketing with the M8. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
grober Posted September 29, 2006 Share #2 Posted September 29, 2006 I wondered the same thing. Wouldn't it be nice to press the shutter once for a burst of three shots and have the camera bracket automatically. A menu option would allow the election of this procedure as desired. (Here we go, trying to improve the new camera already without even holding the new baby yet!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guy_mancuso Posted September 29, 2006 Share #3 Posted September 29, 2006 I don't think functionaly it has that option like the DMR , I have honestly never used it myself but it is there Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimF Posted September 29, 2006 Share #4 Posted September 29, 2006 I always used to do it by setting a shutter speed then twiddling the aperture ring one way and t'other. Should work on the M8 just as well I reckon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterlenz Posted September 29, 2006 Share #5 Posted September 29, 2006 If auto-bracketing is possible with the M8 The M8 is maintaining the M tradition of simplicity so one will not find many of the gimmicks found on dSLRs. Tom Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrgeoffrion Posted September 29, 2006 Share #6 Posted September 29, 2006 I always used to do it by setting a shutter speed then twiddling the aperture ring one way and t'other. Should work on the M8 just as well I reckon. Tim, I would recommend you bracket the other way around: by varying the shutter speed. This way, if you make HDR images (or stiches), the pixels will match from frame to frame (otherwise the DOF will be different). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean_reid Posted September 29, 2006 Share #7 Posted September 29, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) The M8 does not have this feature and I agree with Leica's decision not to include it. Cheers, Sean Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertwang Posted September 29, 2006 Share #8 Posted September 29, 2006 I firmly believe now that if you shoot RAW, bracketing won't mean as much anymore like it used to with film. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrc Posted September 29, 2006 Share #9 Posted September 29, 2006 I firmly believe now that if you shoot RAW, bracketing won't mean as much anymore like it used to with film. I tend to agree. I was out shooting autumn color under dramatic cloudy skies with a D2x yesterday, and today in Photoshop I was rollling the exposure ratings up and down, trying to hold both the clouds and the foreground trees. I could get pretty good results more than a stop up and down; so typical bracketing isn't a problem. Since there's so much photoshopping done now, might be interesting to have a camera that bracketed like 3 stops up and down, so you could cut and paste... But that's not really what an M8 is for. I think the M8 is more for precise photographer control than it is for almost any automatic function. JC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemeng Posted September 29, 2006 Share #10 Posted September 29, 2006 What an disappointing oversight. I guess Solmns and Jenoptik have never heard of HDR imaging with digital cameras, where you take a number of images at different exposures to try and replicate - or even surpass - film's extended dynamic range: 1. High dynamic range imaging - Wikipedia 2. Photoshop CS2 HDR Hopefully Leica can add this feature in a future firmware upgrade. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertwang Posted September 29, 2006 Share #11 Posted September 29, 2006 What an disappointing oversight. I guess Solmns and Jenoptik have never heard of HDR imaging with digital cameras, where you take a number of images at different exposures to try and replicate - or even surpass - film's extended dynamic range: 1. High dynamic range imaging - Wikipedia 2. Photoshop CS2 HDR Hopefully Leica can add this feature in a future firmware upgrade. But doesn't this approach kinda destroy the idea of sponataneous photography using the M? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemeng Posted September 29, 2006 Share #12 Posted September 29, 2006 But doesn't this approach kinda destroy the idea of sponataneous photography using the M? Who said the M8 was only meant for one particular kind of photography? Methinks it would be just as desirable for product work, macro-photography, landscape etc. (compact camera, no flapping mirror, high-quality true 16-bit images, access to M or other lenses via Novoflex adapters etc.) :?) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoff Posted September 29, 2006 Share #13 Posted September 29, 2006 The M8 does not have this feature and I agree with Leica's decision not to include it. Sean, I'm interested to know your rationale for taking this position? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted September 30, 2006 Share #14 Posted September 30, 2006 The danger is that by adding more and more features implemented in software/firmware, you greatly - and needlessly - increase the perceived complexity of the product. That complexity gets in the way of the creative process. We all know of the unsed programs on our dishwashers, the unused facilities on our DVD recorders, the unused functions lurking in our mobile phones. My car came with 700 pages of documentation and I'm sure there's stuff in it which I do not know is there. The whole point of the Leica M8 is that it should concentrate on the essentials and do those essentials as well, if not better, than anyone else. That means leaving out stuff like bracketing, intervalometer, HDRI and the rest of the firmware fug. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimF Posted September 30, 2006 Share #15 Posted September 30, 2006 Tim, I would recommend you bracket the other way around: by varying the shutter speed. This way, if you make HDR images (or stiches), the pixels will match from frame to frame (otherwise the DOF will be different). What an disappointing oversight. I guess Solmns and Jenoptik have never heard of HDR imaging with digital cameras, where you take a number of images at different exposures to try and replicate - or even surpass - film's extended dynamic range: 1. High dynamic range imaging - Wikipedia 2. Photoshop CS2 HDR Hopefully Leica can add this feature in a future firmware upgrade. Yeah maybe, but having too wide a dynamic range visible in a photograph looks wrong, and that's as true for film as it is with digital. You can't see a 10 stop range with your eyes, so why try and stuff it onto a print just because you can do so in theory? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimF Posted September 30, 2006 Share #16 Posted September 30, 2006 Tim, I would recommend you bracket the other way around: by varying the shutter speed. This way, if you make HDR images (or stiches), the pixels will match from frame to frame (otherwise the DOF will be different). Too late to edit my previous now, so I will add that I've never used a tripod with a Leica, which the kind of bracketing you're suggesting here implies. Also, its been quite a while since I used to bracket routinely (due mostly to inexperience) anyway. Using an incident meter with my preferred slide film rendered it pretty much redundant. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted September 30, 2006 Share #17 Posted September 30, 2006 Yeah maybe, but having too wide a dynamic range visible in a photograph looks wrong, and that's as true for film as it is with digital. You can't see a 10 stop range with your eyes, so why try and stuff it onto a print just because you can do so in theory? I agree with this. The only way to control dynamic range issues properly are by using appropriate ND grad filters and/or using additional lighting. The results I have seen that use various 'tricks' - such as merging different exposures, Photoshop's HDR facility, etc. - generally look like crap (and I'm being charitable). An example of this can be seen here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean_reid Posted September 30, 2006 Share #18 Posted September 30, 2006 Sean, I'm interested to know your rationale for taking this position? I think that there really is something to be said for limiting the amount of automatic features on the M8. AE is useful, of course, but other than that, I think that having good access to controls, and visible display of settings, is most useful. I suppose one could make a case for all kinds of automatic functions on any camera but there's also something to be said for limiting complexity. Cheers, Sean Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean_reid Posted September 30, 2006 Share #19 Posted September 30, 2006 What an disappointing oversight. I guess Solmns and Jenoptik have never heard of HDR imaging with digital cameras, where you take a number of images at different exposures to try and replicate - or even surpass - film's extended dynamic range: 1. High dynamic range imaging - Wikipedia 2. Photoshop CS2 HDR Hopefully Leica can add this feature in a future firmware upgrade. I agree that this can be a useful technique, however blending exposures to increase dynamic range almost always requires working on a tripod. I do it regularly for architectural interiors. Once one is working with a tripod (ie: at a slower pace) it's really fairly simple to switch to manual and make the different exposures by varying the shutter speed. I never use AE when I'm using this method for commercial work. Cheers, Sean Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guy_mancuso Posted September 30, 2006 Share #20 Posted September 30, 2006 I agree here also and have done some HDR shots and no one would every attempt this without a rock for a tripod and in this case also you want specific stops also 1,2,3,down and 1,2,3 up or less. This really is a manual operation. I think the DMR has it only for a comfort zone for old film shooters . I never used it myself. Having the DMR and coming from the Canon you do develop a different mindset by leaving the automation behind. little hard to describe but going back to manual just feels better. Okay it's just one of those things. LOL Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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