ALTERNATE WAYS TO ACCOMPLISH EXPOSURE COMPENSATION

On the previous page I ranted about Leica not including the quick access EC feature in the M8 upgrade. First and most important, not every shot needs exposure compensation (EC). I shoot mostly landscapes and when working the sun or bright reflections, an EC adjustment is often needed. But for most normal shooting such as candids of the family or quick snaps of a row of Cadillacs planted in the ground, the M8’s metering will probably do just fine as is.

If a scene does require EC adjustment (this only applies to A-Mode) I usually use one of two methods. Option one is to pick a point that should be properly exposed. The M8 meters the point (area), then I half-press the shutter to lock the exposure and then re-compose & focus as needed. I like this method best because it is quick. If there is not a good area to use a metering reference point, then the second option is to meter the scene and see what shutter speed the M8 suggests. Then I set the shutter speed to that value and adjust as needed. Option two works well when the scene (exposure) does not change much.

These work-arounds may sound tedious, but it really is not any more effort than Canon 1Ds Mark III. With the 1Ds Mark III in Av mode I shoot a scene, check the histogram and re-shoot as needed with the appropriate EC adjustment. Sometimes I use exposure lock (the asterisk button on the 1Ds Mark III), but not too often. It is usually easier just to re-shoot. The main point here is - either way I am adjusting settings on either camera. The only difference is “how” those adjustments are made. If I had a Leica M8.2 with the quick access EC feature, then adjusting EC on the Canon and Leica would be essentially identical.

Aperture priority mode (Av) is my most commonly used mode on the Canon 1Ds Mark III when shooting outside the studio. I will continue to shoot the Leica M8 in A-Mode; it is workable but I am not 100% happy.

FOCUSING THE M8

Part of the rangefinder experience is reaching a zen-like state when it comes to focus precision. There is a long list of variables that go into a properly calibrated rangefinder focus system. The simple truth is - maybe 1 or 2 lens will be perfectly calibrated, a couple may be okay and several will just be plain out of whack. The problem is - there is no way of know whether the issue is the camera or the lens. The only way to resolve the problem is to pack up all the gear, send it to Leica and pray, and pray, and pray... There are third party resources such as DAG as well. The point is - the whole kit needs to be calibrated. It is pain, but a fact of life - with ANY M, not just digital M’s.

Over the years with the Leica M8, M8.2 and M9, focus is has been workable 80-90% of the time. Some lenses were sent off for calibration, but they were the exceptions. There is no micro-auto-focus adjustment. That feature is YOU. After awhile you begin to learn which lenses do better with a touch of front or back focus. With a M system, you really get to know the lenses over time. The process is more intimate since there is no auto focus nor auto aperture.

The only real difficulty has been losing the patch in a complicated or busy scene such as foliage, fields, trees, etc. With a very busy scene it is difficult to tell when the patch is properly lined up. The patch is really just an elegant split screen, so with a complicated pattern it is difficult to tell which edge belongs with which. Sometimes I zone focus focus the M8 and stop down to F5.6. that may sound rather lazy, but it works.

With the M8 I am guilty of focusing and then recomposing. This is a sin in the digital age, but I do not know how else to avoid it with a rangefinder. Focusing and recomposing results in the subject being further away than original focus point, so I am trying to add a small amount of back focus and then stopping down 1 or 2 extra stops to improve the odds of a sharp image. So far that has been working - surprisingly!

KEEPER RATES

The Canon 1Ds Mark III has an amazing viewfinder with a .78x magnification factor. It is bright and the resolution is very high. The 1Ds Mark III has been the easiest dSLR for me to focus. Depending on which lens is being used with 1Ds Mark III, the manual focus keeper rate is between 50-80%. I am happy with those results since my eyesight is no where near 20/20, hence the -2 diopter for the M8!

So far the keeper rate with the M8 has been about 50-50. With the 1.25x magnifier and the diopter correction lens, I think the keeper rate will improve to the 70-80% mark. This does not mean that the M8 is without frustrations. Pink-out happens frequently - this is when a finger blocks out the viewfinder or the frame lines window. Pink-out isn’t too annoying, but the fingerprint oil is. The oil reduces the contrast and makes the viewfinder blurry, so I am cleaning the viewfinder frequently. I prefer to carry a camera (rather than having it around my neck), so the fingerprints usually happen while holding the camera between shots.

I have always struggled with infinity focus on a rangefinder. At infinity the details are so small in the patch that I can not distinguish between in focus versus going beyond infinity focus. When focusing at infinity I will use the distance scale and set focus just slightly ahead of the infinity mark and stop the lens down to F5.6 or F8. I do the thing on the Canon 1Ds Mark III. The logical conclusion is - my eyesight sucks! Magnifiers help, but there are trade-offs (more on that later).