Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/05/25
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 15:19 -0500 23-05-1997, Richard W. Hemingway wrote: >R8 LUGGers, > >How good is the matrix metering on the R8? With either the M6 or R7 I >meter off the grass, or hand and open up one stop, etc. when taking a >picture of mainly a very light colored building, etc., back lighted (spot >meter etc), sunsets etc. > >How good is the R8 when you get lazy and just want to use it as a >super-duper P-S?? > >Dick Hemingway >Norman, OK I have been using the R8 for some 10 days with only a couple of film rolls (Fujicolor 100 G Plus, Fujichrome Velvia 50), and the results are very satisfactory so far. A long while ago I bought the first camera with matrix metering, the Nikon FA. This system left me completely underwhelmed at that time. Just too many errors. But of course, this was just the beginning of the matrix metering. I have the impression that the R8 is a lot better (but further testing will have to confirm this). I asked myself the same question as you did, and got an interesting talk with a technician at the Leica distributing office in Brussels. He explained that the had done extensive testing, both in Solms and in Brussels. He said the matrix metering system is 99% foolproof (which I would find hard to believe, but even it were only 90 or 95%, this would be impressive), and he advised me to put the camera on "full-automatic", that is matrix metering with program setting (so that your camera becomes in fact a perfect P&S camera, except for the autofocus). BTW, Popular Photography rated the Nikon F5 matrix metering system, based on the new color matrix, 95% foolproof, which is a very high score. They also said that such system is ideal for sports & action photography where speed is important, but would choose Nikon's traditional 60/40 or 75/25 system (center-weighted) for moe conventional photography, as -of course- the big problem with matrix metering is you just don't know what the camera is doing, how it is calculating the light. If you want to control everything yourself, you will have to switch to spot or center-weighted. Greetings, Pascal Belgium - ------------------------------------------ This message was created and sent on a Macintosh PowerBook - ------------------------------------------