Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/08/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Don, >This system takes practice (I am not 100% yet but am getting better at it >as each day passes).<< Your system is good, standard M practice and works great in most situations; I think we all do the same thing (it's one of the reasons all of my lenses, save the 90, must have focus tabs). The difficulty is in getting yourself aware enough to be 100% right, all of the time and in fast changing light, it's not as intuitive a process. My guess is also, never truly reliable beyond a four stop or so, range. One of the things I've found is that the meter in the CL, with its center the needle pot, great speed dial placement and what I assume to be tighter measuring angle, is better for backing up this working style than the M6, with its meter indicators that are closely equivalent to dashboard 'idiot lights'. To be fair the M6 meter is easily usable but it isn't exactly luxurious. Another concern is that the best opportunities seem to come 'out of the blue' and are always in light different in value from what I've set the camera for. I compensate for this by leaving the camera set for the prevailing condition of the place I'm in and try to keep a mental note of how far off that setting other possibilities are. There's only so much one can mentally prepare for. With the focus, shutter speed and framing/looking at what's happening 'out there' as the variables that must be dealt with, then, in the excitement of a great opportuity, It's too easy to forget to fully resolve the exposure settings. An AE metered camera would help speed things up in a reliable way, for me at least. I like the Canon 7/7s or Leica MR meter for these times because the meter is usable, and the scale is visible, from camera top and so, (the better chance of) correct reading is more available to the user _while lifting the camera to the eye (Hence my earlier citing of the Canon 7s as the closest C/N thing to an M6E). This is another improvement worth consideration, having a small meter scale visible on camera top. Maybe a truly tiny (and flatter) MR meter update that has a nicely selective measuring angle would be good enough. Danny Gonzalez