Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/02/13

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Subject: Re: [Leica] newbie #3 continued
From: Tim Franklin <tim_franklin@mac.com>
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 18:44:49 +0000

on 13/2/02 4:41 pm, lea at lea@whinydogpress.com wrote:


> I'm confused. One of these is most likely right. I'm inclined to think it's
> Allan's because the meter reading changes when I rotate the camera but I am
> aware of the circle on the shutter curtain.
> 
> So what's up with that? What's the purpose of the circle? Might that circle
> be bottom-weighted? If not, what is weighted to cause the meter change?
> 


Lea,

The white spot is where the meter cell takes its reading from. The cell is
at the top left of the shutter as you look into the camera (not the bottom
as John said). 

If you look at it closely You'll see the spot is very slightly higher than
centre, and also offset to the right a bit. Remember that the image on the
film is formed upside-down, so the meter is reading with a slight bias to
the ground.

The rightward bias is important as it will affect the reading depending on
how you hold the camera vertically. If you hold with the shutter release
upwards then the meter spot will be measuring more from the sky in your
scene. Try holding the camera with the shutter release down. I find it more
comfortable anyway.

Tim

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