Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/09/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]2007-08-31-23:25:12 R. Clayton McKee: > All I was asking was whether the M8 in raw had the exposure latitude > to get me down to EI 40 type shutter/aperture/light level > combinations the way Velvia (or the 1DIIn) does, without blowing the > highlights completely out. Separated from all the other (not > particularly helpful) answers the response seems to be a resounding > "maybe." I'd slightly clarify that to "probably not". The M8 shares with other digital cameras I've used the characteristic that it really isn't very forgiving of overexposure -- well, mostly like 'chrome film, which you're clearly already used to working with. The highlight recovery tool in Lightroom and Camera Raw does a creditable job of helping compress raw highlights into a useful range if they aren't truly blown, but two stops of overexposure -- 160 to 40 -- I wouldn't count on it. So slap a 2-stop ND filter on, and you'll probably be quite happy. Because overexposure is the easiest way to blow pictures, I routinely set the M8 to underexpose by 2/3 stop if the light is even the slightest bit contrasty. The M8 has a bunch of underexposure latitude to pull pictures out of while still maintaining good quality. -Jeff