Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2008/09/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 7:29 AM +1000 9/4/08, Geoff Hopkinson wrote:
>Henning, you are of course correct on sensor characteristics. Nevertheless I
>do not see this effect around highlights with my M8 and current Leica glass.
>It is sometimes noticeable in photos from some Canon or Nikon DSLRs (as well
>as other differences naturally). I recall too, being shown the effect here
>in this group with longer teles in use and recorded on transparency film.
>APO design does contribute to the quality of photos with short teles for
>M's, without question as well.
>Would you care to share your views on the practice of routine negative EV
>compensation vs. 'exposing to the right"?
>
>Cheers
>Geoff
Hi Geoff,
Well, exposure with digital is a bit different than for film, and
it's different for the M8 or the Canon 5D or Nikon D200. I haven't
used the newer Nikons.
As I've posted before, the M8 tends to respond differently to
exposure than other cameras, in particular Canons and the 3 or 4
Nikon's I've had a chance to use.
The Canons respond best when exposing as far 'right' as possible, and
allowing slight clipping of some highlights at times. You can usually
pull these highlights back into the realm of the living if you
haven't gone more than 1/2 a stop into the clipping, and colour
fidelity isn't critical. Shadows can be pulled up on an underexposed
shot, but there is a direct correlation with noise and you're
generally better off setting a higher ISO than setting a lower ISO
and correcting exposure in LR or Camera RAW. You tend to lose dynamic
range and there is no noise benefit.
With the M8, you are best off not allowing any clipping of anything
that is important, but you can pull amazing stuff out of the shadows.
To get an effective EI of 3200 you're best off shooting at an ISO of
640 and using exposure correction in LR or Camera RAW. Noise seems
better controlled and there seems to be little dynamic range penalty.
So... For the most part I leave the M8's set at -2/3EV or -1EV when
I'm not exposing that carefully. This usually works well. On the
other hand, since the meter is a rather simple one compared with the
latest Canon or Nikon multi-matrix offerings, exposure is both easier
and harder. Leaving the M8 on automatic and just pointing and
shooting, you get more losers due to bad exposure than the C&N's, but
if you meter manually or take more care, you have a better idea what
the camera is actually going to do. So I use a more aggressive
negative compensation when shooting 'sloppily' since blown highlights
are a no-no, but shadows can be resurrected.
As for the first part of your comments, the chromatic aberration
effects that you see from less well corrected lenses are different
than the blown highlight effects, and are rarely seen in the same
areas of the pictures.
--
* Henning J. Wulff
/|\ Wulff Photography & Design
/###\ mailto:henningw@archiphoto.com
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