Viewfinder shutter time, exposure display

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Daneinbalto

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Hi,
I think I am getting a new ZI rather than a used M7. Based on reviews, I think the ZI is more for me than the M7. I have never used either.

The only thing I am not so sure about is the viewfinder display on the ZI in manual mode. The M7 has an LED to indicate correct exposure with arrows to indicate .5 and (greater than or equal to 1) stop on each side. The ZI does not have this system but instead shows "actual and recommended speed".

There are no pictures on the ZI website of what the arrangement looks like, so it is difficult to understand how it works in practice. Of course, I can easily imagine how it probably works in AE mode. The actual shutter speed is displayed in the left side of the viewfinder. Except, does it show speed in whole stops (1/60, 1/125, 1/250), or does it show fractional stops? What when you are in manual mode? Are the recommended and acutal speeds shown simultaneously? If so, where? How are the recommended and the actual speeds distinguished from each other? If I want to overexpose by, say 1.5 stops and the shutter is at 1/40 (provided it does fractional stops), do I need to calculate 1.5 stop from 1/50 to get the right speed? Or is there an easier way to do it?

Can anybody scan an illustration of the viewfinder display in manual mode from the user manual? The user manual does not seem to be available online.
 
the zi shows shutter speeds only in whole stops either in manual or ae mode
so you can never exactly know the precise shutter speed, just "rounded up" to a whole one

personally i consider this the biggest (and probably the only) flaw of the zi
therefore i never use it in manual mode, as with colour slide film you have to know more precisely your correct exposure

in ae mode the shutter speed varies with 1/12th of a stop, so it is very accurate, though it will indicate also only in full stops in the viewfinder

so when you see say 125 in the vf, it can be for example 100 or 160 or anything around it
 
Well you do get it more precise idea by turning the aperture ring half a stop up and down (or one or two thirds of a stop on the ZM lenses). You notice when the aperture display changes, so you know when you are at the upper and the lower end of the current 1-stop interval. Then you select the half stop between the two. That way you can get the aperture precise down to half a stop, which is pretty OK.
 
Ok, so now I know that the shutter speed display is in whole stops. But remember that I have never looked in the vf of a ZI. How does it look? Is there a vertical row of preprinted shutter speeds on the left margin of the vf like on older cameras, or does it have seven-segment LEDs like a dSLR? In manual mode, how is the recommended shutter speed displayed compared to the selected one?
 
Forgot to add that in manual mode, the selected shutter speed is lit, and the recommended shutter speed flashes (or is it the other way round?).

z-koro.jpg

flame.jpg
 
Thanks. Based on the informative posts above, it appears the system works as the person who runs cameraquest.com describes the Hexar RF:

"On AE, red LED shutter speeds are lit in a bright vertical display on the left side of the finder. Though the actual shutter speeds are steplessly set on AE from 1/4000th to 16 seconds, finder display are limited from 1/4000th to 4. On AEL (AE Lock), the shutter speed stays the same as long as you keep slight pressure on the shutter release. On manual, the suggested shutter speed stays lit, while the manually set shutter speeds blinks in Red. (...) In use, this finder display system is very easy and convenient. "

Is this correctly understood?
 
I don't know about convenient. I have to move my eye to check the shutter speeds. I wish they were at the bottom & had a +/- need for manual mode...

But you can't have everything, so I bracket in AP.

The shutter speeds display is the only letdown on this camera. The only reason why I sometimes check M6 prices, but then I remember...Bottom loader? No thanks!
 
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