2 Xpan questions from a newbie

[kiwifrombrooklyn]

Hi All

I have been using a Rollei for several years and have finally made the jump to an Xpan. I have put three rolls through it under different lighting conditions and I am really pleased with the results. I have a couple of questions though and am hoping someone can help.

1) How big is the area in the viewfinder where the meter reading is being taken from? - In even light the meter is fine but in low/mixed light I am having trouble adjusting my exposures because I don't know how big the 'sample' area is. I am very used to pitching exposures with 35mm but with those cameras (mainly an EOS 3) I am able to see exactly how far under or over I am using the scale in the viewfinder and because I know how much of the veiwfinder is being used to take the reading. I use an incident meter a lot but that won't always work for me. I searched this forum and found a reference to "an oval shaped area under the focusing pane" But how big is it? I am surprised there is no information on this in the manual.

2) I have been focusing using the rangefinder system which I really like but there is something I don't understand. If using the scale on the lens controls the area of the image that will be in focus from foreground to background then.....what effect does the aperture I choose have? Any? Does one override the other?

I really love the negatives I am getting and am amazed at how sharp they are. Neither of the above questions are a stumbling block but I find knowing how my gear works leads to better photographs so I would be grateful for any help.

 

[palec]

Welcome to RFF and congratulation to nice cameras!

1. If you detach lens from the body, you'll see that central part of focal length shutter is white. The reflected light from this shutter is used to calculate average light value. As its width covers full panoramic frame I initially guessed that the average is calculated for the whole panoramic frame. But if you switch between normal and panoramic view, the exposure remains the same. And quick test reveals that if you place the strong light in the corner of panoramic frame the exposure meter will ignore it. What I've learned is that XPan used normal frame 36x24 for metering (central weighted). But I usually use incident lightmeter whenever I can.

2. You have aperture marks on the lens, the central red mark shows plane of focus and right and left marks show depth of field. With increasing aperture value the depth of field is increasing as well. The marks have the same meaning as those on focusing wheel of your Rolleiflex. When you focus with rangefinder, the red mark on the lens should tell exact distance from the point of focus to your camera's film plane. They are not overriding.

 

[x-ray]

I've found that my Xpan 1 doesn't handle overcast well if there is very much sky in the picture. It seems to be overly sensitive to shots with white in it or bright areas indicating a very simple metering system. Are you finding this true with your cameras? I generally use an incident meter in those cases.

 

[palec]

I have same exprience with overcast days and usually avoid using A mode. I've checked some slides made during sunny days and in those cases the metering was ok. Incident meter is a very good companion.

 

[kiwifrombrooklyn]

Thanks very much for the help. Your advice on the metering is accurate as far as I can tell. If I meter just for the middle 'third' I can get good readings and adjust from there.

I find an incident meter to be very valuable asset and have just invested in a spotmeter. The internal Xpan meter seems to be very good but is clunky and slow to use so I think I will use external meters most of the time.

 

[StuartR]

It does have a bit of a tendency to underexpose if it sees a lot of sky, but this is like any center-weighted meter...just point it at something neutral. I don't really think it is that different from the Mamiya 7II, Hexar RF, Leicas etc...perhaps the Leicas have a bit more concentrated metering area, but they still seem to behave the same way. I think you will find you are able to work with it once you get used to how it reacts. At least it is consistent, which cannot always be said for the matrix metering systems found in most modern cameras.

 

[Harold Gough]

I've found that my Xpan 1 doesn't handle overcast well if there is very much sky in the picture. It seems to be overly sensitive to shots with white in it or bright areas indicating a very simple metering system. Are you finding this true with your cameras? I generally use an incident meter in those cases.

Me too. Don't forget the 3 x exposure factor for the centre-spot ND filter.