Automatic ISO on the M240?

[parasko]

Hi all,

For those of you with a Leica M 240, can you manually set the aperture and shutter speed and for the camera to automatically choose the ISO based on those readings for a correct exposure?

This feature is crucial for my style of street photography in order to control motion blur. I read somewhere that it was possible for the M9 and I assumed it was a given in the M240 but now that I have paid in full for the camera I have been advised that this is not possible (and I'm panicking!!! 😱 ).

Can anyone please advise/confirm.

 

[rivercityrocker]

I don't have a 240, but every other camera I've used that has Auto-ISO allows you to manually set aperture/speed and selects the ISO based on that.

I don't see why it would change with the 240 or even how it would be disabled unless switching to Manual turned of Auto-ISO altogether. I bet if you download the pdf manual you can find out.

 

[pieter]

Auto-iso on the M240 does indeed work different than it did on the M9. It basically only automatically adjusts the iso when you have the shutter dial on "A". As soon as you pick your own manual shutter speed, auto-iso gets stuck at the last iso setting that was used before the auto.

Most people consider this a bug, but Leica and a couple of others call it a feature, with the argument that as soon as you turn to a manually picked shutter speed you obviously want to do everything manual, so the automatic iso gets stopped. Why the iso setting would still say "auto-iso" while no longer being automatically set is beyond me...

Basically it's a firmware bug that gets called a feature, and which still hasn't been fixed by firmware update. Very annoying.

 

[theno23]

No the M240 doesn't do this, and yes it's annoying. Some vocal users preferred it to work the way it does on the M240. I have no idea why.

There's a rumour that it will be an option in a firmware revision. Hopefully soon.

 

[parasko]

Thanks for your comments.

Since posting, I have discovered a lengthy discussion about this in the Leica Forum [http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m-type-240/277922-leica-m240-auto-iso.html].

In summary, most are hopeful of a firmware update to enhance this 'feature' but no-one knows when (if at all). Definitely dumb of Leica not to include this feature as it makes the camera so much more versatile.

 

[jaapv]

No the M240 doesn't do this, and yes it's annoying. Some vocal users preferred it to work the way it does on the M240. I have no idea why.

There's a rumour that it will be an option in a firmware revision. Hopefully soon.

It is not a rumour. Leica announced they would make the two versions a menu choice in a firmware update (whenever that arrives)
The advantage of the current implementation is that you can flick the camera into full manual whilst at your eye to allow for precise exposure measuring of difficult light, i.e. use it like an M6. Much more precise than a guesstimated EV compensation.
The advantage of the M9 implementation is that the camera will keep exposure constant with changing light and fixed aperture and shutter time. Handy for reportage and long lenses.
Both systems have their place.

 

[parasko]

Thanks Jaap.

Glad to read that it is not a rumour. Having both options available as a menu choice is an ideal solution, considering this camera is being used for a lot of different styles of photography.

 

[Richard G]

The problem with the M9 is when the lighting situation is such that you do indeed want to override auto-ISO, but really have to leave it altogether to change the exposure. Not that I have done more than just toy with auto-ISO. A button to switch auto-ISO on and off would be good. But another button on Leica will not happen. The M240 is already too complicated to tempt me.

 

[parasko]

..The M240 is already too complicated to tempt me.

Hopefully it won't be complicated.
This camera purchase will replace my M7 and so I basically want a digital version of my M7. The only major functionality I need is aperture priority, the ISO option mentioned and of course an optical viewfinder. I'm hoping I can switch everything else off 😛

 

[PeterG]

It is indeed a bug. Leica has announced they will provide a fix in the firmware. I hope they simply opt to have the M work as the M9 does. It is the logical solution.

 

[icebear]

Just hit it with a newspaper, sh... you read e-paper, darn modern technology :bang: ROFL,😀.

I don't need auto red eye fix and I never had auto ISO on my M3, M6 or MP and I don't need auto ISO on my M9 (I never knew it had this 🙄) and I don't need any of this on my MM.

I choose the settings and I take the images, not some auto everything mode.
That's why I have choosen Leica about 20 years ago, I still love the M-RF.

All the missing functions that get called bugs - face it folks, all this stuff are "nice to have features" that you use once in a lifetime. They overload the camera and make it a pain to navigate in the menus in case you don't use the feature on a regular basis.

If you want 452 features get something else.
Just my $0.02.

 

[jsrockit]

Klaus, that attitude is not really fair in this situation. Auto ISO is not cheating. If I can choose my shutter speed and aperture combination I truly want to use, regardless of light, I can't see that being a bad thing unless you are against anything new being added to cameras. You are still making the decision with regards to exposure. To me, it beats trying to photograph using ISO 200 in the dark with paper thin DOF and slow shutter speeds that are hit or miss.

 

[JMQ]

Klaus, you are a purist.

 

[jaapv]

It is indeed a bug. Leica has announced they will provide a fix in the firmware. I hope they simply opt to have the M work as the M9 does. It is the logical solution.

Err… to me manual means that I control the camera, not that the camera has some hidden automatism that nullifies my input. That is not to say that I would not like a feature that varies the ISO with fixed aperture and shutter speed , but that is not the same. Fortunately Leica has promised to implement this choice as well.

 

[Luke_Miller]

Err… to me manual means that I control the camera, not that the camera has some hidden automatism that nullifies my input.

Which is exactly how my M9 and Monochrom behave. I manually select an aperture using the aperture ring, a shutter speed using the shutter speed dial, and an ISO using the ISO control. All such selections are independent of each other. For example, changing the position of the shutter speed dial does not change either of the other two settings.

As I understand it (don't have one) if an M-240 is set to aperture priority ("A" position on the shutter speed dial) and Auto ISO and then a specific shutter speed is selected - the body also shifts out of Auto-ISO and sets the last manually selected ISO value (whatever that was). This does not meet my definition of manual and sounds more like a "hidden automatism." Worse still a check of the ISO setting shows Auto-ISO as the selection, which I assume is the "bug" in the current implementation.

It is clear that many M-240 users (who can remember their last ISO selection better than I) prefer the current implementation. I'm OK with that as long as Leica restores the option to choose the "traditional" M8, M9 ,Monochrom implementation, which supports a very useful shooting mode (fixed shutter speed and aperture + Auto-ISO) that was removed from the M-240.

 

[LCT]

For some people auto = auto and manual = manual. I have nothing to do with a mix of auto and manual personally. I don't mind if leica implement a choice provided Auto Iso works as straightforward as it does at present. But don't ask me to chimp once more please thanks no thanks.

 

[icebear]

Klaus, you are a purist.

THX, I take that as a compliment 😀.

John,
I do see the convenience aspects of said auto ISO function, I just don't need this. If I want to shoot at f2 and not slower than 1/125s I can still adjust my ISO to get there. I never said that convenience is cheating, just that a lot of today's "nice to have features" will unavoidably make the camera menu more complicated, this is something I can't stand. If I need to consult the manual before I have the camera do what I want it to, then the marketing driven feature count has won. Just not my cup of tea 😉.

 

[sleepyhead]

I’m reviving this several years old thread to ask:

Did Leica ever implement a firmware update that brought the “good” auto iso feature to the M 240?

 

[jsrockit]

I never said that convenience is cheating, just that a lot of today's "nice to have features" will unavoidably make the camera menu more complicated, this is something I can't stand.

That`s fair...

 

[Bill Clark]

Don’t you just drop in the cartridge and the camera reads the iso?

OOPs, that’s film.