Do you underexpose your M8?

Count me as another -2/3 M8 shooter. Not the result of any long thought, it just seems to make more appealing images. Sometimes I miss my old Minolta X-570, that had the AE lock on the front of the camera. The half-press seems too fiddly, you have to look at the number to see if the little dot has lit up, and worry that you will fire the shutter early. With the X-570 you could tell by feel when it locked. Makes the M8 AE thing a little harder than it need be IMHO. The RD-1 has a seperate button too, although not as convenient as the Minolta's, it seemed to me.

As to screen brightness, never have adjusted it from the factory setting.
 
I started out checking the meter with an EpoDisk to see where it spiked and found that the meter spiked center as it should. From that I concluded that it was the meter pattern and my metering habits that seemed to need -1/3 to -2/3. As my use of the M8 evolved and firmware upgrade accumulated, I have drifted back to 0 EV. The meter is a sloppy spot that changes with focal length. In the early days with the M8 I was changing lenses often, but I have now slid back into a one or two lens habit, which might also account for some of the shift.
Bob
 
-1/3 or -2/3 unless otherwise indicated (but then I'm likely to use manual exposure, but still likely underexposing). In a locale and lighting that I will be shooting for awhile, I will usually make a test shot or two, then check the histogram, which most usually has me then dialing in underexposure.
 
0EV here, giving histograms that seldom clip highlights. I set to AE except for rare occasions when I meter something else, and manually set the shutter speed. I have the auto review turned OFF.
 
Jeez, don't use the LCD to judge your exposure, that sounds like a terribly unreliable way to do it.
The histogram is there for a reason and it's a hell of a lot more accurate then the LCD.
 
0ev from now on. Easier to control the contrast in post process. Used to be -1/3 cos looked better on LCD but too under in computer. Big mistake.
Agree with cmogi10. LCD is terrible.
 
Agree, don't judge by the LCD. Use the histogram!

I personally find that on bright and sunny days an EV setting of -1/3 to -2/3 works good. Kinda holds things together.
But I would never leave it constantly on this setting. I change EV constantly, always depending on light situation.

PS: although I change EV very often, it never bothered me to go into the menu settings to do so. I know the M8.2 has a scroll wheel kinda thing but I actually do prefer the 'slower' way. It gives me time to consider what I want to achieve, instead of mindlessly shooting away.
 
weser said:
Agree, don't judge by the LCD. Use the histogram!
Click to expand...

True. But even better is to use the good old "palm of your hand grey card" technique to meter and adjust to the scene. It has saved me *a lot* of headaches. Much better and dynamic than having to key in the EV compensation in a permanent or pseudo-permanent manner.
 
Gabriel M.A. said:
True. But even better is to use the good old "palm of your hand grey card" technique to meter and adjust to the scene. It has saved me *a lot* of headaches. Much better and dynamic than having to key in the EV compensation in a permanent or pseudo-permanent manner.
Click to expand...

Sorry, don't agree. With digital you don't want to be in the middle of the road, so to speak. You want your histogram to be more to the right side. That requires from time to time an EV adjustment.
 
All digital P&S and entry level DSLRs are prone to overexpose because their meter is adjusted to do well indoors, or for typical group portraits and pet pictures. I don't know about M8's meter but it could be suffering from the same factor.
 
Nh3 said:
All digital P&S and entry level DSLRs are prone to overexpose because their meter is adjusted to do well indoors, or for typical group portraits and pet pictures. I don't know about M8's meter but it could be suffering from the same factor.
Click to expand...


I just got mine back from Leica, they went over the meter, seems about .3 over for my taste, but I have not really tested it other than shooting a hundred shots or so.

Images do look better downloaded than on the LCD.

I had not complained about the meter, rather that dark subjects requiring compensation were overall blue.

Am guessing the firmware upgrade and the meter check were protocol?

Assuming there was reason for this.

Regards, John
 
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