Flashing LED in M7, what's that?

[Terence T]

Hi all,

Just got my M7 and I'm not sure what's happening with it. In the viewfinder, there's a little LED like a decimal point that's continuously flashing when the meter is on. It's located just below the exposure arrows.

I'm guessing it's a low battery level indicator but I've not been able to find a pictorial documentation of it in the manual. The batteries are new so I'm a little puzzled.

Can anyone help?

Thanks

 

[FrankS]

Is there a film loaded? The auto DXing feature reuires this for the meter to know what speed film to expose for.

Don't ya just yearn for the simpler days?

 

[Terence T]

I did think of that too so I switched it out of DX but it still flashed. Just loaded some film and apparently the LED has disappeared. Guess it's some kind of "no film, don't shoot you idiot" warning.

 

[FrankS]

Don't ya just yearn for the simpler days?

 

[jlw]

I remember seeing that when I was handling an M7 in a camera store. The salesman didn't know what it was either. At last we have an answer!

 

[fstop]

Hi Terence, enjoying your new toy?

The lower red dot will blink when:
1) No film is loaded.
2) ISO dial is manually set to a speed not matching loaded film.
3) Exposure compensation is set.

Should have gotten an MP. 😉

 

[merciful]

The lower red dot will blink when:
1) No film is loaded.
2) ISO dial is manually set to a speed not matching loaded film.
3) Exposure compensation is set.

Man, all that stuff would bug the hell out of me; glad I've stuck with the old M bodies.

 

[peter_n]

hey, I'm sticking up for Terence! An MP? Simpler days? As a brand-new owner of an M7 (now on my 2nd day of ownership 🙂) I have to say I just love the shutter display in the M7 VF. It's even better than the M6TTL!! 😀 Everyone is different! 😉

 

[Terence T]

The M7 is great, I just finished my first roll shooting an event at the Thai embassy this evening. Coming from a DSLR, the technology in a RF cam seems almost basic so a tiny flashing light is bearable 🙂

 

[stet]

we're losing our deflector shield -- go strap yourselves in.

 

[peter_n]

we're losing our deflector shield -- go strap yourselves in.

LOL that's pretty funny stet! 🙂 I actually came into rangefinders from SLRs a couple of years ago so I kind of agree with Terence, the technology in an M7 is pretty minimal and definitely isn't invasive. I mean, if you read some of the comments on other forums you do not get that impression.

I do understand that if you've been using a Leica for 20 or 30 years and you even like to employ the sunny 16 rule then any of this electronic jiggery-pokery seems to be almost sacrilegious. But for a person who is used to it its like what's the big deal? The technology Leica uses is 30 years old already!! 🙂

 

[merciful]

But for a person who is used to it its like what's the big deal? The technology Leica uses is 30 years old already!! 🙂

I came to Leica from high-tech DSLRs, to high-tech SLRs, to rangefinders. I've decided that I don't want anything flashing at me, ever, when I'm working. But I don't use sunny-16: when it counts, it's the Sekonic: so I guess I'm a bit of a contradiction.

 

[peter_n]

Well, while we're being honest - 😀 - I'm a fan of the meter in my M6TTL, haven't got to know the one in the M7 yet. But I also use a meter, mainly for incident readings. 🙂

 

[SolaresLarrave]

I use both a Nikon (film) AF SLR and Leicas. When I want to "work", I shoot Leicas. If I want to rest my brains, I pick up the Nikon.

One of these days I'm going to compare the metering. In the meanwhile, both cameras give me a considerable amount of harmless fun.

Glad your M7 worked well for you, Terence! 🙂

 

[julianphotoart]

Don't forget the upper flashing dot

Don't forget the upper flashing dot

I learned that when you're in Auto mode the upper flashing dot tells you when you have AE-lock. Gently press down the shutter button a little and it will come on and flash. When flashing, you can recompose and it won't change the exposure reading. I don't remember reading it in my owner's manual.

 

[zanydave]

I use a mostly XP2 in my M7 rated at 320... To be honest I think the flashing LED is trivial .

 

[peter_n]

I learned that when you're in Auto mode the upper flashing dot tells you when you have AE-lock. Gently press down the shutter button a little and it will come on and flash. When flashing, you can recompose and it won't change the exposure reading. I don't remember reading it in my owner's manual.

On p. 69 of the M7 manual it lists the following function: Reference to the use of exposure memory lock - of course it doesn't say which display element or have a diagram...

 

[RayPA]

I use a mostly XP2 in my M7 rated at 320... To be honest I think the flashing LED is trivial .

...well it is a low-battery indicator, at least that is what the manual says. I was unaware of the other sources for the blinking light, but they make sense. I once swapped out several batteries to no avail. (The M7 has a reputation for going quickly through batteries.) Mine currently is not blinking, but was blinking for the longest time. When the batteries are just about to die you'll get a bc in the finder (IIRC). I got that and replaced the batteries and the blinking stopped. 😕