Holy Cow! Leica managed to implement the best bracketing ever!!

[stevencrichton]

I occasionally use bracketing for 32bit file creation on landscapes. Previously with the nikon DSLRs I came from it was a pain in the neck .. either 3 presses or a squirt on continuous mode.. however I was nothing but shocked tonight when I thought I'd try it out on the M9... then I found the self timer !!!

I've never been so blown away by a completely sensible implementation of such a regularly used feature by photographers .. Set +- 2 stop (as anything less is simple overlap) Pick soft mode .. then 2 sec self timer. ever so slightly press the shutter and BAM ... 1-2-3 shots with a steady calm down period after the press with the timer.

Slap the card in lightroom, select the files, right click Edit->Merge to HDR Photoshop. Pick remove ghosts. Save As (filename).tiff (no compression) close photoshop and there it is in lightroom. With the full 32 bit RGBA spaces.

Now the golden hour is truly within the reach of us in a couple of seconds.

Original File rendered to 8 bit a few artifacts in the extreme highlights, but nothing a tiny bit of editing couldn't sort.

 

[willie_901]

This is an example an exposure bracketing result I enjoy. The image is both subtle and attractive.

 

[stevencrichton]

Yes HDR can be used to great effect when done right .. it's the flickr HIT THE BUTTON tone mappers that have really given it such a bad reputation.

 

[CrisR]

I found the same thing the other day when i needed to shoot a Gym interior with dark corners and bright windows. Very useful indeed.

Though just FYI, the raw files are very flexible, I've managed the same result with 3 EV versions of the same RAW shot before.

 

[FrozenInTime]

#1 rule of using bracketing on the M9 : remember to remove the lens cap :bang:

Bracketing from a set shutter speed rather than just AE would have made the M9 a better camera.

 

[stevencrichton]

FrozenInTime: Yes if it would auto bracket off set shutter it would be great .. but at a push you can dial in AE comp to get the base for the bracket.

Cris: Yes Raw gives some leeway, but especially in architectural work for interiors with windows included, the highlights can simply never be brought back in the raw files. The CCD in the M9 is pretty limited in range. Try a modern CMOS in the D3s/D4's nikon it's incredible the amount more data that can be recovered.

To be honest the CCD I've noticed is pretty much the exact same in every way apart from a better processing bus as the Kodak 14n I used to own until I saved for a FF Nikon. When the highlights go.. they go.