quick question on leica M7

[timexchen]

I just bought a leica M7 and read through the manual to understand all the properties this electronic camera has. When it comes to the " low levels below the measuring range" part on page 100 of the manual, I am kind of confused about the description in the following:


If manual setting at very low luminance goes
below the measuring range of the exposure
meter, the left-hand triangular LED flashes as a
warning. For the aperture priority mode, the shutter
speed continues to be shown. If the necessary
shutter speed falls below the slowest possible
speed of 32s, this display also flashes.



My question is that if the low luminance or in other words ambient light condition goes below the measuring range of the camere set to a certain ISO, then what does the shown shutter speed really mean? For example, I go to my bathroom and power off the light, turn on my M7 measuring, set my 35 summicron full open, and the display is a blinking left triangle and a stable shutter speed 2". So if the ambient light is out of the measuring range now, how can the camera indicates a 2-second speed? Moreover, if I stop down to f4, the speed turns to be 4" and it seems that measuring is working in an accurate way by making another effective shutter&aperture combination.



I am expecting the reply from you guys
Thanks a lot！

 

[pfoto]

You're in aperture priority mode and your camera seems to be behaving as per the instructions. Select smaller apertures until your speed is longer than 32 seconds and then the speed will also flash. At least that's how the instruction reads.

 

[mfogiel]

I think the difference is, that in manual mode the long time is limited to 4 secs while in auto mode it is extended to 32 secs. The time is blinking if you go below 4 seconds in either mode. Anyway I haven't found this to be a problem in real use, I set it on auto, and I shoot handheld with a 50mm lens. I know I cannot go lower than 1/30th without risking the blur. The extended long times can be useful if you want to make night shots with the camera on a support, but for this type of shots I use other tools normally.

 

[timexchen]

many thanks to your replies!

And I found it's quite interesting that if I set ISO to different values, the threshold for a blinking triangle is also different. You can try this in dark rooms. When there is no light entering the lens, both the left triangle and the 32" display are blinking simultaneously.

I sent the technical service of leica an email and wait to see their answers.

 

[MCTuomey]

i think what the manual means is that in AP mode the shutter speed displayed will be consistent with the lowest light level the meter has detected. in other words, the manual is warning us that the display is not an accurate shutter speed since the meter is out of its capable range. or am i missing your point?

 

[timexchen]

i think what the manual means is that in AP mode the shutter speed displayed will be consistent with the lowest light level the meter has detected. in other words, the manual is warning us that the display is not an accurate shutter speed since the meter is out of its capable range. or am i missing your point?

I agree with you on this point! Also I found the more the ISO setting, the less the threshold for a blinking left triangle. Anyway, we seldom use more than 2" or even longer exposure time so we can just forget it😀