Operation Manual

Exposure compensation / 137
EXPOSURE COMPENSATION
Exposure meters are calibrated to an average gray
scale value (18% reection), which corresponds to the
brightness of a normal, i.e. average photographic sub-
ject. If the actual subject detail does not match this
assumption, an appropriate exposure compensation
can be performed.
Particularly for a sequence of several pictures, for
instance if for any reason a series of pictures is deli-
berately taken slightly underexposed or overexposed,
an exposure compensation is a very useful function:
Once set, unlike metering memory lock, it remains in
eect until (deliberately) cancelled (more details on
metering memory lock can be found in the correspond -
ing section on p. 136).
The Leica M9 allows exposure compensation to be set
in a range of up to ±3 EV in
1
/
3
EV steps (EV: Exposure
Value).
Setting the function
The Leica M9 provides you with three options for set-
ting an exposure compensation.
At the same time, you can choose whether you want
to make the setting using the menu or the setting dial.
Setting using the menu control is recommended if,
for example, you know in advance that you want
your subjects to be slightly under or overexposed.
The exceptionally fast option using the setting dial is
ideal when unexpected situations occur and enables
you to track your subject in the viewnder without
interruptions.
A. Using the menu
1. In the image parameters menu (see p. 103/119),
select Exposure comp. (4.2.4), and
2. the compensation value you want to use in the
sub-menu.
B. Using the setting dial
1. In the main menu (see p. 102/119), select
Exp. comp. setup (4.1.10), and
2. Setting ring in the sub-menu.
3. You can set the exposure compensation by turning
the setting dial (1.29) – clockwise for positive
values, anticlockwise for negative values.
C. With shutter release button and setting dial
1. In the main menu (see p. 102/119), select
Exp. comp. setup (4.1.10), and
2. Set. ring & rel. but. in the sub-menu.
3. While holding the shutter release button (1.19) at
the rst pressure point
1
, you can then set an expo-
sure compensation for the next picture you take by
turning the setting dial (1.29).
Regardless of which method was used for the initial
setting, compensations
– remain active until they are manually set back to 0,
– can be reset using either the menu or the setting
dial,
– are displayed as EV values in the image parameters
menu and as changed shutter speeds in the view-
nder.
1
For more details about the function of the shutter release button,
refer to the corresponding section starting on p. 114