Dear Leica friends, I suggest you to test your M7 as follows. Choose a very bright scene, set your camera in manual position, set your speed button on 1/1000, set your aperture for correct exposure, take the photo. With the same speed, change your aperture with one stop (overexposure 1 stop). With this last settings, put your camera on auto position, 1/1000 is blinking, and take the photo. Compare the results on the film, this last photo is also correctly exposed (just as the first one)... Does it mean that, in auto position, the shutter speed could be faster than 1/1000 or... I don't understand anything? With two stops difference, you can see the overexposure (0.5 to 1 stop). Thanks Michel

-- michel vandeput (michel.vandeput@ville.namur.be), June 05, 2002

Answers

Could be, if and when my M7 decides to actually work. Intermittenly the "bc" LED flashes, and the camera freezes up. New batteries, same result. So, how's the M7s' zero shutter speed at f/8 compare to my M6 at 1/1000th? It doesn't. And don't be to smug if your M7 is working perfectly, so did mine at first.

-- Marc Williams (mwilliams111313MI@comcast.net), June 05, 2002.

marc, just two words, "passport warranty." michel, it is possible that the shutter is capable of faster than 1/1000th operation. the f3 is capable of this trick, as are a number of other AE cameras. however, color print film, if that is what you are using, has tremendous overexposure latitude. it may be hard to see the extra density for just one stop over (needless to say you would see no difference in machine prints, but i assume you are comparing negs here). i have a handy calumet shutter tester and will attempt to verify your results. p.s. this issue was discussed in a previous thread.

-- roger michel (michel@tcn.org), June 05, 2002.

Dear friends, I fogot to precise that I was using BW TMAX 100 and compared on neg. Michel

-- michel vandeput (michel.vandeput@ville.namur.be), June 05, 2002.

I suspect the shutter is capable of a higher top speed than 1/1000th, as has been mentioned for other AE cameras with similar shutters, but that it is probably not reliably accurate to within some set of standardized specs for it to billed as such. Hence, you may actually gain another stop or possibly two -- or maybe only 1/2 -- at the top end with the M7. I would use transparency film to test it out, as you can better see how consistent and reliable these higher shutter speeds might actually be.

Gee... this coupled with the extra latitude available in print film, the M7 might approach the same effective top speed as the Hexar ;-)

Cheers,

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), June 05, 2002.

unless the hexar also has some stealth speed in reserve.

-- roger michel (michel@tcn.org), June 05, 2002.

I once thought that the top speed of the M7 might be capable of going faster than 1/1000th sec. But.. the cameras that did that trick, in the days of old (70s-80s) had analog circuits. I am nearly certain that the speed on the M7 is digitally governed, and that it is not actually continuously variable, as in an analog circuit, but varies in small incremental steps instead. If such is the case, I can't see why the microprocessor would allow speeds higher than 1/1000 sec.

-- Charles (cbarcellona@telocity.com), June 05, 2002.

Roger I presume you realize that the F3 top speed of 1/2000 is mechanical and not electronic like the other speeds. That is also probably why (although all the other speeds on the F3 are very accurate) 1/2000 on the F3 can be out by 1/3 stop.

-- sait (akkirman@clear.net.nz), June 05, 2002.

Since the Hexar has the same shutter as the G2, it would probably be safe to assume that the Hexar does 1/6000 sec in auto mode as well. Now how do you get the 1/200 flash synch?!

-- Dante Stella (dante@dantestella.com), June 06, 2002.