Instruction manual
129
Note:
• When using the bracketing function (see p. 139), all
AUTO ISO settings are defined:
– The sensitivity automatically determined by the
camera for the first picture is also used for all
other pictures in a series, i.e. this ISO value is not
changed during a series.
– The settings in the AUTO ISO sub-menus are inef-
fective, i.e. the full shutter speed range available
on the camera can be used.
COLOR SATURATION
One of the many advantages of digital photography
over traditional photography is that it is very easy to
change critical properties of a picture. While photo-
graphic software – after recording and transfer to a
computer – provides great scope for doing this, the
Leica M-E itself allows you to influence three of the
most important picture properties even before taking
the picture:
• The contrast, i.e. the dierence between light and
dark sections of the image, determines whether
an image has a more “flat” or “brilliant” effect. As
a consequence, the contrast can be influenced by
increasing or reducing this difference, i.e. by lighter
reproduction of light sections of the image and
darker reproduction of dark sections.
• Sharpness – at least of the main subject – using the
correct distance setting is a prerequisite for a suc-
cessful picture. In turn, the impression of sharpness
of a picture is to a great extent determined by the
sharpness of the edges, i.e. by how small the tran-
sition area between light and dark is at the edges in
the picture. The impression of sharpness can thus
be changed by enlarging or reducing these areas.
• The color saturation determines whether the colors
in the picture tend to appear as “pale” and pastel-
like or “bright” and colorful. While the lighting and
weather conditions (hazy/clear) are given as con-
ditions for the picture, there is definite scope for
in fluencing the reproduction here.
All three picture properties can be adjusted – inde
-
pendently – to five different levels using the menu
control, so that you can set the optimum values for
any situation, i.e. the prevailing lighting conditions.
In the case of Color Saturation two other options are
available – Black+White and Vintage B&W.
Note:
These settings only affect pictures in one of the JPEG
formats. If you select one of the two DNG file formats,
these settings have no effect as in this case the pic-
ture data is always saved in its original form (changes
must be made later on the computer).
Setting the functions
1. In the main menu (see p. 102/119), select
Sharpening (4.1.6), Color Saturation (4.1.7),
or Contrast (4.1.8), and
2.
the desired level (Low, Medium low, Standard,
Medium high, High) in the relevant sub-menu.