Instruction manual
144
ATTACHING THE FLASH UNIT
When attaching a flash unit to the Leica M-E flash
shoe (1.19), you should ensure that the foot of the
flash unit is fully inserted and the clamping nut (if
fitted) is tightened to prevent it accidentally falling
out. This is particularly important for flash units with
additional control and signal contacts, because if it
moves from its position in the flash shoe the required
contacts can be broken, leading to malfunctions.
Note:
Before attaching the flash, the camera and the flash
unit must be turned off.
FLASH MODE
Fully automatic camera-controlled flash operation is
available for the Leica M-E when using system-compa-
tible flash units as described in the previous section,
in both exposure modes – aperture priority mode
A
and manual setting – and with the snapshot profile.
In addition, automatic illumination regulation is per-
formed in all three exposure modes. This means that
in order to ensure a balanced relationship between
flash and available light at all times, the flash power is
reduced by up to 1
2
/
3
EV as ambient brightness increases.
However, if the ambient brightness plus even the
fastest possible flash sync speed of
1
/
180
s would
cause overexposure, the flash will not be fired in aper-
ture priority mode. In such cases the shutter speed is
governed by the ambient brightness and is shown in
the viewfinder.
In aperture priority
A
and manual setting mode, but
not in the snapshot profile, the Leica M-E also enables
you to use other interesting flash techniques in your
compositions, such as synchronization of flash firing
with the 2
nd
shutter curtain rather than the 1
st
and
flashes with a slower shutter speed than the sync
speed of
1
/
180
s. These functions are set using the
menu on the camera (for more details, refer to the
corresponding sections below).
In addition the Leica M-E transfers the set sensitivity
to the flash unit. This allows the flash unit, provided
it has received such information and the aperture
manually set on the lens is also input on the flash unit,
to automatically adjust its range values accordingly.
The sensitivity setting cannot be influenced from the
flash unit.