Just chnge the batteries of my M6 meter, those were kodak silverdioxide,(two of them), got out of the photostore and measures seem logical to me, made several tests, then got to my office and try to meter a dim room just to see how low could it read, and there are times when the two arrows stay on even if I point camera to stronger ligth. Is this normal? what happen when ligth is too low for mater to read? how can I test it?

Thankīs for answers, and scuse my orthography please.

Merry christmass to all.

-- r watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), December 18, 2001

Answers

I hope I'm understanding correctly. When the M6 meter (Classic, I don't know about the TTL) isn't getting enough light for a reading at all, both diodes blink...except on very early models where the diodes go out completely.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), December 18, 2001.

Roberto:

If I understand your question, I believe my M6 Classic does the same thing... And it is my biggest complaint with the classic.

In normal light, the two triangles light only at one exposure setting -- they kind of pop on or pop off, letting you know you have the correct exposure. However in dim light, the two triangles stay lit together over several f-stops with no popping on or off, but rather one traingle will slowly dim as the other brightens... Here the correct exposure is when both triangles are evenly or equally lit. So I find myself hunting for the proper exposure by moving the aperture ring back and forth until I feel the triangles are evenly lit.

Interestingly, the triangles in my TTL do the same thing, but the center dot still only lights when the exposure is correct, making it faster to find the proper exposure.

Hope this is what you were asking about!

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), December 18, 2001.

Thatīs exactly what happen with mine Jack. What can we get from this M6 classic users.

-- r watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), December 18, 2001.

I just read about this phenomonon in Gunter Osterloh's Leica M book, page 45... Apparently, it is all perfectly normal, and the meter responds in much the same way as the film will as it is accurately recording the light-level reaching the film.

He offers a special note, that if you change the f-stop by 1/2 stop, and both triangles are still lit, the exposure will still be correct and negative density will be virtually indistinguishable from the one 1/2 stop different! (Don't ask me to explain this any further -- I read it three times and still do not quite comprehend how it can be so!)

Obviously out of my league, ;-)

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), December 18, 2001.

Sounds like that could make using E6 very interesting with the one third stop latitude.Especially if you are under exposing a third to begin with. I also wonder what the K factor no the meter is. Thank you SEKONIC. You know the more I read about the M-6 the better I like my M-3.

-- Al Henry (J Henry@provide.net), December 18, 2001.

Funny, I'm not getting this result with my Classic. I tried it with 35 Lux, wide open, at ISO settings ranging from 100 to 6400. As I swing the camera away from the dark window and toward the light on the kitchen counter, I get an overexposure indication (right hand triangle). Both triangles didn't stay lit for me, and I couldn't make it happen. I was using Kodak silver oxide batteries, too.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), December 18, 2001.

Jack, I don't see how Gunter O. can say that a 1/2 stop exposure change results in the same density. Makes no sense, quite apart from whatever the meter triangles are doing.

I have always found that even though there may be two aperture settings that will light both triangles, there's only one setting that makes them clearly equal in brightness.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), December 18, 2001.

Bob:

I agree, and have always hunted (in dim light) for that position where both triangles are of equivalent brightness... However, and I quote from Gunter's excellent book, page 45, right-hand column about half way down:

"... it may happen that no distinct difference in the LED display will be visable when a lens is stopped down from its maximum aperture by half a stop. The results of corresponding exposures show the same effect: densities will be practically the same in spite of exposures at different apertures."

As I stated in my earlier post, I don't quite comprehend how this can be so...

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), December 19, 2001.

Are we talking of reciprocity fail (hope this is the way to say it in english); but it is imposible for the camera to evaluate the kind of film youīre using, or Iīm just donīt getting it.

I belive in dim ligth, very dim, sensivility of M6 meter fails???, or yes (I have m6 at hands and tring it now), if youīre more than a few F stops away from the rigth exposure it goes ilogical, well i donīt know what to think, what Iīm sure is that this meter works so rigth in brigth ligth, but not so in dim ligth or when measuring very diferent ligths in the same reading.

Experts!!!! HELP!!!!!

-- r watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), December 19, 2001.

I sometimes get this same effect on the R6.2 (both triangles stay on).

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), December 19, 2001.

Robin:

Is this in low-light or all types of lighting? Perhaps it is more of a meter sensitivity issue than anything else. I assume the metering electronics in the R6.2 are similar to those in the M6...

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), December 19, 2001.

The "equal brightness in low-light" phenomena has happened to me when the batteries are just beginning to fail.

-- John Layton (john.layton@valley.net), December 22, 2001.