LEICA M11 Monochrom Rangefinder Camera - Manual (Page 93)

PHOTOGRAPHY ▸ SHOOTING TYPES 93
SHOOTING TYPES
USING THE RANGEFINDER
IMAGE FIELD (BRIGHT-LINE FRAME)
The bright-line rangefinder of this camera is not just a very
high-quality, large, brilliant and bright viewfinder – it also doubles as
a highly precise, lens-coupled metering device. All Leica M lenses
with focal lengths between 16 and 135 mm are coupled automatical-
ly when they are attached to a camera. The viewfinder has a magnifi-
cation factor of 0.73x.
The bright-line frame is coupled with the focusing function in such
a way that the parallax – the offset between the lens axis and the
viewfinder axis – is compensated automatically. At ranges under 2 m,
the sensor captures slightly less than indicated by the inner edges
of the bright-line frame, and slightly more at longer ranges (see ad-
jacent diagram). These slight – in practical terms never important –
deviations are unavoidable. The bright-line frames of a camera with
viewfinder must be adjusted to the view angle of the focal length of
the lens. The nominal view angle changes slightly when focusing due
to the changing draw-out, i.e. the distance of the lens system to the
sensor level. When the set distance is below infinity (and the draw-
out accordingly greater), the actual view angle also decreases – the
lens captures less of the image object. The view angle differences at
greater focal lengths tend to be larger due to the greater draw-out.
22:45 PM 22.02.2012
999-9000
8234/9999 12 MP
2.8 F 1/8000 12500 ISO EV
INFO
A
B
All shots and bright-line frame positions at 50 mm focal length
A Bright-line frame
B Actual image field
Set to 0.7 m The sensor captures around one frame width less
Set to 2 m The sensor captures the exact image field shown with-
in the inner edges of the bright-line frame
Set to infinity The sensor detects around 1 or 4 more (vertical or
horizontal) frame width(s)
Notes
• The bright-light frames illuminated by white light LEDs appear
alongside the exposure meter LEDs at the lower edge of the view-
finder image, once the camera electronics are activated.
• The rectangular focus frame, which is brighter than the surround-
ing title frame, is in the center of the viewfinder frame. Please
read the relevant sections for more information about focusing
and exposure metering.