92 / Comprehensive instructions/The most important settings
The monitor
The LEICA M8 has a large 2.5” liquid crystal color
monitor (1.33). This is for viewing pictures that have
been recorded on the memory card. It reproduces the
entire image plus the selected data and information
(see “The displays / In the monitor”, p. 79, and “Dis-
playing the picture data”, on this page).
Note:
Most digital system cameras – as distinct from digital
compact cameras – employ sensors that cannot show
a preview picture, since the data can be read only pic-
ture by picture and not permanently.
Monitor pictures are therefore only available in review
mode (see p. 115), and must be switched on using the
PLAY
button (1.27) or, if the Auto Review function
(see p. 89) is activated, are displayed automatically.
To allow undistracted viewing, only the following infor-
mation is displayed in the standard setting (i.e. if addi-
tional information has not been selected using the
INFO
button (see p. 79):
1. in the header line, only the picture number (4.1.2),
and
2. for deletion-protected pictures (see p. 118) the
respective symbol (4.1.1, ),
3. for enlarged and/or displaced images, in addition
at the bottom right a respective symbol (4.1.3, ),
that shows – roughly – the position and size of the
section.
Setting the brightness
The brightness of the monitor picture can be adjusted
to five different levels using the menu control, so that
you can select the optimum brightness for any situa-
tion, i.e. the ambient lighting conditions.
Setting the functions
1. In the main menu (see p. 80/93) select Monitor
brightness (5.1.7), and
2. in the sub-menu select the desired one of the five
levels (Low, Medium low, Standard, Medium high,
High).
Displaying the picture data
The
INFO
button (1.23) allows you to select a whole
range of additional picture data (see p. 79) together
with a reduced picture size.
With menu control (Histogram 5.1.8, see p. 80/93)
you can additionally select various histogram options
(see next section).
The histogram
The histogram (4.2.2) depicts the brightness distribu-
tion in the picture. The horizontal axis shows the tone
values from black (left) through grey to white (right).
The vertical axis depicts the number of pixels of each
brightness level. This form of presentation – together
with the impression of the picture itself – permits an
additional quick and easy assessment of the exposure
setting after taking the picture.
The LEICA M8 allows you to choose between four vari-
ants of the histogram: Based on either the overall
brightness or separately for the three primary colors
red/green/blue, optionally with or without identifica-
tion (red) of the picture areas without definition
because they are too bright (clipping).
To Next Page
