A question for the LXers:
What's the longest (ballpark figure) successful exposure
you've made using the LX's automatic, direct-metering mode?
Although I've grown to trust the AE mode in conventional
photo situations, around New Year's I tried out its low-
light capabilities for the first time. I was using Konica
Impresa 50 and a Vivitar Series 1 105/2.5 macro at f/8 to
shoot the Christmas tree and some of its ornaments. During
the day, with tree lights on and some daylight selectively
let in through drawn drapes, the LX was choosing exposures
on the order of 10-20 seconds and producing very good images.
After dark, however, using only the tree lights, times were
running to 4-5 minutes, sometimes more. Also tried some
whole-tree shots, using a flashlight to paint the tree and
selected ornaments. All these shots came back with a severe
case of that milky underexposed look (but, in tribute to
the Impresa 50, not at all grainy.) The light-painting shots
were better, but still spoiled by the underexposed background.
So, did I run into reciprocity failure? Is there any way to
let the LX still do its thing yet avoid the problem? Any other
LX-specific low-light tips would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Stephen Moore
