Film

Metering. Some times you have a tricky lighting situation or need a convenient "grey card." Use what's around you and meter the sky or the back of your hand, and add one stop - or just meter some grass - to get a roughly 18% exposure. If you don't have a meter, use the "Sunny 16" rule which states that at f/16 you set the shutter speed to the reciprocal of the ISO (e.g. 1/125s for ISO 100). You can adjust from there and if the lighting doesn't change - neither does the exposure. Both film and digital have enough of a latitude to make up small differences.

While checking out the latest, depressing news headlines - I came across an interesting video featured on CNN called film: not dead yet that offers "a unique look into New York City's still vibrant analog photography community." Really nice production value, and starts off with a guy (Colin H) shooting a Mamiya C330 TLR... Features a Leica briefly, familar scenes and Erwin Elliot. Works for me.

The self timer. More useful than you think, especially on the M9. When in bulb mode you can hit the shutter button once to open the shutter and the LCD will count up the seconds (up to 240). Just hit the shutter button again to close the shutter. On the Ti M9 it's the only way to use bulb since it lacks a threaded cable release socket. The M7 and M8's LCD work the same way (going up to 999), but you'll need a locking cable release to keep the shutter button down. New on the M9 is the ability to disable it altogether to prevent accidental activation.

Heliopan has announced the new Vario ND filter, a variable neutral-density filter. This is great news as some of the other options available currently are just not usable. Unfortunately, at least for now - the available sizes of the new filter run from 52-82mm. List price ranges from €140-220,- (incl. 19% MwSt.). However, there are still some lenses that can use it, such as the Cosina/Voigtländer 35mm f/1.2 (52mm) and 50mm f/1.1 (58mm) Noktons and of course, the Leica Noctiluxes (with step-up rings). Here's the press release:

Exposure lock. Available on the M7, M8 and M9. With a half-press of the shutter button, it's much faster to use for one-off shots than fiddling with exposure compensation. If your scene meters too dark/bright, just frame an appropriately brighter/darker area of the scene and lock the exposure; keep the shutter button depressed halfway as you recompose and shoot. Grass makes for a convenient 18% grey card equivalent for metering. You can also use your hand, but add about a stop to the exposure.