[Leica] Light meters

["Gib Robinson" <robinson@sfsu.edu>]

I've enjoyed reading about various LUGer's preferences for light meters but
I've missed more thorough discussions of the context for their choices. From
my experience, the meters and metering methods I use are contingent on
several variables -- primarily,  what camera and film I'm using, what sort
of photo I'm planning to take, the shooting conditions, what I think I want
to know about the light, and what I actually have the time to find out. When
I'm taking B&W landscape photos with fine grain film and time isn't much of
an issue (except sun time), I usually want to know lots about brightness
range and the relationships between objects in terms of reflected light. In
that case, an incident meter doesn't cut it. A one-degree spot meter works
best for me then. On the other hand If I'm taking portraits of kids moving
around outdoors, an internal meter plus a good incident meter is usually all
have time to use.

The color print films I routinely use are sufficiently forgiving that unless
the lighting is really weird, I can usually forget metering all together, go
with what I've learned about the film and just aim for at least adequate
density. In my experience even the somewhat more off-beat color print films
like Kodak 400MC (which I like very much) -- are forgiving enough so I can
use my own internalized version of those cheery Kodak symbols that used to
appear on the film instructions for exposure.

With some films no meter or metering system seems to work perfectly for me.
That's true of Kodachrome 25. No matter WHAT my meters say, if the scene is
contrasty I never know exactly what that film will do or which exposure will
look the best when I project it. With K-25 I'm usually best off starting
with what I already know about the film's way of rendering light at various
times of day and bracketing. It helps that I've used it (or Kodachrome II)
for 35 years. If I use a meter with K-25 I just try to get an accurate
reading of the area where I THINK I want the highest tones with color. If I
start metering a scene in detail when I'm shooting K-25 I can drive myself
nuts taking too many readings but still not really knowing how the
transparency will look.

Some of my metering decisions are just personal preference and probably
don't gain me anything except a little pleasant time looking at the scenery
with a meter in my hand. I'd PREFER to take both spot and incident readings
of a scene before I start shooting. If I have time to hang out where I
expect to shoot film, I often use the internal R or M meter with a longish
lens to "spot-check" the scene to see what different area "look" like. More
routinely I walk around and take a couple of incident readings with an old
Minolta III that has survived various mishaps.

Problem is, even with the best of metering information I continue to make a
fair number of dumb mistakes. I forget what I learn from metering a scene,
don't keep track of the internal meter and blow shots because of something
like forgetting to open up an extra stop to shoot in deep shade. Sometimes,
in those circumstances, an internal meter will "wake me up" while I'm
shooting, sometimes not. With my R cameras I have the option of using
automatic metering, but I tend to make more mistakes that way than shooting
in manual mode and I get distracted watching the meter fluctuate. Also, if
I'm using both an R and an M and I use the R in auto mode, I start thinking
BOTH bodies can read light automatically and forget to adjust the M.

Over time I've tried various meters including Leitz's Metrastar
(aesthetically pleasing) and Gossen's Luna Pro. I love the sensitivity of
the Luna Pro and got used to the semi-spot attachment (sort of) but didn't
like it's incident capacity. I find the Minolta III quite good except that
it doesn't remember film speeds when I turn it off. Still drives me crazy.
Since I broke my old Pentax one-degree spot meter I've been drawn to
"two-fers" like the Sekonic L508 but haven't been willing (yet) to pay the
$400+ to buy one.

I'd be happy to read more about people's metering habits and personal tips.

Gib Robinson