Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/04/06

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Leica R8 vs Nikon F5 light metering
From: Donal Philby <donalphilby@earthlink.net>
Date: Mon, 06 Apr 1998 21:13:33 -0800

Eric Welch wrote:
> 
> At 09:23 AM 4/6/98 -0800, you wrote:
> 
> >people using negatives.  I have watched meter swings through 2 stops
> >differences depending on how much white sail or white hull in in the
> 
> It's called manual metering. You take meter readings, and based on
> experience, you can determine the exposure. Leave it on manual, and voila!
> The exposure remains perfect. I've done it for years.

Sorry, Eric, doesn't work.  If I meter manually or program or whatever
with reflected light, the exposures are all over the map, though usually
dark.  Like shooting a snow scene on reflected without compensation. 
With incident, I take a reading and maintain that or bracket around or
snip test, depending on the circumstances.  Yes, I can use spot and pick
things like the sky or hand or or or, but it is guesswork, though pretty
close.  In my normal photographers paranoia, I do check constantly the
differences between incident and reflected and always fight with myself
about which to trust.  Usually when I trust the camera, I am unhappy
with the results.  In fairness, during big storm here was out on
sailboat race in ocean and forgot meter and used in camera meter and
everthing was perfectly exposed--all 18% gray just like the day!
> 
> And the fact that incident meters don't tell you about the reflectivity of
> a subject might help in average situations, it won't help the photographer
> who doesn't know when to vary from the exposure when the range of the light
> is wider than the range the film can handle, and then they have to bias it
> one way or the other. You I'm sure can do that.

Truth.  Like most technical things, photography takes a bit of art and a
bit of craftsmanship and a bit of engineering.  I use camera meter, and
both the reflected and incident modes of my hand meters, and often even
polaroid, and still I don't sleep well 'til I see the film (and
sometimes don't sleep well AFTER I've seen the film) :)

donal
- -- 
Donal Philby
San Diego
http://www.donalphilby.com