Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/12/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]FWIW, I'm a "meat-ball" photographer -- primarily a documentarian. I keep my metering pretty simple. With my Nikons I use the on-board meter, generally in aperture priority mode unless I know from experience the meter is going to give the wrong reading and then I switch to manual. I always carry an incident meter with me and use it to double check my instincts (especially when shooting slides) and for flash exposures. With the Leica I'm primarily shooting black and white and much of the time I don't bother to meter at all. Still, I carry an incident meter with me and use it when I have any question. Personally, I prefer incident readings (at least when I can approach the subject). I trust them to give me the best overall exposure for any given scene. Most of the time that's what I'm after: the best overall exposure. I understand reflectance. I know how to use a spot meter and adjust exposure to place various tones where I want them. But with at least 95 percent of the things I shoot that process is completely unnecessary. The incident meter puts me where I want to be quickly and reliably. WIth that done I can put the meter away and go back to watching and waiting and making pictures. Bob (has to keep it simple) McEowen