Metering

[trippingthelight]

Hi,

I was just wondering what is the best method to meter for a film camera. I have tried the following and there are mix results from this. By the way I shoot with a Leica M7 for film.

B&W film

1. Using B&W film I normally set my camera to Auto (aperture priority) and then snap away after deciding on DOF.
2. Sometimes I will use manual if I feel the Auto mode is not giving me a good feel of what I see. Mainly this comes from experience as unlike digital you cannot see your results immediately.
3. Some time I will have my Canon camera with me and I will set it to evaluate mode and read the scene. I will use the result, set the M7 to manual and shoot it.
4. I was told by some friend to buy a 2nd hand exposure meter like Pentax Digital Spotmeter or the Minolta Autometer IV F or even a Sekonic to help with the metering as the M7 centered metering is not exactly the most accurate!

Slides film
1. With slide it is a bit more cumbersome as it needs more accurate metering than B&W film. So normally I will take my Canon (S90) and use it to meter the scene. I use the S90 as it is small. Don't think I would like to take along my 5DM2!
2. Usually depending on situations it would come out OK but not always. But using the M7 internal meter, I would day only 60% of the time it is accurate. Using the S90, it is closer to 80%

I have not tried the exposure meter method although many people swear by it.
Any comments from the people in this forum on their own experiences?

 

[artspraken]

VC Meter II.

Small. Fit in jean pocket. Can even fit in bra if you are female. I bought several big ass sekonics but i learnt actually vc meter is best.

Accurate. Hold in your palm and point at target.

Fast. Only got 2 dials.

Chiif got sell.

(only complaint is battery cover abit loose)


If u pro, sunny16 is best

 

[Royale With Cheese]

Hi,

I was just wondering what is the best method to meter for a film camera. I have tried the following and there are mix results from this. By the way I shoot with a Leica M7 for film.

B&W film

1. Using B&W film I normally set my camera to Auto (aperture priority) and then snap away after deciding on DOF.
2. Sometimes I will use manual if I feel the Auto mode is not giving me a good feel of what I see. Mainly this comes from experience as unlike digital you cannot see your results immediately.
3. Some time I will have my Canon camera with me and I will set it to evaluate mode and read the scene. I will use the result, set the M7 to manual and shoot it.
4. I was told by some friend to buy a 2nd hand exposure meter like Pentax Digital Spotmeter or the Minolta Autometer IV F or even a Sekonic to help with the metering as the M7 centered metering is not exactly the most accurate!

Slides film
1. With slide it is a bit more cumbersome as it needs more accurate metering than B&W film. So normally I will take my Canon (S90) and use it to meter the scene. I use the S90 as it is small. Don't think I would like to take along my 5DM2!
2. Usually depending on situations it would come out OK but not always. But using the M7 internal meter, I would day only 60% of the time it is accurate. Using the S90, it is closer to 80%

I have not tried the exposure meter method although many people swear by it.
Any comments from the people in this forum on their own experiences?

You cant actually compare metering in the RF cameras to other meters on modern cameras.

No doubt the M7 is a modern camera but still it uses center weighted metering. Modern cameras uses evaluative meter/spot/etc. all in one gadget to give the user the perfect exposure.

I suggest to go to full manual & not use the AE.

 

[sweat100]

Hi,

I was just wondering what is the best method to meter for a film camera. I have tried the following and there are mix results from this. By the way I shoot with a Leica M7 for film.

B&W film

1. Using B&W film I normally set my camera to Auto (aperture priority) and then snap away after deciding on DOF.
2. Sometimes I will use manual if I feel the Auto mode is not giving me a good feel of what I see. Mainly this comes from experience as unlike digital you cannot see your results immediately.
3. Some time I will have my Canon camera with me and I will set it to evaluate mode and read the scene. I will use the result, set the M7 to manual and shoot it.
4. I was told by some friend to buy a 2nd hand exposure meter like Pentax Digital Spotmeter or the Minolta Autometer IV F or even a Sekonic to help with the metering as the M7 centered metering is not exactly the most accurate!

Slides film
1. With slide it is a bit more cumbersome as it needs more accurate metering than B&W film. So normally I will take my Canon (S90) and use it to meter the scene. I use the S90 as it is small. Don't think I would like to take along my 5DM2!
2. Usually depending on situations it would come out OK but not always. But using the M7 internal meter, I would day only 60% of the time it is accurate. Using the S90, it is closer to 80%

I have not tried the exposure meter method although many people swear by it.
Any comments from the people in this forum on their own experiences?

I have not much problem with slides so far. The user manual have some illustrations on how big the metering spot is with respect to the focal length frameline. I use that as a gauge.
If a scene requires accurate exposure, I will take the reading at a few diff points by pointing the camera at just the area I want to meter. For example, the sky should be around +1 while the fore ground is 0 and some shadow area is -1. This should roughly give u good exposure for ur slides.

 

[sequitur]

60% accuracy? What?!

FYI if you do understand light, then that center spot meter is one of the best metering systems you can ever ask for. If my pictures come out bad, it's most likely user error. I'd say the meter is 100% accurate.

Furthermore, the M7 gives you the shutter speed read out in camera... If you have some understanding of metering (or some extremely basic understanding of the zone system), then you should be able to gauge the accuracy of your exposure using the numbers in the viewfinder.

Modern cameras use evaluative metering, even their center-weighted metering is just a weight - some 60% centre spot and 40% surrounding the rest of the frame, and I think that's the kind of metering that will give more inaccurate exposures than a pure center spot.


In short, learn light, know light, understand light, and the M7 is definitely going to be a fast shooting film Leica with fantastic exposure accuracy.

 

[raytoei]

Hi,

i prefer to use an incident meter. Incident meter like most of the modern Sekonic meters try to mimic the eyes. Reflective meters like those found inside cameras can't usually handle backlight situation. They try to be clever by having center weighted, matrix, evaluative blah blah blah. Spot is useful if you are doing Zone method.

So if you do not want to buy a meter, then use the in-built meter found in the camera. If you think the subject is against a white wall or the sun is behind the subject (ie. in the camera) or subject is standing next to a window, then do a EV compensation by 1-2 stops. If you can afford about 100-150 usd, buy a second-hand incident meter, I recommend the Sekonic L-28C, it is super-retro and inexpensive. If you can afford more or if you are more than a casual shooter, then checkout a 2nd hand L-308 or L-408.

I use the M4-P and most times I shoot with Sunny 16 unless I need to shoot something fairly accurate.

SInce you shoot with the m7, don't worry about it, just now that if you have a bright background, open up the aperture by one or two stops or slow down your speed by one or two stops you'd be fine. (the case of the bright subject in black background isn't a problem since film can handle over exposure better than underexposure, ie. no light means no lights means nothing captured. As compared to Digital where over exposure is a problem, too much light = white dots = nothing. )

hope this helps

raytoei

 

[pikapig]

Good write up Ray! Normally i will take one reading n adjust my shutter speed accordingly. Most of the time it is quite accurate. Plus negative are generally forgiving by 1-2 stop differences. It will be easier if u r only adjusting only shutter speed or aperture.
i still nid more practise calculating both together..if not, from f1.8 i nid to change to f5.6, i will need to do another reading..

 

[noodl3mast3r]

I use the M4-P and most times I shoot with Sunny 16 unless I need to shoot something fairly accurate.

raytoei

Same method, same equipment bro. I've just put my first few rolls through. Going to develop it soon. Trying to get myself used to rangefinder and analogue photog.

 

[artspraken]

Sunny16 need abit of experience. I not very good yet. Not very confident yet.

 

[trippingthelight]

I have been using the Sunny16 rule the last few outing and it has been quite accurate. Now i have a free app on my phone that has very good Sunny16 rules. So using that clearly help with the shots!

 

[Yoricko]

I use centre-weighted metering, point at something I want as middle gray or something familiar (my hand, +1 additional exposure), and let dynamic range do the work.

Have not established the zone system for my film photography as of yet.


If you folks need to accurately capture a difficult scene, just read the highs and the lows and average the reading. Then, if you need don't need shadow details or visible high-values, just reduce or increase exposure a little. Works wonders for the lazy photographers.

 

[ZShutter]

I use a light meter for all my shots as i find that it is an essential tool to ensure all or most of your exposures come out right. After browsing through an array of light meters out there in the market, i have found that the Minolta Autometer IV F is the best overall for a digital readout, It's light, small, with well placed buttons and dials. I currently have a similar one which is the Sekonic L508 which is heavier and bigger, so I'm looking to get a lighter one for travel. Sunny 16 works, but i normally use it to check if my light meter is indeed in functioning order.

I never use the in-built meter in the camera as it is cumbersome to compensate the readings especially for street scenes. Use incident mode on your light meter gives best results. I normally remove the batteries from my M6.

For B&W, as the margin of error is higher, so if I'm out by 1 or 2 stops i can still recover details.
For slides (i use Velvia 50), the margin of error is really low. You got to be pretty spot on. I have found that for Velvia 50 it is better to over-expose than to under-expose. I have under exposed by 1-stop (even half-stop) and the slide will look extremely dark and unusable. I have also accidentally over-exposed by 1-stop and it looks ok.
For Velvia 50, i rate is as 40. I will open by 1/3 to 2/3 stop if under shade or poor lighting.

 

[bmann]

Interesting topic. The question here is actually which part of the scene to meter? Eg, on the streets, assuming cloudless morning, would you use sunny 16 and forget about the meter reading? Or still use the meter?

 

[chiif]

Though I don't know how to use this...

http://invisiblephotographer.asia/store-ipasunny16dogtags/

It's selling better than my VC-II meter!!!

Cult status..

 

[artspraken]

Though I don't know how to use this...

http://invisiblephotographer.asia/store-ipasunny16dogtags/

It's selling better than my VC-II meter!!!

Cult status..

Sunny16 is all in the mind. I sometimes play with VC meter to test myself out on my sunny16 prediction