Hank Taylor Posted January 27, 2011 Share #1 Posted January 27, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) I was going over many of my older photos and was wondering why a lot of these look better than with my new M9... It finally dawn on me, I was using a Gossen Incident. You can't beat the final results when you rely on an incident for accurate readings. I'm afraid I got lazy and relied on the readings taken with the leica . If anyone can add to this please do. Hank;) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 27, 2011 Posted January 27, 2011 Hi Hank Taylor, Take a look here Hand held Incident Light meter. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
EJohnE Posted January 27, 2011 Share #2 Posted January 27, 2011 Manual settings and incident light measuring for me. I removed the battery from a (film) R/F camera so as not to be distracted by little lights when I re-composed through the viewfinder. Also, one can estimate the distance and fine focus at the last moment, already having the exposure set. Less obtrusive. A bit harder to ignore digital info. John. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sm23221 Posted January 27, 2011 Share #3 Posted January 27, 2011 Older photos with a film camera? It may be the medium and not the exposure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted January 27, 2011 Share #4 Posted January 27, 2011 Did you use transparency film or negative? Negative film – blackandwhite or colour – has exposure latitude. Neither slide film nor digital has, simply because of the absence of a negative. Still, a meter for incident light is actually pretty infallible. Cine photographers used them, because any mistake got to be awfully expensive. The old man from the Age of Kodachrome I Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xmas Posted January 27, 2011 Share #5 Posted January 27, 2011 Older photos with a film camera? It may be the medium and not the exposure. tusk tusk Some people dial in -2/3 of a stop exposure to M8 and M9 because they dont like the highlights when they are marginal i.e. overexposed. Lots of people prefer film. Some people only like film with single coated lenses. I thought this was just web gossip until a mate said oooh I like that shot how did you do the colors. It was Fuji in a mini lab scan and CD. Processing. None What lens... Canon f/2 type II 35mm LTM Single coated Yes aAAAAAAAAAH. Noel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Taylor Posted January 27, 2011 Author Share #6 Posted January 27, 2011 Thank's for the wonderful comments and advise , the shots I took were with a Leica M2 35mm f2 and Kodachrome. I still love the M9 for most shooting situations, but when in doubt and have time I'll pull out my old Gossen Luna Pro . Love the old Analog Incident over the newer digital meters. Easier and quicker to make adjustment then the modern digital. It's like telling time with an analog over the digital when you have to be someplace in 30 minutes your mind adjust quicker to seeing the exact time in relation to the dial on the face of your watch. Best regards. Hank Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted January 27, 2011 Share #7 Posted January 27, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) The incident meter does really shine when there's snow on the ground. This is a condition we have pretty regularly over here. The real benefit of the incident meter is that it frees you from the vagaries of subjects with various levels of reflectance. Both he legendary chimneysweep in a coalhole and the equally famous baker in a snowdrift get correctly exposed – and you will never have blown highlights, because what you meter is actually an artificial diffuse highlight! Nab the highlights and the rest takes care of itself – as true for digital as it was for Kodachrome. And Noel's comments, which seem to regard this strictly technical matter as some kind of fashion fad, is silly enough to be embarrassing. The old man from the Age of Kodachrome 25 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xmas Posted January 27, 2011 Share #8 Posted January 27, 2011 The incident meter does really shine when there's snow on the ground. This is a condition we have pretty regularly over here. The real benefit of the incident meter is that it frees you from the vagaries of subjects with various levels of reflectance. Both he legendary chimneysweep in a coalhole and the equally famous baker in a snowdrift get correctly exposed – and you will never have blown highlights, because what you meter is actually an artificial diffuse highlight! Nab the highlights and the rest takes care of itself – as true for digital as it was for Kodachrome. And Noel's comments, which seem to regard this strictly technical matter as some kind of fashion fad, is silly enough to be embarrassing. The old man from the Age of Kodachrome 25 Hi Lars When I use a meter is use a Weston and the zone system sometimes the incident dome. The M8 or M9 are Dcameras and have similar (in)tolerance to overexposure (or less) as Kchrome 25. Many people cannot cope with this subjectively,. Donno why myself. Many people buy SC lenses and tolerate the increased flare contra jour, cause they like the pastel colors subjective. Donno why myself. The (earlier) painters had schools with styles, some photogs are similer. Sorry if I embarrassed you. Thought is was important to mention as the earlier photographs would have been shot with a film shoulder and a SC lens. The cine photogs used a incident on ths starlets nose as they needed edit cuts to be butted together, and not vary in illuminance on the big screen Noel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Taylor Posted January 27, 2011 Author Share #9 Posted January 27, 2011 Right on! Can't add more than that. Thank's Hank Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobey bilek Posted January 27, 2011 Share #10 Posted January 27, 2011 If you don`t want to guess the reflectance of the colors the reflected meter sees and then compensate, incident is the only way to go. I usually use an incident or sunny 16. On an overcast day, meter the sky and compensate 2/3 stop + or meter the ground and compensate 2/3 minus or split the difference. That is with a reflected meter or spot, Pentax digital spot.in my case. Keep in mind all movies are done with incident because they cant reshoot and can`t bracket.It needs to be right first time, every time, and only incident does it. Now you can always put the Expo disc over the lens and turn the M9 into a incident meter. Gee, Leica had incident attachments for the old clip on meters in 1960. Suppose they realized this? Now you can also meter a grey card or your hand and you can know the proper compensation for your hand, unsually plus one stop because skin is one stop brighter than grey. There are lots of ways to skin a cat. Just a non PC expression, so don`t get all excited. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
giordano Posted January 27, 2011 Share #11 Posted January 27, 2011 There are lots of ways to skin a cat. Just a non PC expression, so don`t get all excited. Skinned cats have more uniform reflectance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicoleica Posted January 27, 2011 Share #12 Posted January 27, 2011 There are lots of ways to skin a cat. Just a non PC expression, so don`t get all excited. Will there be a Windows version in the future, or can only Mac users benefit from the advantage of skinned cats? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted January 27, 2011 Share #13 Posted January 27, 2011 Will there be a Windows version in the future, or can only Mac users benefit from the advantage of skinned cats? Mac users will be provided with bald cats. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted January 28, 2011 Share #14 Posted January 28, 2011 Mac users will be provided with bald cats. Haven't Mac users already got the cat: Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Lion - whichever variant of OS X they're running? Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
roguewave Posted January 28, 2011 Share #15 Posted January 28, 2011 Hank, I agree a meter makes a big difference. I carry my Gossen Digisix in my front pocket at all times. It's a wonderful teacher and so small, accurate & easy to use. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Taylor Posted January 28, 2011 Author Share #16 Posted January 28, 2011 Thanks Ben, it really I think makes a big difference having a Gossen in your pocket. I recently bought a Sekonic L308S, Although it's small, I still find I like using the Gossen Pro with the null meter readout. Best regards Hank Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobey bilek Posted January 28, 2011 Share #17 Posted January 28, 2011 Shaved Tigers are almost skinned cats. Strangely the skin is also stripped so they still look like a tiger. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyoung Posted January 29, 2011 Share #18 Posted January 29, 2011 second thread on incident metering in the last few weeks, getting technical here, though we seem to have wandered off to the zoo.... Gerry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thompsonkirk Posted January 30, 2011 Share #19 Posted January 30, 2011 Like Ben I use a Digisix. Can't believe how well this toy-size meter works. But I use it only with M4 or Rollei for film. I have no problems with M8/9 metering, using the half-way catch if there's a bright spot or light source in the scene. Kirk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EJohnE Posted January 30, 2011 Share #20 Posted January 30, 2011 I have my old Quantam Calculite meter (bought 1982) still in operation as an incident light meter. For digital I set at at twice the ASA - ISO in camera =200m, meter at 400. That works well enough, and maybe because the meter's dome is a bit dimmed, or because of the preferred highlight exposure of digital. I also have a Sekonic L558-Cine, which is a bit big for carrying around. A retailer in Sydney reputedly used to demonstrate the strength and reliability of the Calculites by throwing one against the wall, and showing that it was still chuffing on problen-free. Another advantage of external meters is that with Katzeye or other manual focus screen fitted to a DSLR the inevitable effect on exposure can be avoided. (Put in because probably most have a DSLR in addition to their several titanium M9s). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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