How do you meter?

[NZDavid]

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I asked a variant of this question previously but I am still puzzled especially after some shots with difficult contrasty lighting. (New Zealand's light is always bright and contrasty!)

 

So: How do you get the best exposures?

 

a) match the diode by turning shutter speed or apertures left or right

 

set shutter speed to A and adjust aperture

 

c) use handheld meter

 

d) sunny 16 or guess based on intuition

 

I usually do (a) because of experience using film cameras. Who finds ( more accurate?

 

I know, you can always vary exposure in pp and sometimes I do, but I still like to get the original exposure as accurate as possible. When I did some interiors, I broke out the Sekonic 308 and used it in incident mode and was rewarded with good exposures. It made the whole process much faster.

[IkarusJohn]

I generally go aperture priority (or Auto ISO on the Monochrom) and adjust for distorted readings. If I want a different reading, I take an incident reading with a Lumu on my phone.

[stickan1]

Always manual and at the lowest ISO for the situation, in day time base ISO. In variable light I use the inside of my hand as grey card and place it in the right light and spot meter with the camera. I chose the aperture depending on the situation, but rarely smaller than 11 for landscapes and around 4 or so for portrait and similar.

[Guest jvansmit]

I mostly shoot 21mm & 24mm wide angle lenses, like higher contrast B&W images, and use ( during daylight (because I'm extremely lazy !), and then mostly manual at night in city streets.

 

On my MM, I set either -1 or -2/3 EV, and then pull back the shadows. On my M9, I set -1/3 EV here in hazy Hong Kong though I recently preferred -2/3 EV exposures on my M9 in high contrast light in the Middle East.

 

I try to keep ISO at 1250 on both at night as I find it makes it easier to guess exposure.

[keithlaban.co.uk]

I press the button and let Leica do the rest.

[bocaburger]

IIRC the shutter adjusts itself steplessly in A mode, and if so then theoretically that would be more precise than setting manually. However the M9 center weighted meter can be fooled so regardless, it still takes some thinking if you want to get as close as you can.

 

On clear days I meter the blue sky away from the sun, which I find more accurate than Sunny16 because I found with slide film, that it varies depending on distance from the equator, and season. For incident readings I meter my palm and add 1.5 stops. Metering a patch of green grass can work also. However if the scene has a fairly representative range of tonal value, and there is no overly-dark or overly-bright area in the center of it, the M9's meter generally is fine to just rely on, I found.

[tobey bilek]

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Usually just with the meter in the camera pointed at something that is supposed to be middle grey. If no grey available, compensate guess, then chimp.

 

Then I can also do lots of fancy things with a spot meter or incident meter.

 

Studio portraits are flash metered. Studio still life is tungsten and spot metered.

[NZDavid]

Thanks, quite a mix of approaches! I agree metering grass (if there is some) seems to work well. I just watch out for very bright skies. M9 seems to tolerate slight overexposure (like print film) unlike slide film which tolerates slight underexposure more. Yes indeed, Bocaburger, light differs considerably depending on season and latitude. It's

a lot softer in northern Europe than the south or here in New Zealand, for example, and color temperature varies, too. In North America and Asia there is also considerable variation. So perhaps one technique doesn't always suit everywhere? Chimping is often only partially helpful as it is often hard to tell by squinting at the LCD in bright light (one reason why I still like optical viewfinders for composing, btw).

[IWC Doppel]

I choose the ISO, 160, 320 or 800, then set up manually every time. Often point at the tarmac take a reading if out side, and then meter intelligently inside. It doesn't take long to understand the scene and right exposure. Once you have set the camera for the scene there is no worry about under if over exposing due to back windows or bright sky's and angles that would fool the auto exposure.

[gjames9142]

I generally use 320 ISO, because it adds a small and pleasing amount of grain. I never use automatic exposure. Just take a test shot or two and check to establish an optimum. These cameras have histograms which tell you exactly what has been clipped, and you can even dial in the amount of leeway you want. The arrow in the view finder tells what it thinks you should be doing. With all this instant feedback it shouldn't be hard to get really good exposures most of the time. With the MM you have to be careful not to wipe out the highlights, although I find printing with Epson Hot press Bright seems to add a little printer's grey to the skies. Seems redundant to use a meter, when the camera itself tells you what you have done.

[pico]

I apply rigorous combat team practices. I travel with four assistants, three each using a synchronized-calibrated 1 degree spot meter. In a holster. The fourth is a darkroom printing savant. Each has one assignment, highlights, middle tones, significant shadows. The savant interprets the readings to give optimal negatives.

 

We wear camo, painted faces and crouch and shout a lot. I carry the camera and a boom-box blasting Sci Fi Transformer war themes from an Alice Pack.

 

My camera has a laser pointer. When I see a photo, I point the laser and shout, "target!" Then they kick into gear, s draw their spot meters, shouting EV readings and the savant responds with the reading to use. I set it. The drill is repeated as necessary. It can be difficult at sporting events when I have to shout, "Freeze, scumbag!"

[enricopocopagni]

under normal circumstances

C) for high accuracy, when time is not an issue

 

Greetings

[keithlaban.co.uk]

I'll occasionally take a reading off my assistant's buttocks - what can I say, she's very pretty and it makes me very happy - but if I'm honest pressing the button and letting Leica do the rest results in more accurate - but somewhat less exciting - exposures.

[XVarior]

I love shooting in contrasts lighting conditions, almost always look for this type of light. With the M9 in particular and rangefinder in general "I'm relatively new to it" I tend to mete or on a spot of my scene where light is not the brightest, something that is just pleasing to my eye, then I frame and shoot. I do that because I always prefer to end up with a slightly underexposed image than an overexposed one. Your eye is a wonderful meter, just tell your camera to meter the spot your eyes see as not too bright.

[jevidon]

I love shooting in contrasts lighting conditions, almost always look for this type of light. With the M9 in particular and rangefinder in general "I'm relatively new to it" I tend to mete or on a spot of my scene where light is not the brightest, something that is just pleasing to my eye, then I frame and shoot. I do that because I always prefer to end up with a slightly underexposed image than an overexposed one. Your eye is a wonderful meter, just tell your camera to meter the spot your eyes see as not too bright.

 

".....I tend to meter on a spot of my scene where light is not the brightest....."

That's also my approach, but when in doubt the old 'use your hand as a gray card' method seems to word very well.

[XVarior]

".....I tend to meter on a spot of my scene where light is not the brightest....."

 

That's also my approach, but when in doubt the old 'use your hand as a gray card' method seems to word very well.

 

Using the hand sounds interesting, I'm try that :-)

[algrove]

I apply rigorous combat team practices. I travel with four assistants, three each using a synchronized-calibrated 1 degree spot meter. In a holster. The fourth is a darkroom printing savant. Each has one assignment, highlights, middle tones, significant shadows. The savant interprets the readings to give optimal negatives.

 

We wear camo, painted faces and crouch and shout a lot. I carry the camera and a boom-box blasting Sci Fi Transformer war themes from an Alice Pack.

 

My camera has a laser pointer. When I see a photo, I point the laser and shout, "target!" Then they kick into gear, s draw their spot meters, shouting EV readings and the savant responds with the reading to use. I set it. The drill is repeated as necessary. It can be difficult at sporting events when I have to shout, "Freeze, scumbag!"

 

WOW! Caffeine can do it to you every time. Good fun. Best post of the week!

[pico]

Using the hand sounds interesting, I'm try that :-)

 

The palm of the hand, lest people like us overexpose using the dark side. That's not a Star Wars thing.

.