Well since you said that so emphatically I will answer in the same manner,
Bull Shit!
First off there have been literally billions of photographers who have learned exposure very well who have never even seen a spotmeter. Second, if you actually need reflected light readings every incident meter I have ever seen does them. I can teach someone how to get consistantly accurate exposes with an incident meter in 5 minutes. Can you do that with a spotmeter?
Telling a beginner that he needs a spotmeter to learn exposure is like telling someone that the way to learn to swim is to jump in the ocean and head for Catalina Island. If you do not already know a lot about exposure, a spotmeter just another useless gadget to make your camera bag heavier. But then you recommend the zone system to beginners also, don't you?
Did you even notice that what I suggested was looking at the article, not buying a meter? Costs nothing and provides some useful basic information about exposure. When someone says, "Most of my photos come out alright, but I notice that every once in a while I just can not seem to get the exposure right", is when to tell them about the zone system and spotmeters. Not everyone, even avanced photographers, wants or needs to know as much about photography as you do, Shel.
graywolf http://www.graywolfphoto.com "Idiot Proof" <==> "Expert Proof" -----------------------------------
Shel Belinkoff wrote:
An incident meter will not =teach= you exposure and they don't work, or don't work well, in many situations. That's not to say they're not useful, they certainly are.
Shel
[Original Message]
From: Graywolf
The Sekonic website has an article about incident light metering
http://www.sekonic.com/BenefitsOfIncident.html that is very useful in understanding exposure even if you do not use an incident meter. I do however recommend incident meters for general photography. they provide for very consist exposures, because they measure the light level rather than the brightness of the object being photographed.
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