You know what I think? I think that using a incident meter is too easy. I think a bunch of the people here like to do things the hard way just to prove they can. I do know how to use a spotmeter. I do know the zone system. I don't own a spotmeter though I do occasionally take close up reflected light readings which is the poor mans way of spotmetering..
I use an incident meter when I want consistent exposure. In some ways it is sad that slide shows have gone by the wayside A good slide show had to have consistent exposures or it was jarringly obvious every time you changed a slide. That is what made me go to incident readings. That is why motion picture people use incident meters. With an incident meter I can produce, 90% of the time, contact sheets full of negatives that are as consistent as studio shots, and can do it almost without thinking. Spotmeters are very useful tools, but using them for general photography is sort of like using a micrometer to measure yardage. Ciao, graywolf [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: Shel Belinkoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2002 2:28 AM Subject: Re: Metering > And I'd wager that in less than five minutes I could teach anyone on > this list how to use a spotmeter to get consistently excellent > exposures. It's really very simple, although there are many options in > the way one chooses to use a spot meter. Perhaps it's the number of > these options that confuses you. One option, and perhaps the simplest, > is to measure the brightest part of the scene and open up three stops. > Bada-Bing! a great exposure, simply and without fuss. Or, for most > scenes, just point the meter at a middle grey tone (rock, grass, your > jeans - whatever), and there you have it, another great exposure. > > The beauty of the spot meter is that not only can it be simple to use, > and used quickly, but that it can be used to solve difficult exposure > problems as well, in both a clearly understood and very precise > fashion. And, once you understand a bit about light and film latitude, > you can meter from almost any element in the scene, not just the > brightest or middle grey. And the thing that's nice, is that the spot > meter can help you learn about light and latitude as well. The > experience and skill just continues to build, each contributing to the > growth and enhancement of the other, and will ultimately reach a point > where, in many situations, using a meter will no longer be necessary. > > > > Tom Rittenhouse wrote: > > > > Doh? > > > > I would like to make a little wager. > > > > I would wager that 90% of the members on this list would get consistently > > better exposures with an incident meter after five minutes instruction than > > they would get with a spot meter after taking a weekend course. A spot meter > > is a valuable tool, if you are doing precision photometrics, for general > > photography it is a pain in the ass. > > > > The TTL meter in most SLR are great for telephoto and macro work, but once > > again I say that for general photography 90% of the people on this list > > would get far more consistent exposures with an incident meter after that > > five minutes of instruction. > > -- > Shel Belinkoff > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://home.earthlink.net/~belinkoff/ > - > This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, > go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to > visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org . - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
