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A2/7 Exposure Meters
see also
The Zone System (page 69)
Using the Nikon Spot Meter (page 68)
EV & LV (page 74)
INTRODUCTION AND BUILT-IN METERS
How to use a digital camera as an excellent light meter (page 87)
HINT: As of 2006 the best meter for any film camera is a calibrated digital camera.
You can use a DSLR's LCD to preview the effects of lighting, light ratios, zone
values, color temperatures and everything. It's like looking at a processed chrome on
a light table. Once you get the look you want on the LCD you just transfer the
exposure from the DSLR to your film camera! Be sure to read here (page 87) on how
to calibrate it to your film camera.
The best meter is the one built into your camera. I always use the matrix meter in my
SLR and shoot in Program Automatic. I only mess with handheld meters with my
larger format cameras that have no meters built in. I hate using the hand held meters
I address below.
If you aren't getting the exposure you want then adjust the camera's exposure
compensation, which is usually marked as "+/-" on today's cameras or a dial that
goes from +2 to -2 on 1970s - 1990s cameras. Buying a new meter won't fix that.
Built in meters usually read Through-The-Lens (TTL) and consider your filters' and
lenses' light transmission which make them more accurate than hand held meters,
unless you custom calibrate the hand held meters. Your efforts are probably better
spent calibrating the camera's meter. The multi-pattern and matrix meters built into
my Nikon and Canon film and digital SLRs and point-and-shoots are far smarter than
any professional reflected or incident meter. Not only that, but today they're an
integral part of everything the camera does, especially when it comes to White
Balance and Flash.
This article is if you are shooting digital or slides. If you're shooting negatives (print
film) then you can just guess at exposure unless you're printing yourself. If someone
else is printing your negatives then exposure issues are almost always caused by
bad printing and not your exposures, although the lab will try to blame it on you.
HAND-HELD METERS
Ansel Adams used a Pentax Digital Spotmeter. It's my favorite. It was sold new
through 2005, and as of 2006 seems to no longer be available new. Before the
digital meter, which has red LEDs at the bottom of its viewfinder, Ansel and I used
© 2007 KenRockwell.com 78 converted by Sándor Nagy