Leica LTM Prefered metering methods ?

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
angeloks said:
Well John, I won't buy a M6 to use it has a light meter...
...
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Why not? An in-camera TTL meter is very accurate and very convenient. I have a handheld meter and cameras with meters. Even with the metered cameras I shoot mostly in manual mode, but I still use the in-camera meter. I use them exactly as John describes. 🙂


🙂
 
Peter_Jones said:
350D_User, Hi,
😀 Sunny 11, based on weaker sun "up north", seems to work OK for me.
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So, instead of using f16, you use f11 and apply the same "Match shutterspeed to filmspeed" thing?

This I've gotta have a go at. 😀
 
I use Sunny 16, too. When I am not sure, I bracket like crazy🙂

Richie
 
Here at 47 degrees North latitude, I add half a stop to Sunny 16, used as a "reality check" to a meter or on the rare occasion I'm meterless. I like incident metering and use a Gossen Super Pilot SBC or Gossen Luna Pro F when out with my M2.

But I admit to liking auto exposure even more than incident metering, and figure AE is the main justifcation for a camera's built-in meter... Hey what I'd really like is a wireless connection between incident meter and camera to provide the data to the camera for AE!
 
350D_user said:
So, instead of using f16, you use f11 and apply the same "Match shutterspeed to filmspeed" thing?

This I've gotta have a go at. 😀
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Yup, but if I'm using 400asa I'll set shutter to 1/200th and use "Sunny 16" - but my mind works in mysterious ways 🙄
 
Good one

Good one

ZorkiKat said:
Take out palm, place under light, and say, "uh, this looks like an f/6,3 @ 1/100 sec!".....sorry couldn't resist! 😀

But I do think that this was the way the more seasoned Leica folk did it in their heydey.

Regarding metering, if you're shooting with BW or colour negs, metering isn't too critical. Incident readings will probably be relevant 2% of the time when you're doing outdoor shoots. Reflective metering will likely figure more. It's using meters properly which counts more than which mode to use. Meters are afterall brainless devices, so intelligent decisions based on what the meter gives will lead to good exposures.

Jay
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Now I'm going to try this!
 
"Sunny 11" here in northern New York state unless I'm at a sandy beach or outdoors with snow on the ground when "sunny 16" works. Indoors, with ASA 400 B&W film, f2.8 at 1/60th for commerical illumination (stores, indoor public places) and 1/30th at f2 for residential indoor lighting.

I use a Weston IV but it is really only needed in not-common situations such as deep shodow on a cloudy day or a stage in a dark auditorium.

Don't obsess about the lack of TTL metering, bracket and learn.
 
I prefer the incident light, normally, or the 1° spot metering, with my Gossen Starlite. On the Leica M2, also, i use a Sekonic 208, both in incident or reflected light. I own also a Sekonic 398 M with selenium cell: this device i use only in incident light measurement.
Ciao.
Vincenzo
 
For maximum accuracy, you need incident for slides (exposure keyed to highlights) and spot for negative (exposure keyed to shadows).

With B+W you don't need maximum accuracy but should always err on the side of overexposure: 'favour' (= 'point the meter vaguely towards') the shadows.

Or guess. The more experience you have, the better this works.

Cheers,

Roger
 
"Sunny F/11" for me as well here in the Netherlands, and work from there.

I do have a working vintage Selenium meter (General Electrics from the 1940s), but I've never bothered to actually use it.
 
For BW negs: a handheld reflected meter or any in-camera meter (both with proper mental "zone system" compensation). If I have meterless camera, even Sunny f16 will do, but only in range f16 to f5.6 - in dimmer light I always use a meter.

For slides: an OM-4Ti's multi-spot metering (again, with proper "zone system" compensation). Best metering ever.
 
Weston master IV here. One thing I learned some time ago is that I'm utterly useless at "guessing" exposure. Even with film latitude my estimations aren't good enough. I do try and figure it out before using the meter out but I still can't get the hang of it...
 
When I'm out and about I use the meter in the camera (FM2, M5 or M6TTL) and, if circumstances permit, double check using a Gossen Digiflash in incident mode. I do have a spotmeter but tend to leave it at home. When developing film (monochrome) I try to visualise the contrast of the original scene and make appropriate adjustments. Film 'latitude' is a myth -- even for monochrome top class results require accurate metering and appropriate processing.
 
lawrence said:
Film 'latitude' is a myth -- even for monochrome top class results require accurate metering and appropriate processing.
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I hate that. Here I am looking at a book showing a buch of images taken from negatives shot from 1/128 normal exposure to 512 time normal exposure and it seems to show that film actually does have an exposure latitude. But thanks for the heads up.

Source: Photographic Materials and Processes, Stroebel, et al, page 111.
 
A very handy...

A very handy...

jkelly said:
What's a meter? 😉
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device from transforming persons into subjects.
Stop 2 feet from your model hold the device in his/her direction - don't look at them! - keep you eyes fixed at the devices scale and mutter something like "Hmmm.." or "harumph" make disapproving sounds.
So every model get's the message it's not about his or her picture being taken it's about you the photographer.
And that's just one way of metering people into submission!

...😛 Sorry it just came to my mind what I did when making my first portraits using a meter!
 
Depends on what you mean by 'exposure latitude'. If you mean simply 'getting an image' then yes, of course it exists, but if you mean 'getting an easily printable negative' then exposure/processing accuracy is vital. The fact is that any significant change in exposure/processing will show up in the print E.g. less exposure = less shadow detail; more development = more contrast/grain. Personally I always hated the technical stuff but eventually learned it because I messed up too many great shots as a result of technical incompetence.
 
I'm so pleased to learn that other folks use 'sunny 11' over 'sunny 16', I thought it was just me 🙂

Unless it's a shoot-now-or-miss-it type shot however, I prefer to meter using a Sekonic L-208 TwinMate in incident mode (tiny, lovely thing). Generally I'll take a reading in sun and another in shade and memorize the results, then just switch between them as required. I only get the meter out again if the light changes dramatically.
 
Finder said:
I hate that. Here I am looking at a book showing a buch of images taken from negatives shot from 1/128 normal exposure to 512 time normal exposure and it seems to show that film actually does have an exposure latitude. But thanks for the heads up.

Source: Photographic Materials and Processes, Stroebel, et al, page 111.
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Seconded. Kodak's 'first excellent print' research (on which modern film speeds are based) relies on the fact that quality drops off a cliff face with underexposure but then shows relatively little change with overexposure for at least 2-3 stops for most films before deteriorating again.

A lot depends on what you call 'quality', too. With conventional B+W, less exposure = higher sharpness and finer grain; more exposure often = better tonality. You have to choose the trade-off at the levels you want. This is why I stressed in my book 'Perfect Exposure' that while there is no such thing as a correct exposure (because exposure is not fully objective), there can very well be a perfect exposure, defined as giving exactly the effect you want.
 
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