What is your Light Metering Routine with Meterless Leicas?

What is your Light Metering Routine with Meterless Leicas?

  • I meter every shot using an incident meter

    Votes: 27 6.0%

  • I meter every shot using a reflective meter

    Votes: 15 3.3%

  • I spot meter an important object in the scene

    Votes: 4 0.9%

  • I spot meter shadows and highlights and place them based on the zone system

    Votes: 9 2.0%

  • I meter only once and keep shooting so long the light has not changed

    Votes: 239 52.9%

  • I meter once and then keep shooting

    Votes: 25 5.5%

  • Sunny 16 is good enough for me

    Votes: 101 22.3%

  • What's a meter?

    Votes: 32 7.1%
  • Total voters
    452
H

haziz

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So what is your light metering routine with meterless Leicas (M2-M4)?

I am looking for what you actually do rather than what you think should be done. I am particularly interested in whether you meter every shot or just meter once and keep shooting unless the light changes significantly.

By all means post below to elaborate on your response.

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Hany.
 
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I've been using a IIIf in NYC for the past week.

I carry a Pentax spot meter in my pocket for emergencies. But I just got my first roll back today and all frames look pretty decent on the little contact print and I maybe checked with the meter two or three times.

Otherwise, my build-in Cranium '54 meter did the metering. I'm thrilled to find that I can exist without a light meter -- that I can trust myself to read the light, set the camera accordingly, and get well exposed pictures.

Gawd, it's fun to use this old camera. And the attention I get from people is a blast. I get stopped +/- half a dozen times a day to talk about my camera.

Looks like I have at least two new friends so far because of it.
 
I'll give my answer, even though I no longer own an M.

With a meterless camera, I will take one reading, and if the lighting doesn't change, I'll continue to shoot. If the light changes or the location changes, then I take another reading.

I tend not to meter every shot with b/w and color print film.

With slide film, I tend to meter every shot or will do quick and frequent checks. You just don't have as much room for metering mistakes with transparency film.
 
If I'm unsure of the light, I'll generally take a reading and then keep shooting so long as the light hasn't changed.

However, it's amazing how well Sunny 16 works. If I'm in full sun I just know I'll be using f/11 at 1/250th, I don't need to take a reading. If there's a slight haze or a little bit of cloud cover I'll open up a stop. If there's open shade or a little more cloud cover I'll open another stop. If it's overcast I have a pretty good feeling I'll be around f/5.6 and 1/250, but I'll check myself occasionally to make sure.

If I'm going from brighter areas to areas that are significantly darker and vice versa I'll sometimes take a reading as my eyes will occasionally be fooled by the change.

If I'm shooting in the late afternoon for an extended period I'll take occasional readings as the light will gradually but subtly weaken, and if I'm too zoned in on photographing I might not notice.

Though I occasionally bemoan the fact, not having an in-camera meter forced me to pay attention to the light in such a way that I'm now a much better photographer for it.
 
bobby_novatron said:
Bogotron --> well said ... you summed it up perfectly. Not using a meter requires one to really pay attention to conditions, in a way that's much more satisfying in the end.
Click to expand...

I'll second (or third?) that! It really is a nice feeling of accomplishment when you look at your negs and realize that, yes, you do know your light!
 
40+ years of experience. When I check my guess against a meter, if we disagree, it's usually because the meter needs interpreting (backlighting, unusually light or dark subject, etc.) and my guess is what's needed. Increasingly, to my own surprise, I find that I don't even have to think: before I raise the camera to my eye, I set the shutter and aperture without being consciously aware of the settings. Bear in mind that I take many hundreds (probably even a few thousands) of photos a year, and have done so for decades.

Having said this, I do guess wrong occasionally, so I meter if (a) I'm not sure and (b) I have time. In any case, I mostly use metered Leicas nowadays (MP, M9) so the camera normally confirms my setting.

With MF and LF it's incident for slide, spot for negative (colour or mono). Again, unless I'm in a hurry with my Alpa.

Cheers,

R.
 
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ZeissFan said:
I'll give my answer, even though I no longer own an M.

With a meterless camera, I will take one reading, and if the lighting doesn't change, I'll continue to shoot. If the light changes or the location changes, then I take another reading.

I tend not to meter every shot with b/w and color print film.

With slide film, I tend to meter every shot or will do quick and frequent checks. You just don't have as much room for metering mistakes with transparency film.
Click to expand...

I do the same.
 
I meter the shadows, meter the highlights and average the two, and go for that. If a scene looks to have more shadows, I weight the exposure more that way, vice versa for highlight heaven. I usually use an incident meter.
 
haziz said:
To those that usually meter and then shoot the rest of the roll so long the light has not changed; do you use an incident, reflective or spot meter?
Click to expand...

That massive answer here and on a previous identical thread amazes me... That can work only if apart from being the same unchanged light we point and shoot exactly in the same direction... Of course the negative will show an image in any case, but mistakes, and huge ones sometimes, are a common thing with fixed settings when we aim in several directions...

Cheers,

Juan
 
My answer is:

Under direct sun I don't meter.

On shadows or overcast I don't need to meter either, but I can check if I've got the time.

In low light I meter incident always: in the beginning, every time the light has changed and every time I aim elsewhere.

Cheers,

Juan
 
I used to meter once in shadow and bright light and work in between the two.

Nowadays I don't even bother with the meter, guesstimating is how I like to shoot, doesn't slow me down.
 
Am surprised how many just meter (or guess) once, and keep shooting. I am spoilt with my metered leica, and meter everytime. With my M2 i often carry a meter, but the inconvenient fumbling around with an external meter quickly gets to me, and I check less often. BUT, the idea of being relatively free of the meter/battery is very appealing. I thinkl I'm going to try and shoot a couple of rolls with no meter on me at all !
Once I get good at it, maybe I can be happy with my M2, and not dream of an MP !!
 
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Actually I went from using aperture priority and trusting the internal meter of the M9 to fully manual. Therefore I bought a lightmeter and now have a digital M2/4 😉 Overall, my exposures are already improved. I usually meter one the prevailing light condition than everytime I feel there is a significant change in light.
 
srtiwari said:
Am surprised how many just meter (or guess) once, and keep shooting. I am spoilt with my metered leica, and meter everytime. With my M2 i often carry a meter, but the inconvenient fumbling around with an external meter quickly gets to me, and I check less often. BUT, the idea of being relatively free of the meter/battery is very appealing. I thinkl I'm going to try and shoot a couple of rolls with no meter on me at all !
Once I get good at it, maybe I can be happy with my M2, and not dream of an MP !!
Click to expand...

If you mark f16 1/asa on the meter with a sticker it's easy to just press the button and then count how many stops off the light is from there, takes seconds and with an incident meter is pretty accurate
 
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