metering light: MP or separate meter?

[Peter G1G2]

Hi all,

my MP is due this week 🙂

I'm considering the Sekonic 758 DR, but I don't like the idea of bringing extra gear everytime I go out shooting...

How do MP users measure their exposure?

- internal meter (is it really that good?)

- external meter (which one, and why?)

Thanks,

Peter

 

[mervynyan]

i have both MP and 758, the meter is invaluable. it can be used for more than one camera. 1/10 of stop is not easy to translate to 1/2.

 

[alexz]

M6 (or MP) own meter (a big spot-like) + somewhat trained zone system evaluation skills ...found it enough even for Sensia slides in most cases...

 

[peter_n]

Congrats on the new cam Peter! 🙂 The meters in the modern Leicas are excellent. I use the M7 but I also carry an external meter mostly for incident light readings. My meter is a Quantum Calculight-XP; it reads down to -7EV at 100ISO so it's great for very dark situations.

 

[Rod Fung]

Having a hand-held incident meter is always advantageous though it's an extra thing to carry and then use. For your hand-held, if you are talking an incident meter vs. a spot meter, you will have the advantage of getting a true reading of light falling 'on a subject' rather than the reflected light that sometimes can throw your internal camera meter off (such as if the person/object you are shooting is something darker or lighter than 12% grey). Even though they are advantages to having an incident meter I do not carry one and use the internal meters on my M6 and M8; prefering to adjust exposure depending on the object matters reflective color, ie: if the subject is wearing black you know that you need to compensate in your internal exposure. I also sometime uses my hand as the guide for the 12% grey standard and use my internal camera meter aiming at my hand to get an exposure value.

Congrats on your new MP purchase!. Since the Sekonic 758 DR is both an incident and spot it covers everything you'll need and its a good one to choose if you want to carry it with you in the field.

 

[StuartR]

Assuming you learn how to use it, the meter in the MP is very accurate...more accurate than the shutter anyway. I have never found it necessary to use a handheld meter with it, even with slide film. A meter that reads to 1/10th of a stop is overkill when the shutter is only accurate to 1/3rd of a stop...and even then, you can only adjust in 1/2 stop increments anyway. Either way, you would be hard pressed to see the difference of a 1/10th of a stop in real world situations. The 758 DR is nearly as big as the camera, so unless you are doing some serious flash work I would forget it. Just try shooting with the camera and see how it goes. Bring a grey card if you are worried.