Hexar AF in the snow - how well will the meter do?

[Tijmendal]

Hi,

I'm going to the high-alpine regions of the Alps next week to tourski and I want to bring my Hexar to shoot some pics. I was wondering how well the meter in the Hexar will do. I'll be sleeping at 2300m/7500' and will be up to 3000m/9000'. The sun will be very powerful at those altitude. Combine that with the plentiful snow there's been and the meter/3 feet in the forecast and I expect everything to be very white.
I was wondering if anyone has experience with shooting the Hexar AF in snow, especially at those altitudes/in those conditions. I think the meter on the Hexar is GREAT and it can't easily be fooled but I don't know about those conditions.
I've also been thinking about bringing an ND filter, but I'm not sure if I'll need to.

Thanks.

 

[Mablo]

Bringing a ND filter (two stops) is a good idea IMO. You'll need it. Hexar AF is equipped with one of the very best in-camera meters I've experienced. Unfortunately it cannot tell the difference between snow white and middle gray. In general terms you need to overexpose by two stops in snowy daylight conditions. I like to shoot Tri-X @ EI 100 and develop it accordingly. I get lovely white snowy landscapes and there's still some texture on the snow. Most b&w films can take two stops of overexposure quite easily if you cut down the developing time.

 

[Tijmendal]

Bringing a ND filter (two stops) is a good idea IMO. You'll need it. Hexar AF is equipped with one of the very best in-camera meters I've experienced. Unfortunately it cannot tell the difference between snow white and middle gray. In general terms you need to overexpose by two stops in snowy daylight conditions. I like to shoot Tri-X @ EI 100 and develop it accordingly. I get lovely white snowy landscapes and there's still some texture on the snow. Most b&w films can take two stops of overexposure quite easily if you cut down the developing time.

Thanks!
That's good to hear! Especially about the Tri-X, since that's my go-to film.
Overexposing two stops and just let the camera do it's work will give me good results?
If I use an ND filter I'll have to use the manual mode I reckon, right?

 

[Gary Sandhu]

You could get a handheld incident meter and expose manually.

 

[lcpr]

Just dial in an extra stop of exposure compensation using the rocker buttons on the top (press 'select' until the shot counter is replaced by +/- 0.0, then use the rocker buttons to add the extra stop). The only thing that will concern me about the Hexar AF is that its IR focusing system can be fooled when it's foggy or if the snow's thick enough to bounce back the IR beam being sent out by the camera.

 

[Tijmendal]

You could get a handheld incident meter and expose manually.

I could do that, but my meter, a Sekonic 558, is pretty darn big and I'd rather bring something small that could easily fit my pocket. This will definitely give me the correct exposure though.
I've heard about exposing from the back/front of your hand to give a correct exposure, instead of using an incident meter?

Just dial in an extra stop of exposure compensation using the rocker buttons on the top (press 'select' until the shot counter is replaced by +/- 0.0, then use the rocker buttons to add the extra stop). The only thing that will concern me about the Hexar AF is that its IR focusing system can be fooled when it's foggy or if the snow's thick enough to bounce back the IR beam being sent out by the camera.

Thanks. I didn't know about that last part. Would that be possible? I reckon that would only be a problem when taking close-ups of snow right? I don't think I'll be doing that a whole lot.

 

[philosli]

I have used it in this winter in the snow (but not in the high altitude). You'll definitely need a ND filter, and you can consider slow films. With no ND filter at that time, and HP5+ @ ISO 400, F22 + 1/250 didn't cut it, about 1-1.5 stops over when sun was out. Though BW films are tolerant to over exposure, ND gives you more control.

Metering the back or front of your hands can give you a correct exposure, if you "calibrate" the measurement first against a grey card. I did that all the time before I got my light meter. But using this trick on Hexar AF might not be as convenient as using it on a SLR, since you need to aim the meter, which is not TTL, toward one of your hands, which is close to you. Anyway, you can do a quick experiment at home to see if it works well. Take a grey card and meter it using your Hexar AF meter, write down the exposure value. Then under the same lighting condition, meter the back or front of your hand, and write down the second exposure value. The difference between the two would be the one you'll need to compensate when you're in the field. Do this multiple times and under different lighting conditions.

Or you can consider using the zone system with the spot meter of your Hexar (in M mode). With BW films, place your snow highlight in zone 7 or 8 (2/3 stops over), or meter the clear northern sky, which should be in zone 5 (no compensation), or meter the shadow that you still want details and place it at zone 3 (2 stops under) or as some people suggest zone 4.

 

[Landshark]

Any reflected meter will give under exposure unless corrected . Easiest way is to use the compensation dial recommended above. I would give + 2 stops rather than one.

 

[Tijmendal]

Any reflected meter will give under exposure unless corrected . Easiest way is to use the compensation dial recommended above. I would give + 2 stops rather than one.

Ok, that's probably a good idea. Especially at those elevations. Does it matter much if it's early or late?