How many people use spot meters versus incident/reflected?

[logan]

I'm just curious, given the choices in meters - do you use a spot meter or a reflected/incident meter - and if so - is it mounted on the camera or not?

I guess in Ansel Adams book he advocates for using a spot meter - to use the zone system and/or a gray card effectively.

 

[rogue_designer]

It depends on what I'm shooting, in what circumstance, and with what camera.

With my view camera and BW film - I use my spot meter 90% of the time.

With MF cameras (usually color neg and slides) I use incident meters 90% of the time.

With 35mm rangefinders (mine are meterless) I use a handheld reflective meter about 60% of the time, and switch it to incident for the other 40% - unless I'm in sunny 16 mode.

This is out in the field anyway. In the studio I use all three, to read different things, and generate exposure based off of all of them.

FWIW - I find that for me, the Zone system really works best if you can adjust development for each individual exposure (+/-N dev). Hard to do with rollfilm, so I don't worry about it as long as my shadows and highlights are within the range I want them for a given film and expected processing.

 

[BillBingham2]

My incident meter also has a spot attachment that I have, but rarely use. L-318, a small digital meter that takes a single AA battery. Great form factor and very accurate.

B2 (;->

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I don't use a spot meter versus an reflected/incident light meter. I use it in conjunction with them as appropriate.

I think an incident light meter is often more useful.

If we all knew how to use an incident light meter perfectly, and/or we had the time to think about it, there wouldn't be so many implementations of reflected light meter algorithms.

 

[ruben]

I am using a spot lately. Biggie but efficient.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[dazedgonebye]

Incident most often.
Spot when I'm doing landscapes or architecture.

 

[maddoc]

I'm more or less like rogue_designer, it all depends what I'm shooting.
I've noticed something strange. Some days I'll meter very carefuly every shot and other days I'll just take a reading when I get out of my car and more or less stick with that, but checking my contact sheets I couldn't tell which method I'd used with which film!...

Exactly my style, too ! Somedays, I meter every single shot (reflective or spot with Hasselblad) and somedays, I meter once and stick with it (small variations). Either way, it seems to work for me.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Incident for slide film, Spot for print film (color or BW). If I am shooting 35mm, I usually use the built in spot meter on my Olympus OM-4T even with slide film, but I use the incident meter or handheld spot meter for my other cameras.

 

[jbf]

Honestly I do not have time to thinka bout using a spot meter for my shooting. Spot metering is something I would only do with something such as a landscape of some sort. No way in the world could you spot meter a fastly moving and quick paced street life...

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Honestly I do not have time to thinka bout using a spot meter for my shooting. Spot metering is something I would only do with something such as a landscape of some sort. No way in the world could you spot meter a fastly moving and quick paced street life...

Its not hard with a camera that has a good built in spot system like the Olympus OM-4. That camera's system is incredibly fast to operate once you learn it. I agree with you if we're talking handheld spot meters, I have one of those too and its only used for tripod mounted cameras shooting landscapes and architecture.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I've noticed something strange. Some days I'll meter very carefuly every shot and other days I'll just take a reading when I get out of my car and more or less stick with that, but checking my contact sheets I couldn't tell which method I'd used with which film!...

Exactly. And do I know whether I used a 1,5/50 C-Sonnar or 1/50 Noctilux? Or 35/1.4 pre-aspheric Summilux or 35/1.7 Ultron?

Sometimes yes (the coma in the Summilux is a giveaway, for example) but most of the time no, because I'm look at the picture, not the bokeh, the vignetting, or any of the other stuff that the internet-pundit test-chart-shooters care so much about.

I can tell in trannies more often, but with a mono or indeed colour neg, or the M8, there are so many other factors at work that I don't really worry very much.

But to return the the thread, with non-metered Leicas I nomally guess, or use a shoe-mount meter (interpreted as needed); with metered Leicas (surprise!) I use the meter, again interpreted as needed; and with MF and LF I generally use incident for tranny and spot for neg (much less interpretation needed).

Cheers,

R.

 

[raid]

I've always used a spotmeter when I started out with SLR cameras and using slide film. I tried to choose only SLR cameras that had built-in spotmeters, so I favored the Canon SLR's over the Nikon SLR's because the Canon F1N had a spotmeter screen and the T90 had a spotmeter. With the M6, I use the camera meter but may still have as back-up my Pentax Digital Spotmeter with me too.
When I am lazy, I guess the exposure, and usually I get the right exposure.

 

[rxmd]

I never used one until getting the M5, which has sort of a spotty meter. Now I've got the M5 and a T90 and especially with the latter I find myself experimenting around quite a lot with the spot meter, both for visible light photography and flash, and it feels like a quite precise approach to metering.

 

[jolefler]

For years

For years

I depended on the cw/avg in my F2 and Nikkormats. Later in my photo history I learned enough to use them in conjunction with a basic understanding of the zone system. Now I'm into Barnacks, so I guess at it (whaddda disaster at times). If I ABSOLUTELY need to have the pic (replacing digital family documentation or fine art attempts) I'll use a Sekonic seleinium with the incident attachments. I'm a dinosaur, Whaddovit?

 

[Rayt]

I carry a Minolta spotmeter F. An incident meter is not helpful if where you are standing has a different EV than where the subject is standing. If you want incident measurement from the spot meter then just meter a grey card.

 

[Al Kaplan]

I either use a Minolta Autometer or Weston Master V, both in incident mode for serious shooting. Otherwise I either guess or meter off my hand. I've never owned a spot meter.

 

[Doug]

I'd think a sophisticated spot system like the Olympus OM4 has would be advantageous for digital cameras; on the other hand a histogram display is said to be the ultimate light meter.

A spot meter is useful when you cannot easily put yourself into the same light as the subject, such as various points in an expansive landscape or in theatre photography for example. I got a Pentax Digital Spotmeter for my wife to use when she was doing a a lot of theatre work but never have used it myself. Nor have I found reason to use the spotmeter feature available in a couple of my cameras.

If I'm going to use a hand-held meter, I prefer an incident meter, and just refer to it occasionally, then bias the settings based on experience. But I do respect matrix metering (such as the Bronica RF645 has) built-in, and auto-exposure the main rationale! Useful for fast-changing conditions.

 

[moonwrack]

With monochrome and my Leica M4-P I just estimate the exposure. If using reversal film I use a spotmeter. I also have a Weston V, which is fine for incident readings. When using the Weston in reflected light mode I need to take more time to get an effective reading: probably been using the spotmeter too long and become used to its accuracy.

 

[bmattock]

I use the camera's internal meter if I am shooting digital or feeling lazy. When I want full control of my exposure, I tend to shoot with a Sekonic L-358 with the 1-degree spotmeter attachment my wife gave me a few years back. Used it this weekend in fact. Works a treat.

 

[Nokton48]

For nearly thirty years I have used a Zove VI modified Pentax Digital Meter. I can't recall ever getting a bad exposure with it; It's dead accurate, and now a bit beat-up. Recently got my new Minolta SR-M body,which has no meter, so I bought a Minolta Autometer from the Rangefinder Classifieds, and a Minolta Auto-Spot 1, on Ebay both of which agree with my Pentax.

With my new M2 I use the sunny-16 guidelines outside, when shooting XX film. Negs are looking -good-.