M6: how to meter? In-camera vs. hand-held

[stormbytes]

Of all the novelty in transitioning to RF, metering has for me, held the greatest challenge. With traditional SLRs, the task is straight-foward: Place the spot on the shadows or, in the case of manual Nikon SLRs (CW), the outer-crown of the split-image circle, close down a stop or two and fire away! My new M6-Ttl has Leica-M's lens-dependent metering circle which, with my 50mm summicron, makes for a huge metering area. I'm finding it hard to 'find' something big enough to fill it, in SLR-style metering.

I'm exclusively a B/W shooter; meticulous about testing my film and development to optimize for both scanning and traditional darkroom printing. I've heard that Leica's light meter is "pretty good" for scenes containing a balance of dark and light subject matter. Should I abandon my tried-and-true method of metering shadows and put my faith in Leica's one-size-fits-all metering philosophy? Or is there more to this picture I'm not seeing?

 

[Steinberg2010]

I had a similar issue with my new (to me) M5, I was using a 35mm lens (I'm normally a 50mm person) and found that all my photos were about a stop or so under-exposed. Since I normally sunny-16 with my M3, I could only conclude that the sky was confusing the meter. Since I was trusting the meter more than my instinct I got thin negs...

~S

 

[stormbytes]

I carried out a simple test to see how accurate the M6's built-in meter was when compared to my trusty, hand-held Seikonic L-398M.

The setup was a simple still-life scene containing a variety of tonal values. I metered with my L-398 and compared to readings obtained by pointing the M6 (at less then 2') at a gray card placed in the scene.

The M6 values were within 1/3 f/stop to those from the L-398. The resulting Tri-x negative (crop attached) was developed in Diafine and scanned using Nikon LS-4000 with no in-scanner correction applied. I used levels & a simple (light) s-curve.

 

[Lflex]

The M6 does not have a huge metering circle on the contrary the M6 has a very precise meter and a well defined circle. You just have to learn to visualize the circle relative to the framelines of your lens. Remove the lens at look at the metering circle. When you metally understand how big a part of the image is the metering area, you will appreciate the properties of this meter.

 

[robbeiflex]

Interesting. Why meter a gray card rather than the scene itself? Or better yet why not try both?

Thanks,
Rob

 

[stormbytes]

Lflex -

I appreciate your confidence in the precision of the M6 metering system. I never said it wasn't precise, and 'huge' is a qualitative term which I use to describe the size of the metering circle in relation to *my* lens - the Summicron 50mm and the overall frame size when using it.

As for visualizing the metered circle - again, pretty straight forward when considering its placement within the 75mm crop lines which sit within the 50mm crop lines.

My question was in regards to metering techniques in the general context of the considerations I've outlined in my opening post.

Below is a crop directly from Leica's manual which shows how the metering circle varies with lens focal length.

 

[stormbytes]

Interesting. Why meter a gray card rather than the scene itself? Or better yet why not try both?

Thanks,
Rob

I tested to determine film speed (first time using Leica's mechanical shutter) as well as to compare the built-in meter to a "known quantity". Metering the 'average' of the whole scene (M-style) isn't nearly as telling; determining the efficacy of this method will require a lot more testing with different scenes, subjects and lighting - but I certainly intend to give it a shot 🙂

 

[Lflex]

All I am saying is that if you develop a good feeling for the relative size of the grey spot on the shutter curtain you instintively know how much of the frameline area is metering area. It is not hard if you invest a little time - as you did when you learned your nikon's behavior.

 

[Richard G]

I have hand held meters and meter-less cameras and took years to trust my M6 and still do a poor-man's incident reading, from my palm. Fact is with the all the book knowledge, skill with sunny 16, hand held meter etc, I could do a lot lot worse than just balance those two little LEDs and be done with it. The M6 meter is scarily good. After all, the automatic exposure M7 runs on the same system.

 

[stormbytes]

I have hand held meters and meter-less cameras and took years to trust my M6 and still do a poor-man's incident reading, from my palm.

What do you mean by 'trust' your M6 meter? Do you just point, expose and hope the M6 knows best or is there some more to the method?

 

[Richard G]

What do you mean by 'trust' your M6 meter? Do you just point, expose and hope the M6 knows best or is there some more to the method?

So often doing just that: balancing the two little LEDs in the viewfinder will work. The M6 manual itself warns about snow scenes etc that can confound a reflected light reading, but for most subjects thinking so much is just not necessary. Not that I will learn to stop doing it.

 

[freax]

So often doing just that: balancing the two little LEDs in the viewfinder will work. The M6 manual itself warns about snow scenes etc that can confound a reflected light reading, but for most subjects thinking so much is just not necessary. Not that I will learn to stop doing it.

I always point to grass when possible for metering which reflects +- the 18% of incident light. In Portugal we have a lot of them 🙂

 

[35mmdelux]

I've been using the in-camera meter for 20 years. Sometimes I carry a handheld meter simply for hell of it. HCB took a sunny-16 reading. Film has a wide latitude for developing. I say take the shot and don't sweat the details unless you're shooting trannies.

 

[Trius]

The M6 manual itself warns about snow scenes etc that can confound a reflected light reading

That's been in the manual of every camera with built-in metering that I've ever seen.

As to why use a grey card when testing ... uh, it's the very basis of how a photo light meter works.