No meter, no big deal

[kshapero]

My go to film camera these days, is my old but sturdy Nikon F with a meterless Prism. I keep an app on my iPhone (Lux), but usually just eyeball the situation and change aperture and shutter speed on the fly. A whole different experience which I highly recommend. Why? Because if you want to be fully in the creative process, then learning to expose with your eye and your mind increases the process many times over. And besides you never have to worry about batteries. 😀 My two cents. 🙂

 

[ptpdprinter]

Why? Because if you want to be fully in the creative process, then learning to expose with your eye and your mind increases the process many times over. 🙂

Could you elaborate?

 

[jsrockit]

Why? Because if you want to be fully in the creative process, then learning to expose with your eye and your mind increases the process many times over. And besides you never have to worry about batteries. 😀 My two cents. 🙂

While I understand what you mean, these days I feel the creative process mostly happens within the frame not in the technical. Of course, without the technical aspects of photography then you might not pull off what you intended within your frame. I have no problem relying on a meter if it lets me concentrate on what's within my frame more.

 

[dmr]

I think that most experienced photographers are confident enough to do manual exposure under many common situations. Many outdoor scenes are total no-brainers, actually.

I daresay that most of us started out using cameras which offered little or no exposure control, a Brownie Starflash in my case. You really didn't even think of exposure, except you developed a sense of what scenes would and would not produce an acceptable image.

 

[Swift1]

My go to film camera these days, is my old but sturdy Nikon F with a meterless Prism. I keep an app on my iPhone (Lux), but usually just eyeball the situation and change aperture and shutter speed on the fly. A whole different experience which I highly recommend. Why? Because if you want to be fully in the creative process, then learning to expose with your eye and your mind increases the process many times over. And besides you never have to worry about batteries. 😀 My two cents. 🙂

I agree.
I learned more about exposure and light by just going out and shooting without using a meter than I ever learned from the myriad of books I've read on the subject.

 

[ptpdprinter]

I think that most experienced photographers are confident enough to do manual exposure under many common situations.

I don't disagree with you statement, which is a far cry from saying you can be "more fully in the creative process" "many times over" by not using a meter. The proffered theory makes about as much sense as saying you can be more fully in the creative process many times over by just sticking your finger in the developer to determine temperature, counting to yourself instead of relying on a timer, and agitating free form according to how you feel at the moment. If technical aspects of your photography get in the way of your creativity, then you need more practice so they become second nature.

 

[Gerry M]

I agree.
I learned more about exposure and light by just going out and shooting without using a meter than I ever learned from the myriad of books I've read on the subject.

Colton is at least as accurate as my LunaPro SBC. Maybe more so!

 

[kshapero]

I think that most experienced photographers are confident enough to do manual exposure under many common situations. Many outdoor scenes are total no-brainers, actually.

I daresay that most of us started out using cameras which offered little or no exposure control, a Brownie Starflash in my case. You really didn't even think of exposure, except you developed a sense of what scenes would and would not produce an acceptable image.

I respectfully disagree, I think most folks here under 35 (not all) I have no idea what I am talking about, as they grew up on auto everything.

 

[MCTuomey]

well, whatever works for you ... isn't necessarily what works for me.

i shoot to make the best exposure i can, sometimes full manual, sometimes AE. i like flexibility in my cameras.

 

[Contarama]

My go to film camera these days, is my old but sturdy Nikon F with a meterless Prism. I keep an app on my iPhone (Lux), but usually just eyeball the situation and change aperture and shutter speed on the fly. A whole different experience which I highly recommend. Why? Because if you want to be fully in the creative process, then learning to expose with your eye and your mind increases the process many times over. And besides you never have to worry about batteries. 😀 My two cents. 🙂

Amen bro! I am the same except a F2. I do it with my Df too! In fact I do it with every camera I pick up. If I may say I have gotten pretty darn good at it over the years.

 

[maggieo]

I think that most experienced photographers are confident enough to do manual exposure under many common situations. Many outdoor scenes are total no-brainers, actually.

I daresay that most of us started out using cameras which offered little or no exposure control, a Brownie Starflash in my case. You really didn't even think of exposure, except you developed a sense of what scenes would and would not produce an acceptable image.

Yup.

I mean, Sunny 16- BOOM! DONE!

That said, if things look a little tricky with deep shadows, I'll whip out my iPhone and use the light meter app to double-check myself.

 

[ptpdprinter]

I daresay that most of us started out using cameras which offered little or no exposure control, a Brownie Starflash in my case. You really didn't even think of exposure, except you developed a sense of what scenes would and would not produce an acceptable image.

I too used a Brownie Starflash when I was young. Outdoors, press the shutter. Indoors, use a flashbulb and press the shutter. I later graduated to an Instamatic 104. The only differences were loading the film was a lot easier, and indoors I used a flashcube instead of a flashbulb. I guess with no thought about exposure, I was more fully in the creative process many times over. Undoubtedly, my best work is behind me.

 

[ptpdprinter]

I mean, Sunny 16- BOOM! DONE! That said, if things look a little tricky with deep shadows, I'll whip out my iPhone and use the light meter app to double-check myself.

I mean, match needle - BOOM! DONE! No need to whip out (or even carry) my iPhone.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

Not one mention of the film we are talking about. That's going to confuse some people.

FWIW, I'll risk funny 16 for B&W film in boring conditions but bracketing makes me happier then.

And there are some situations, even with B&W, where I go from CW to spot using the camera's system and still bracket the exposure.

I'd drag in incident light as well but it's late at night here...

Regards, David

 

[David Hughes]

I respectfully disagree, I think most folks here under 35 (not all) I have no idea what I am talking about, as they grew up on auto everything.

Um, should the third "I" be deleted? As in "I have no idea...".

Regards, David

 

[Deklari]

Hi,

Not one mention of the film we are talking about. That's going to confuse some people.

FWIW, I'll risk funny 16 for B&W film in boring conditions but bracketing makes me happier then.

And there are some situations, even with B&W, where I go from CW to spot using the camera's system and still bracket the exposure.

I'd drag in incident light as well but it's late at night here...

Regards, David

Totally agree. Film is matter. B&W work fine in most of case. But "learning expose" on slide film.. not for my income 😉

 

[easyrider]

Just a reminder: My Rollei MX has an exposure table on its back. Mind you, just ASA 100 and 50. Says things like "sunlight," "cloudy," etc. I agree, however, that color slide film calls for a meter -- just like Kodachrome did.

 

[tunalegs]

I don't disagree with you statement, which is a far cry from saying you can be "more fully in the creative process" "many times over" by not using a meter. The proffered theory makes about as much sense as saying you can be more fully in the creative process many times over by just sticking your finger in the developer to determine temperature, counting to yourself instead of relying on a timer, and agitating free form according to how you feel at the moment. If technical aspects of your photography get in the way of your creativity, then you need more practice so they become second nature.

It does actually make a modicum of sense. If one just exposes as the meter in their camera tells them, they're not really thinking about how they want the image to look, and often in tricky situations won't get the exposure they want anyway. Meters are easily fooled, and relying entirely on the machine makes photography into a paint-by-numbers affair.

 

[ptpdprinter]

It does actually make a modicum of sense. If one just exposes as the meter in their camera tells them, they're not really thinking about how they want the image to look, and often in tricky situations won't get the exposure they want anyway. Meters are easily fooled, and relying entirely on the machine makes photography into a paint-by-numbers affair.

You make the assumption that the photographer doesn't know how to use a meter. I guess we should also make the assumption that the photographer without a meter doesn't know anything about exposure either.

 

[tunalegs]

You make the assumption that the photographer doesn't know how to use a meter. I guess we should also make the assumption that the photographer without a meter doesn't know anything about exposure either.

You conflate somebody knowing how to use a meter with somebody knowing how to judge exposure. Two related, but different things. 🙂

One can know how to use a meter without knowing anything about exposure beyond how to expose as the meter tells them to.