Spotmeter for street photography

[Jamie123]

I'm actually not sure if this is the right forum page for this so moderators, feel free to move it if it belongs somewhere else.

My problem is this. I bought a Hasselblad 501CM a while ago and got a Pentax digital spotmeter with it. Now for landscape and still life etc. it's perfect. I meter the darkest and the lightest part of the image and use the average of those two values.

Today, however, I went out to do some street photography with it and realized that it was a little trickier. I metered the back of my hand which worked fine but most of the images were overexposed.

Any ideas on how to best use a spotmeter for street stuff? Or should I forget about the spot meter and buy another one? If yes, what kind?

PS: I know, I know, a Hasselblad is not a rangefinder but this is about the metering.

 

[Todd.Hanz]

good question, when I use a handheld relective meter (spot or not) I meter my palm and then open up one stop, works for me!

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

What Todd said is correct.

Meter the open palm (not the back) then open up one stop (your palm is about 1 stop lighter than median gray). And your open palm, unlike the back of your palm, does not vary with tanning or racial coloring. All of us pretty much have the same median +1 palms.

 

[chris91387]

for b&w i use my sekonic l-488 and look for an area that i want to be an apx 18% grey. i actually have a small piece of grey card in my bag that i can look at as a reference or meter from. then i meter the blacks and whites and look for difference between them and my 18% area.

color is a little tricker but it still works for me. i have a filter that i sometimes look through that takes out all the color and makes the scene monochroimatic so i can chose where to meter.

i always try to remember that any color can be black with no light and white with enough light.

- chris

 

[Trius]

For a lot, if not most, situations, an incident meter would be easier to use. But since you have the Pentax, yeah, meter your palm and open up one stop. Or just use Sunny 16.

 

[leica M2 fan]

Not hijacking this thread but since we are talking about meters I have a question. I always use an incident light meter ( Sekonic 428) for color and have had outstanding results. Recently I tried it for a roll of B+W and I didn't like the results. Everthing was murky and not real sharp what do you guys think? I'm awaiting some kind of response.TIA.

 

[Todd.Hanz]

different films respond to different light, developing procedures etc. I shoot alot of Medium format with incident metering, no probs.

Have any samples to post?

Todd

 

[rpsawin]

Not hijacking this thread but since we are talking about meters I have a question. I always use an incident light meter ( Sekonic 428) for color and have had outstanding results. Recently I tried it for a roll of B+W and I didn't like the results. Everthing was murky and not real sharp what do you guys think? I'm awaiting some kind of response.TIA.

M2,

You did not say what type of color film you use. I'll assume it's negative rather than reversal. Generally, when shooting color we tend to expose for the highlights. Colors generally don't tolerate overexposure.

B&W exposure is based on the shadows....opposite to your usual metering method. Underexposing the film would give you murky results.

The metering/exposure method should not have an impact on sharpness. I think there are other issues here.

Bob

 

[back alley]

the pentax spot meter...the one shaped like a gun? on the street?

where do you live.

if you are shooting black and white on the street then a simple hand held meter is fine if your camera lacks a built in.
i measure the ground and use that reading w/o much adjustment.
i meter the sunny and shadow sides of the streets.

 

[Jamie123]

Thanks everyone! This is very helpful
I think I'll try the method with metering my palm for now. I may buy an incident meter sometime in the future if I can find a cheap one.

the pentax spot meter...the one shaped like a gun? on the street?

where do you live.

if you are shooting black and white on the street then a simple hand held meter is fine if your camera lacks a built in.
i measure the ground and use that reading w/o much adjustment.
i meter the sunny and shadow sides of the streets.

Yes the one shaped like a gun 🙂

I live in Switzerland (Zurich). I think I could point that thing at policemen and they still wouldn't think it's a gun. I usually avoid pointing the meter at people, though, because I don't want them to know they're gonna be photographed until I'm standing in front of them holding a camera in their face.

 

[jano]

for the hand/palm metering method, do you guys put your hand out in the sun, in the shade, or try to approximate the area you are shooting towards?

 

[Jamie123]

that's a good question, jano, I was wondering about that, too.

My problem may be solved, though, because I found an old Weston Master III meter that my brother "inherited" which seems to work perfectly. At least I think so. When metering the sky it gives me the exact same reading as my spotmeter.

 

[Todd.Hanz]

put your hand in the same light you're metering for, so if your subject is in the sun...put your hand in the sun. YMMV 🙂

Todd

 

[mc_vancouver]

the pentax spot meter...the one shaped like a gun? on the street?

where do you live.

I"d have to second Back Alley on this, even in relatively "safe" cities, given the general paranoia these days, walking around with a gun shaped object, no matter how innocent, no matter that you are also carrying a camera or two, could invite trouble. And as for street photography, if you're using black and white, I'd suggest using the "sunny 16" rule, but rate the film one stop open from its nominal ISO (ISO 400 rated at 200, for instance). Using that simple rule, you'd shoot at around 1/250th. I have an incident meter I sometimes carry, but only use it to check now and again that I have guessed right. Frankly, if my camera had a built in meter, I'd use it, but it doesn't.

 

[BrianShaw]

My problem may be solved, though, because I found an old Weston Master III meter that my brother "inherited" which seems to work perfectly.

Now you're on the right path. I'm coming in late to this discussion, but a 1-degree spot at arms length is a very small area... too much chance of metering off the one dark wart on your palm and getting a bad reading 😉

What you want is something that is braoder and FASTER than a spot meter. The Weston III is old, classic, and should work well for you. (I've used on for the past 30 years as my primary hand-held meter.) Now you can either measure an normal reflective reading or approximate a incident reading off your palm (not forgetting the 1 stop correction). With a 30-degree acceptance angle you'll be getting a better reading off the palm than with the spot meter (not that a thrid or half a stop error would really ruin your shot).

You may have figured this out already, but you want your palm to be in the same type of light as your principal subject.

 

[BrianShaw]

PS: I know, I know, a Hasselblad is not a rangefinder but this is about the metering.

There should be no guilt about using a Hassy... even on RFF! [😛 to all who disagree.]

What I do when shooting Hassy on street is to meter several areas befroe I start shooting (sunny area, shady area, etc.) to "know the environment". The I can quickly change the EV based on where my primary subject is located without constantly re-metering. I might pull the meter out again if a big cloud goes by or if the sun is rising/setting. But basically all this is doing is Sunny-16 with the corrections for conditions.

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

for the hand/palm metering method, do you guys put your hand out in the sun, in the shade, or try to approximate the area you are shooting towards?

Put your palm in exactly the same light you anticipate for your subject. For instance if your subject is a girl standing in the shade, measure your palm in the same shade. If in sun, measure your palm in the same general sunlight.

An easy way to remember it is you always "open" your palm in a friendly gesture.

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

Mind you, it doesn't have to be a true spotmeter ... you can use the CV Meter I & II or any other reflective meter the same way.

Isolate the same light as your subject, measure off your palm with the CV meter, and you will pretty much get the same effect of spot metering, as your meter is so close to your palm (within inches) that it will only read that medium tone and nothing else.

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

If you want a very succinct primer on metering, I think the Field Guide of John Shaw is excellent on metering in all situations. I don't care particularly for his photography specialty (color nature work), but he is a very good writer on technical issues, good luck.

 

[leica M2 fan]

Bob, you are absolutely right !

Bob, you are absolutely right !

M2,

You did not say what type of color film you use. I'll assume it's negative rather than reversal. Generally, when shooting color we tend to expose for the highlights. Colors generally don't tolerate overexposure.

B&W exposure is based on the shadows....opposite to your usual metering method. Underexposing the film would give you murky results.

The metering/exposure method should not have an impact on sharpness. I think there are other issues here.

Bob

The B&W roll ( T-Max 100) seemed "murky" to me, that could be from underexposure. As I studied the roll I realized that the particular shot of a statue pretty far away seemed OOF. I found I had exposed at f4 and that coupled with underexposure is the likely culprit. Anyway, the color (Fuji ColorPro 400)was very, very nice and mostly shot at f8 and f11 so that helped. Thanks for your input it helped me sort this out.🙂