Tips for shooting without a meter

B

bennett2136

Member
Local time
2:25 PM
Joined
Sep 26, 2007
Messages
34
Hey guys,

I have been debating upgrading from my M3 to a M6 for the sole reason of the light meter. But, I just cant bring myself to do it because I love the rangefinder (<3 50mm lenses) and the buttery feel of my M3 way too much. My current kit is and M3 DS, 50mm summicron and a gossen luna-pro. I usually dont mind taking a few extra seconds to get a light reading on the gossen, and pick my aperture/shutter-speed, it's very zen, but the downside is I miss some opportunities because of how slow this is! Anyone have any tips to speed up my process?

Thanks, Bennett
 
Learn quick exposures. While everyone knows sunny 16, if the sun ducks behind a cloud, open up two stops. If you are in heavy shade, it's 4 stops off sunny 16, etc. For C-41, error on the side of overexposure.

Read this: http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm

Upgrading to an M6 won't be perfect because then you'll stress over when you are actually metering off a "middle gray".
 
Once I have got a meter reading for the scene I only meter again when there is significant change in the light. I you take meter reading for the highlights and for the shadows you have some idea of where to go if the shot becomes mostly shadows. This lessons the time the time taken for each shot as I tend to meter between shots if I can rather when I actually want to 'capture the moment'. Hope this helps

Chris
 
Bennett
With a little practice you will have sunny 16 mastered. I suggest shooting a forgiving film such as tmax 400 for a few rolls. Keep the meter handy and test yourself occasionally. The M3 is the M if you are a 50 shooter. You'll miss it.
 
My techniques: Just memorize a few "base" exposure settings for typical lighting situations for the area you live.

For example, fully overcast weather, I set 5.6, 1/500 for my usual ISO1600 shooting. Typical good weather in SF, I'd do 11, 1/1000, which is off from the "Sunny 16" rule. My room is about 2.8, 1/30 or so.

These numbers are different for you depending on where you live and shoot, surrounding, film speed and your overall preference and approach. Then from there, I'd change settings based on the light change, the effect I want and the subjects. If I'm in doubt, I'd overexpose a bit because it's always easier to save them later if you shoot B/W or color negative film.

I don't carry a light meter unless I plan to do something serious, and unless I forgot to set dials because I wasn't just thinking, I rarely mess up the exposure beyond saving if not nearly ever (B/W) though I'm not particularly proud of myself for not carrying a light meter.
 
It's a big step from meter-less M to the M6. Those little red LEDs demand attention and are a distraction. I love the M6 and I think the meter is very clever. Second guessing the meter reading because the scene isn't an even mid tone is so often unnecessary, and with C41 I will open one stop if in doubt. But there is no comparison to shooting with my M2, having done as above, predetermined the settings with my incident light meter, and making decisions without a second reading. Unless I am using an automatic camera I am doing that anyway, with the M6 meter when that's all I have with me, or when carrying both the M2 and M6 I'll go with the Gossen reading, set shutter and aperture on both cameras and ignore the LEDs in the M6. It is also good to guess exposures and then check the hand-held meter reading. The other thing is slide film where everyone states how unforgiving this is and how a genius meter reading and bracketing is crucial. If the lighting is not too unusual I don't bracket and I have shot rolls and rolls of Kodachrome over the years with just sunny 16 when I haven't had a meter. I would say that that is actually safer than a reflected meter reading with an M6. There are lots of exposure with meter-less M threads on RFF worth looking at.
 
A bit of concentrated practice is all you need. Follow the advice given above. With a handheld meter I just take general readings of ground, level and sky and go by these until the light changes significantly. For any given situation I usually expose 1-2 stops over the meter's reading.
Memorize typical scenes, take notes if necessary. Sunny 16 is a good rule for daylight shots if you don't have a meter with you. For night scenes on a tripod, use the Ultimate Exposure Calculator, which is spot-on.

That said, the meter in the M6 is extremely reliable, and the simple interface is fast to read and work with. It's my favourite camera, and I have too many.
 
When in doubt, overexpose.

The penalties for overexposure -- even a couple of stops -- are trivial.

The penalty for even 1/2 stop underexposure can be very noticeable.

(Assuming, of course, you're shooting neg, colour or B+W).
 
I carry a Nikkormat with 105mm lens. The light meter can be read from the top plate. It works sorta like a spot meter and if I need anything taller than 50mm, the camera is loaded with the same film and ready to shoot.

Those sixties photojournalists really had nailed it!
 
In open daylight it's easy. Reciprocal of the film speed and f/16 in bright sun, obviously. Bright but cloudy, f/8. Normal cloudy, f/5.6, Raining and dull, f/2.8. It gets difficult in shadows, but this is close enough for colour neg film. For colour slide film you must have the meter; in fact, I wouldn't even trust a TTL meter for slide film, but I can show you a roll of 36 perfect exposures using a hand meter in all sorts of odd conditions.
 
bennett2136 said:
Hey guys,

I have been debating upgrading from my M3 to a M6 for the sole reason of the light meter. But, I just cant bring myself to do it because I love the rangefinder (<3 50mm lenses) and the buttery feel of my M3 way too much. My current kit is and M3 DS, 50mm summicron and a gossen luna-pro. I usually dont mind taking a few extra seconds to get a light reading on the gossen, and pick my aperture/shutter-speed, it's very zen, but the downside is I miss some opportunities because of how slow this is! Anyone have any tips to speed up my process?

Thanks, Bennett
Click to expand...

Well, the M3 is never going to give the higher keeper rate (exposure wise) that you will get with a metered camera. Using nothing but the M3 for two years now, I am quite happy with the experience and will not give up shooting without a meter.

However... my work has evolved to where I need a metered camera for some tasks which an SLR would do better, so, it became a Ying, Yang decision to keep the M3 and carry an R4 with 50mm Cron. Turned out to be a great decision.:D

Not only are they compatible but they are both very high quality instruments. Yesterday, on location, I used the M3 with TriX for indoor portraits and the R4 whilst walking the streets with ISO 100 film. The R4 is a great camera for very little money and the R lenses are relatively cheap as well.:)
 
Just remember to take a meter reading everytime you walk into a different lighting situation and set up the exposure immediatly in the camera. That way when you see a shot all you have to do is compose and shoot. Second always guess wht the proper exposure will be before you take a reading.
 
Go to this site:

http://expomat.tripod.com/

read it, go to the bottom to the .pdf file, download it, print it, paste it together.

Now you have a portable light meter made out of paper :D

I carry this and a Luna Pro 3 in my bag.
 
buzzardkid said:
I carry a Nikkormat with 105mm lens. The light meter can be read from the top plate. It works sorta like a spot meter and if I need anything taller than 50mm, the camera is loaded with the same film and ready to shoot.

Those sixties photojournalists really had nailed it!
Click to expand...
That is a cool idea. I never had heard that before. ;)
 
start paying special attention to the aperture/speed you are using for each kind of scene. by doing so, you will start remembering which you used before with good results and that will be pretty helpful. for instance, i payed attention one night that the metering for streets with normal lighting using iso 800 was 1.4 with 30. from that , I can use it as a reference, now when I go out at night with the M4 i just set to an equivalent combination and i'm good to go. darker street? speed down to 15. brighter? 60. and so on. even with color film you should have no problem. I have been shooting without a meter for a while with no missed frames due to bad exposure, it's quite rare.

edit to add: i had an M6. i've sold it to stay with the M4, since i've been having such positive results by eye metering. besides, it is pretty cool to guess the exposure and find out you were spot on, feels like a nerdy badaass :)
 
Last edited:
Such ruler is spot-on and I've already printed and prepared one.
Tried in the house (even light) and for FM3A it suggests 1/8 - 1/15s with a lens aperture of F/3.5 for 400 iso. (EV 5) Exactly what my FM3A meter says. Nice also having a reference for EV which may teach you (me) a lot. In fact, it gives you an estimate of the shutter times you may encounter for a certain film in specific places (i.e. churches or indoor) so that you can decide if your lens is fast enough or not.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom