Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/01/16
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>So Ted (or anyone else), if you're reading, what do you mean by metering for >the highlights? If the hottest reading in the scene is the water at EV 10, >what exposure value do you shoot? I'll not propose to answer for Ted (he doesn't think much of the Zone system, so zones aren't much help here <G>). To meter for the highlights is to place the bright part of the scene where you want it. I learned to shoot with chrome film, so this is a natural for me. Though I'm way out of practice now because I shoot only neg. film at work. In your example, you want to keep the brightest part of the scene at about Zone 6, 6.5 or even 7. Depends on how bright it is over the mid-gray tone you want to represent. It would help to not think in EV at all. With an incident meter, EV would be whatever the meter says. You use Zones if you're taking reflective meter readings. So say you're shooting a bride with a white dress. You meter the bright part of the dress at about Zone VII and leave it. Don't bother metering the shadows. Let them go where they may. Slide film demands you keep the highlights from blowing out. Lack of detail in the highlights kills slides faster than about anything else. Eric Welch St. Joseph, MO http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch Cynicism often masquerades for sophistication in our society, but more often than not it's merely an indicator of resentment.