Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/09/10
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- -----Original Message-----
From: Mark E Davison <Mark_E_Davison@email.msn.com>
To: Leica User Group <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Date: Tuesday, September 07, 1999 1:10 AM
Subject: [Leica] Re: OM4Ti highlight setting
>I checked and on my OM4Ti, the highlight button places the highlight two
>stops above the gray point. For E200 slide film, this is about the right
>placement for the brightest highlight for which texture is just
discernible.
>
>This two stop offset can be easily changed with the exposure compensation
>dial. The offset will stay changed until you move the compensation dial
>again. There is no need to change the ASA setting.
>
>On a more general point, I find that the OM4Ti implementation of multiple
>spot metering is fantastically convenient and accurate. It basically allows
>you to apply zone system techniques by pressing a single button, without
>ever moving your eye away from the view finder. This is the one feature
that
>I sorely miss when I shoot slide film in my M6. It is a feature I would
>welcome in a future improved M camera, if it could be included without a
>loss in durability and repairability.
>
>Up to eight spots can be metered, and the metered values are clearly
>displayed as little diamonds above an exposure bar graph which is visible
in
>the finder. (The bar graph displays a long range--about 10 stops worth).
You
>can tell at a glance if you will be able to accomodate all the exposures
>within the input dynamic range of your film. Metering is very rapid, since
>the spot meter button is just to the left of the shutter release.
>
>With the camera set on automatic, the OM4Ti automatically sets the shutter
>speed by averaging the EVs of the measured spots. You can bias the metered
>average either with the exposure compensation dial, or by simply metering
>the same spot more than once (which will move the average closer to that
>value.) You can have the camera remember the resulting exposure and use it
>on all subsequent shots by toggling a MEMO lever which is just forward of
>the shutter release. This is useful if you want to set up a constant
>exposure for a sequence of shots, as in street photography where you will
>not have time to meter each shot separately, or in macro photography where
>you want to take a number of shots with slightly varying composition, but
>the same exposure.
>
>As an example, I often spot meter a bright textured highlight, and
spotmeter
>a textured shadow spot. If the two values are too far apart (more than
about
>4 stops for E200), then I bias the exposure twoards the highlight by spot
>metering the highlight again. This is much quicker to do than it is to
>explain! You are just aiming the camera and pressing the spot metering
>button while you look through the viewfinder.
>
>With the camera on Manual, the metered levels are displayed, and you get to
>place them relative to the gray point by hand. (If I am not in a rush this
>is my preferred mode of working.)
>
>Note that to make these techniques work, you do need to know the dynamic
>range of your film, and where you like to place textured highlights--there
>is no replacement for photographic knowledge and taste. Certainly the two
>stop placement for highlights is not going to be correct for any print film
>that I know of.
>
>Unfortunately I don't know how Leica implements spot metering in the R8, so
>I can't compare the two approaches.
>
Dear Mark
Thanks for your contribution, this is precisely the constructive exchange
that I was sincerely hoping to hear from this list....
I've enclosed a reply from an OM user (from the OM list) regarding the
wonderful spot-metering feature... thot U might be interested in how others
use it....
>TMLee asked:
> Anyone of U out there employ the technique of the zone system when taking
> pics with the OM-4Ti ? Even with colour film.....
Yes, I am strongly of the opinion that the OM4 (and OM3) manual mode
was designed with the Zone System in mind.
Why else would the LCD display bar cover such a long scale (-4 to +4
stops) and be marked off at 1-stop intervals over that range?
> What I do is to look for the mid shade of grey ( stage 5 of the total 9
> stages of grey in the zone system) , then I take a spot reading of that
and
> then shoot.
That's a reasonable approach in auto mode, but in manual you have
*far* more flexibility.
If I resort to some ascii art I can try to show how neatly a zone
scale maps onto the OM3/4 manual-mode finder display:
IX VIII VII VI V IV III II I
+ . . | >|< | . . -
-----------------------------------------
You can see that nothing forces you to align the reading with the
center (Zone V) mark, instead you can place a spot reading on
whichever zone you think it requires. Even fractional zone placements
are easy.
Furthermore, if you store more than one spot reading (of different
values) you can still see them all on the scale, and can judge how
they relate to each other and to the tonal range of the film. The
important thing in this case is to *ignore* the LCD bar (i.e. the
averaged value) and concentrate on the individual spot diamonds.
Of course, experience and/or testing of your film&processing
combination will be necessary in order to be able to relate the zone
measurements to the actual result on the negative or slide.
> Am I doing something ridiculous ?
Certainly not. Ansel Adams himself was of the opinion that the Zone
System *wasn't* just relevant to large-format black-and-white
photography, but was also of use to photographers working both with
35mm and in colour.
Maitani-san appears to have thought much the same.
Incidentally, C*nt*x try to call their S2 a 'Zone System camera' with
rather less justification than the OM3/4. The S2 has a spot meter of
sorts, but doesn't have the viewfinder display needed to make it
really useful.
- -Brian
>
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