Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/03/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>> Speaking about low light shooting, I shot my church choir with my M3 and >> 90/2.8 under artificial light. My Gossen Sixtino 2 could not register the >> reading so I had to bracket with lens full open at f2.8 all the way from >> 1/30 sec to 1/2 sec. Every shot was hand held, elbow braced against my >> chest, took my deep breath and pressed the shutter gingerly. I took 5 >> bracketed shots on Ektachrome 100. The exposure gradation was superb. >> What surprised me the most was that when viewed under 10x loupe the >> sharpness hardly deteriorated from 1/30 to 1/2 sec. The hand held shot at >> 1/2 sec was definitely more than acceptably sharp. I'm impressed!! >> >> Dan >> Singapore. >> > >I've shot at night, almost exclusively, for the last five years. Fortunately >shooting handheld isn't a problem since the only camera I've had is a 4x5. Having >said that, Dan, if your meter can't make a reading at ISO 100, f2.8 & 1/2sec, either >you used it incorrectly or there's something wrong with your meter. The setting you >quoted equates to an EA of 4 which is safely in the range of respectable meters. >Perhaps your reading was heavily influenced by shadows in the shot, or you attempted >an incidence reading with a defusion atttachment that was too dense. > >This doesn't have much to do with shooting handheld, but it may save you a few rolls >of film over time. And who wants to waste film? > >-- >Wendell Summerville >photographer of people, places and things >wsummerv@concentric.net > The Sixtino 2 meter is a selenium cell type. On that day, the needle registered just a slight flicker. This was with reflected metering. An incident reading hardly moved the meter needle. I was not comfortable using a reading when that happened. Looking at the slides the best exposure was at 1/4 sec. That shot was visually as sharp as the one taken at 1/30 sec. I think the success of a shot at 1/2 sec. has to be credited to the almost absent vibration of the Leica M cameras as well as the right amount of weight of these cameras for handholding. The shutter is in the right position and the camera sits beautifully in one's hands. Dan Khong Singapore