Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/04/06

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Subject: Re: [Leica] incident metering procedure
From: "Harrison McClary" <hmcclary@earthlink.net>
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1998 21:33:14 +0000

Five Senses Productions wrote:

> blue sky, or palm of my hand for guidelines.  Can someone tell me
> if one is supposed to meter incidentally with the dome pointing at 
> the camera or the dome pointing at the main light source?  I have 


I take the meter with the dome pointed in the direction from which I 
will be shooting (opposite of the lens) and angled very slightly down 
to get my readings. This is the way the meter should be held as you 
are wanting a reading of the light falling on the subject not a 
reading of the light coming from behind the subject.  It is important 
that whatever method you use you do the same thing each time and to 
calibrate the meter with your film and lab.  I generally shoot a roll 
of film bracketing in 1/2 stops marking each exposure and then have a 
test roll of the kind of chrome I am shooting processed and set the 
meter to factor in the true ISO of the film/lab combination.

After doing this I can trust my meter rather well, I still get snips 
pulled to verify the lab is not running hot or cold on a particular 
day, but it is usually within 1/2 to 1/3 of a stop.
Harrison McClary
http://people.delphi.com/hmphoto