Re: [Leica] Incident Metering

[Shawn London <srlondon@ibm.net>]

> if you are taking a reflected light meter reading of
>your subject, you will get an acceptable reading only part of the
>time.....the part that has a scene that just happens to be reflecting 18%
>back toward the camera. Want to know how often that is? Most folks find it
>is about 80% of the time for family shots.

In response to the above, people on the LUG might want to read Ansel 
Adam's book "The Negative".  It is an extremely brilliant elucidation 
exposure theory.  While applying the zone system to 35mm is certainly a 
bit overboard, there is something to be said for proper metering 
technique.  That is to say, you can use a reflected light meter without 
an 18% gray card.  For example, if you see a wall that is what you 
visualize to be one shade darker than gray (using Adams' 10 shade scale), 
underexposing by one stop will give you a correct exposure.

Of course, simply using an incident meter is the quicker and more 
foolproof method which requires less guesswork.  But the point is that a 
reflected meter is not by construction flawed... it only gives 
unacceptable results because of improper use.