Re: [Leica] Consistent underexposure problem

[Harrison McClary <harrison@mcclary.net>]

On 9/18/99 3:19 PM Anthony Atkielski wrote:


>How about a spot meter?  I got a spot meter today, a Minolta Spotmeter F.  
>I got
>a spot meter because my subjects are often too far away to make an incident
>meter practical (e.g., the Eiffel Tower!).  The only spot meter at the camera
>store was the Minolta, but hopefully it is pretty good (is Minolta good at 
>this
>sort of thing).

IMHO Minolta makes the best light meters. A spot meter will be good for 
selective readings of the reflectance of your subject...to get an 
accurate reading you have to determine the reflectance of your 
subject...if using an incident meter the meter tells you how much light 
is hitting the subject.  Hope this makes sense.

>How do you use it?  I've used spot meters before (a looong time ago), but 
>never
>an incident meter, at least not for photography.  First of all, it seems that
>you need to put it right in front of your subject--difficult if it is a 
>building
>or landscape.  Also, how does it account for distance to the camera and the
>reflectance of your subject?

I hold the incident meter with the dome pointed towards me...the 
direction I am shooting FROM with the dome ever so slightly pointed 
down..just a few degrees..the important thing is to always hold the meter 
the same way .As long as you and your subject are in the same kind of 
light subject distance does not matter....If you are outside shooting a 
photo of a landscape and using a 300 mm lens as long as you are in the 
sun and your subject is in the sun it matters not how far away the 
subject is.....the sun is so very far away the inverse square law of 
physics does not matter...now if the light source is an artificial one 
then you do have to worry about distance from light source.

I shoot a lot of landscapes and buildings and such for the magazine 
publishing company I work for and almost always shoot from an incident 
reading.  When shooting football (American..the bang your head kind) I 
use an incident meter..and there I am shooting with a 400 and can not get 
close to get a reading, but as I said the distance does not matter if the 
light source is the sun.

If, however, you are using a man made light remember that every time the 
distance from the light source to the subject doubles the amount of light 
reaching the subject is cut in half...BUT the distance of the camera to 
the subject does not matter, only the distance of the subject from the 
light source.


>I don't know that film is a factor.  I've shot Provia 100 in both my F5 
>and my
>Leica.  I now know that they both meter correctly (or at least identically).
>And yet my Leica shots are often underexposed.  About the only variable 
>left is
>my own shooting technique; I _must_ be doing something wrong.

Possibly...but remember that even though both meters agree on a gray card 
they probably give different readings in real world shooting..the secret 
is figuring what in your scene is "average" and metering just that with 
your Leica, or spot meter.

>Even when I'm just having the transparencies developed in E-6 (no prints)?
>Isn't the development just a highly automated process of running the film
>through a machine?

Yes the process is automated, but the chemicals shift throughout the day 
as film is run..a good lab runs test strips all day long and checks the 
PH and such as the day goes along...the better the lab the better they 
keep their chemicals.  But from running film all shot under the exact 
same conditions through the 3 "pro" labs here I can attest that every lab 
processes film differently...may not be that much but 1/2 stop will kill 
a chrome...they MUST be dead on, IMHO.

>Besides, it seems improbable that the lab would mess up the rolls I shoot 
>with
>the Leica, but not with the Nikon.  Too many coincidences there!  It 
>_must_ be
>me.

Yes I agree...probably it is more just learning how that center spot 
configuration of the M6 works...it is kinda weird as there is no 
reference to exactly what you are metering, so you kind of have to guess 
and use your experience to tell you if the meter is lying to you...here 
the spot meter will help as you know EXACTLY what you are metering..an 
incident would be even better as you would know the amount of light 
hitting the subject then you could judge if the exposure needs 
compensating based on its reflective properties....I have my Minolta 
calibrated to my films, cameras and lab and when in pinch I shoot exactly 
what it says and do not bracket and the exposures are pretty much dead 
on...still often get a snip pulled just to cover my ass....

Hope you understand what I am trying to say...much easier to explain when 
I can show you the meter and how it works........


Best regards,
Harrison McClary
email: harrison@mcclary.net
http://www.mcclary.net
preview my book: http://www.volmania.com