Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/09/25
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]For those of us on this list not earning our daily bread with our leica's comes the opportunity to experiment with little consequence. Specifically, with exposure, I enjoy pulling out either the M-3 or the IIIF and attempt to get good exposures in all conditions eyeballing the light using negative stock. As others have mentioned, the human eye is an amazingly bad exposure meter. However, the human eye is amazingly good at comparing light. The trick I've found for me is to both memorize the sunny 16 rules especially for deep shade but more importantly to remember what works. So, either by remembering meter settings in specific situations or remembering what my camera was set at and looking at images within a roll or two in most situations a good educated guess can be created. With 400 speed film in office/school/shopping a base exposure of 60@F4 gives good results. Then, counting bulbs in the commercial versus the dimmer or brighter you add/subtract exposure. Likewise, if with 400 speed film my daughter playing the flute by one incandescent bulb(60 watts) gives me 8@F2 then I have a base to start for other interior situations. With some effort this is no different than learning where your lens is focused by feel of the tab for the M shooters among us. With a good idea of what the exposure should be I have frequently saved money/honor/charity by knowing when to not trust the meter in my camera. Rants to get my mind off events elsewhere in the world Don Dory dorysrus@mindspring.com - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html