Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/05/24

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Subject: RE: [Leica] How does the Leica R8 calculate exposure in matrix metering mode?
From: "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>
Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 14:14:51 -0400

I'm always amused by the concept of bracketing - except for 'trees and
rocks' work. What happened to the 'decisive moment?' If one brackets when
shooting anything involving motion or action - including portraiture where
the subject is sitting and 'posing,' no two exposures will ever capture
absolutely identical images - and I suggest that those of you whom I sure
will doubt this look at a high-speed action sequence and consider how much
change each frame, shot at say 8-10 fps, records. Expressions change,
eyebrows move, etc. etc....so while bracketing is great when you're using a
tripod to shoot a giant redwood on a windless day, using bracketing with
matrix or any other form of metering may insure that you will have at least
one correctly exposed frame out of three, it never insures that you have the
right frame correctly exposed.

BTW - Nikon specifically recommends NOT using matrix metering in manual
mode, as they argue that your deciding to override the 30,000 exposures in
the camera's computer defeats the point of matrix metering.....I'm not
defending this position, just passing it along..;-)

B. D.
- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of George
Lottermoser
Sent: Friday, May 24, 2002 1:24 PM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: Re: [Leica] How does the Leica R8 calculate exposure in matrix
metering mode?


icommag@toad.net (Steve LeHuray)5/24/0211:48 AM

> let's say 250th at
> f8.0. What confuses me with so many different internal metering
> modes, how
> does any of those different modes improve upon 250th at f8.0?

What you didn't provide is information about how you determined
the 250th, f:8, and why.

The different metering modes allow the photographer to chose how
they wish to work for any given circumstances, and considering
personal preferences - sort of like prefs in software. Everyone
sets their prefs a bit differently.

Personally - I work with the R8 in manual, matrix mode. This
allows me to see what the meter suggests and allows me to adjust,
precisely, to what I know about the situation and the result I'm
looking for. An exception to this personal approach - if
everything is changing rapidly I'll shift to matrix, aperture
priority and let the camera choose the shutter speed. But in
those situations I'll also use the very handy + - switch on the
back to bracket a half stop either way if I have the time.

Another exception - If I'm doing critical portrait work - where
skin tone needs all the attention - I'll shift to manual, spot
mode, and concentrate on the skin tone.

All the same sort of thinking goes into my use of hand held
meters with view camera work. Tone critical work get spot meter
attention. General lighting situations get incident level
attention. Color critical work gets color temperature meter
attention.

George


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Replies: Reply from Henning Wulff <henningw@archiphoto.com> (RE: [Leica] How does the Leica R8 calculate exposure in matrix metering mode?)