How do you meter with your meterless Leica?

kivis · Apr 20, 2014

Question goes for really any meterless camera. I use an app on my iPhone (Pocket Light Meter), but I am trying to train myself to use the "force within". You know, try to remember or guess what the reading would be. Not that good at it yet. What are others doing? A real meter? Please be specific as I still, after all these years am wishing to learn more what others do.

IloveTLRs · Apr 20, 2014

I use either Sunny 16/guesstimate, or the Voigtlander VC Meter II, which slips into the cold shoe easily.

John_Nikon_F · Apr 20, 2014

Pocket Light Meter here. That's what I have been using with my F. Alas, going back to an FTn finder on the camera, so unless the FTn finder is unuseable, I won't be needing to use the app.

-J

R.Gould · Apr 20, 2014

Sekonic flashmate

Spicy · Apr 20, 2014

Sunny 16, a bunch of meter-less shooting experience, and a strong appreciation for the exposure latitude generosity afforded by shooting film.

If shooting slide, replace the third comment with a healthy understanding that most shots will not come out well, but the ones that do will be magical.

Xmas · Apr 20, 2014

depends on the day

heavy overcast meter ocassionally
sunny cloud meter at several points in street until clouds change then meter again

omaha · Apr 20, 2014

This has been something I've been working on as well since returning to film.

I second the comments from Spicy above: Sunny 16 is the starting point. Adjust by feel from there, always remembering that too much exposure is far better than too little.

I use a little Sekonic meter if I need precision (mainly studio stuff).

Lamar · Apr 20, 2014

Sunny 16 when it's easy to figure out, Light Meter Tools for Android sometimes, and I have a Canon S95 which I use as a meter for more complicated / puzzling light, DxO mark lists its ISO settings as being very accurate.

benjiboy · Apr 20, 2014

I always carry a meter, guesswork is foolishness, and it avoids time , effort, and expense of useless exposures

Trask · Apr 20, 2014

Polaris incident light meter -- light, accurate, and if I wish I can attach a reflected light doo-hickey (though I rarely do as I prefer incident metering).

budrichard · Apr 20, 2014

I used to use a Nikon carried with my M3.
Purchased a 0.85M6, left the Nikon at home.
Now have M7's.
Much better now!
M3 sits in box.-Dick

markbarendt · Apr 20, 2014

benjiboy said:
I always carry a meter, guesswork is foolishness, and it avoids time , effort, and expense of useless exposures

I'm mostly here too, with a Sekonic L358.

As long as I meter, and I always do when a frame is important, there are no poorly exposed frames.

I do on occasion, like when walking the dogs "around the block" or something similar, skip the meter and guess for fun.

winger · Apr 20, 2014

I have a Sekonic meter that does reflected and incident readings. I use it with all of my cameras, metered or not (I prefer the incident reading). I have shot 400iso film (usually Tri-X) in my old meterless Pentax so much I can guess accurately enough for most situations.

Peltigera · Apr 20, 2014

I use an Ikophot exposure meter. On the rare occasions I forget to take it with me, Sunny 16 works surprisingly well, but a second hand meter will cost £5.00 or so on Ebay.

Chan Tran · Apr 20, 2014

If I am lucky enough to own a meterless Leica I would most of the time use it without a meter. At times I would bring either my Minolta flashmeter III or flashmeter VI. I would never buy that meter attachment from Leica to put it on the shoe.

Jeff Kubach · Apr 20, 2014

I always use a meter. It is easlier and less expenvise in the long run.

Jeff

Richard S. (rich815) · Apr 20, 2014

I shoot mostly B&W and shooting since 1976 or so am pretty good with sunny 16 even on cloudy days. Otherwise I use Light Meter on my iPhone or my Sekonic L-508 or a GE PR-1 with my M2.

Alan Klein · Apr 20, 2014

I don't have a Leica but a meterless Mamiya RB67 and use a Minolta IIIf Autometer. It provides reflective, incident and flash readings and comes with a 10 degree spot. You can also get a 5 degree. I tried the app on my Samsung S4, but it wasn't always accurate.

My "force within" is not so forceful and needs a tune-up so I rely on the meter. Also, the force within does not work well if you're shooting during "magic hour", one hour after sunrise and one hour before sunset, when the light changes rapidly. Best time to shoot landscapes. Could be changing in stops every few minutes. Guessing at this point is really just taking chances on the result. Even with the meter, I bracket. And I'll tell you that sometime I'm glad I did. I also usually shoot chromes which have less room for error than negatives.

John Koehrer · Apr 20, 2014

So many well known photographers never used a meter so it's very possible to live without one.

Sunny 16 is simple and consistant.
The general rule is ISO/16 so for ISO 400 it's 400/16, 100=100/16 etc. The exposure never changes for bright sun.
Well almost never. Sand or snow & ya gotta stop down another ~2stops. Dark subject & open ~a stop or two.

Open shade? add 1.5-2 stops.
Cloudy bright, no shadows, +1.5-2stops.
Heavy overcast, +3 stops.

There's a learning curve but thats true even when you use a meter.
I use a Luna Pro F or Spectra 500. Mostly for playing with pinhole.
Don't need no steenking meter for Leica stuff.

dehk · Apr 20, 2014

Mostly just "Sunny 16", if it's that important obviously a hand held meter, but that's too much work.

Most of the time I think I shoot better without a meter.

Poisson Du Jour · Apr 20, 2014

Incident or spot meter (e.g. Sekonic). It depends how critical your photography is, how important the result is to you. For a snap shooter, point-and-shoot based on experience (the so-called "force within") in many similar conditions. But there really is no substitute for building skills with metering early on; as you progress further into photography you will really appreciate the investment in metering skills.

AndreasT · Apr 20, 2014

In the beginning my negatives looked like a chess board.
I double the film speed and take a incident reading in the shadows and keep that value for the rest of the day.

removed account4 · Apr 20, 2014

i never use a meter anymore
if you pay attention to the light and the way you
process your film, you won't need a meter either.
( they used to( do they still?) print exposure information
on the inside of the film box. seems like if it was good enough
for the film companies to suggest you pay attention to the light
and expose accordingly it might still be a good idea ?

http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm

chip j · Apr 20, 2014

1 60th @ 2.8 w/100 speed film for nite shots.

Alan Klein · Apr 21, 2014

jnanian said:
i never use a meter anymore
if you pay attention to the light and the way you
process your film, you won't need a meter either.
( they used to( do they still?) print exposure information
on the inside of the film box. seems like if it was good enough
for the film companies to suggest you pay attention to the light
and expose accordingly it might still be a good idea ?

http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm

I seem to recall that the instructions in the boxes indicated they were the settings when the time was between 10am and 2pm, when the light was basically flat and high in the sky. How do you estimate the light and apply the exposure setting at one hour before sunset? 45 minutes, 30 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, etc? There can be many stops difference during that period.

How do you meter with your meterless Leica?

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