If only I could afford the Bessaflex! Is there a reason though you don't single it out as the very best one?
If only I could afford the Bessaflex! Is there a reason though you don't single it out as the very best one?Just chiming in—the best ones I've used and still have are the following in no specific order:
- Pentax Spotmatic F
- Voigtläender Bessaflex
- Fujica STXXX series
I guess I may have overstated the practicality of the spot meter in the OP, but I still think it can be a useful tool.
You mean over using an incident meter or a centre-weighted metre? I understand that the incident meter may be the proper tool for slides, but it requires a rather different mode of photography altogether than my walk-around shooting.I do not any practical advantage in using a spot meter for slides.
Thanks, good to know I'm not entirely delusional!Yes, it is a useful tool that has tremendously helped me to achieve a higher success rate with slide film.
I don't understand their bias against it.
I do not any practical advantage in using a spot meter for slides.
Thanks, good to know I'm not entirely delusional!
Congrats! I'm more or less coeval with the T70, which is far less cool
I'm confused. Is everyone saying -- Helge, Autonerd, xkaes -- that, given a choice between an averaging and a spot meter (let's say you are shooting a Mamiya DTL), you would never ever use the latter for slides? I've looked through the half a dozen slide rolls I shot over the summer with cameras having an averaging meter, and most shots are fairly well exposed -- as long as the scene was evenly lit. I understand that high-contrast scenes aren't the easiest subject for slides, but rather than simply avoiding them, I want to have more control and understanding in shooting them. I guess I may have overstated the practicality of the spot meter in the OP, but I still think it can be a useful tool. Even with an averaging meter, I would often set the exposure as metered off some part of the scene (green grass for example), but this seems rather easier to do with a spot meter. At least, that was my experience when I tested the T70 and the CSR (though I'm still waiting to see the results).
You mean over using an incident meter or a centre-weighted metre? I understand that the incident meter may be the proper tool for slides, but it requires a rather different mode of photography altogether than my walk-around shooting.
Not even in severly contrasty situations?
Okay, yes -- the photo of the model in front of the gray sky is a good example of where a spot meter would work over a center-weight, though you could also accomplish the same thing by moving closer to the subject to meter then farther away to shoot. I still think it's a rare one, though. And one does need some averaging here. If one (to take an extreme example) were to spot meter off either the white or black stripes on her shirt, the exposure would be off. Spot metering off her face would work (though not if her complexion was much darker or lighter) but hair and eyes would be no good. This is a situation, I think, where one needs to know one's meter, and that a bright sky requires either opening up a couple of stops or using fill flash.The “spot meter” in the T70 is more of a “selective meter” since the spot is quite big. So the idea is to put it on the subject at an appropriate place to not have strong backlight or sky influence the exposure.
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I don't know about "trickier" but more time consuming. The measurement of high and low and "average" is how many people use a spot meter. Should be a reading that an incident meter would give.I actually can't see why a high-contrast situation would be any trickier for a center-weighted averaging meter. (I could be way off here -- if so, please educate me.) The extremes may be higher, but the meter is still trying to find an average. A spot meter, I would think, would be trickier here -- either you have to find something that is middle gray, or you have to meter off bright and dark bits of the scene and come up with an exposure right between them (which is what the averaging meter is doing anyway).
The secret is to find the neutral value that provides the best balance of exposure according to the properties of the scene.
I would say no, because a spot meter still requires you to find the element that is middle gray -- and the auto-exposure system of our eyes makes it much less sensitive to variations of light than film is.
Aaron
I don't know about "trickier" but more time consuming. The measurement of high and low and "average" is how many people use a spot meter. Should be a reading that an incident meter would give.
You nailed it. I dare anyone to find a middle grey in a ski area where everything is bright snow or pitch-black pine trees. An incident meter (or "coffee cup" solves the problem.
I would say no, because a spot meter still requires you to find the element that is middle gray
The middle grey of a scene is not always what you need for slide film. It takes years of experience to learn the correct ways to meter for it.
Slide film can be the best way to master exposure.
There is a trick I learned almost 50 years ago (well before digital imaging) to rescue underexposed slides: With your camera on a copy stand, put the slide on a mirror and rephotograph the slide. The light has to pass twice through the slide, doubling its density.Good point! It’s much worse to overexpose than underexpose a bit with slide. At least if you care for highlights.
I’ve had slide that was grossly underexposed (two stops) where I was able to pull a semi useable image from what appeared to be a little black square.
Hey, that's a neat trick! Thanks!There is a trick I learned almost 50 years ago (well before digital imaging) to rescue underexposed slides: With your camera on a copy stand, put the slide on a mirror and rephotograph the slide. The light has to pass twice through the slide, doubling its density.
Gotta disagree with you, Helge. Back In The Day, I was taught to shoot 50-speed Fuji Velvia with the camera set to 40 -- a little bit of overexposure really made the colors pop. They used to do that routinely at the magazine where I worked.Good point! It’s much worse to overexpose than underexpose a bit with slide. At least if you care for highlights.
Gotta disagree with you, Helge. Back In The Day, I was taught to shoot 50-speed Fuji Velvia with the camera set to 40 -- a little bit of overexposure really made the colors pop. They used to do that routinely at the magazine where I worked.
Aaron
Thanks for the link, your diatribe and the ensuing discussion are incredibly instructive and entertaining!Read my diatribe from a few years back on the subject.
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