My turn. I have to confess to never having used a camera that didn't have a meter. Some have been all mechanical except for meter.
I started in 1976 when my Dad gave me a Practica xxxx (don't remember the model) for my birthday. It was screw mount, center weighted meter. Since then I have used the following: Canon A-1 (only camera I truly hated) Olympus OM-1 Pentax MX Nikon FM Pentax SuperProgram Pentax ZX-10 Pentax PZ-1p Pentax MZ-S Pentax 67II Pentax *ist Pentax *istD with a smattering of MX's scattered througout. I started using an external meter with the 67. Mostly depends on the situation. I still use a handheld meter with the *istD on occasion. However, the instant feedback sort of does the same thing. The meter is the first ballpark attempt. I do find that I mostly use manual focus and manual exposure. I find that I like to get ready for a picture in this order: 1. Meter 2. Compose 3. Focus Manual modes really work best here. What is being metered may not be directly the subject or within AF points. Then I find that getting the composition right before focusing is important because I don't want the focus to affect it - too often AF pushes you toward centering the subject on the AF point. Lastly, after getting the composition where I want it, then focus in and out a bit observing the effect on the image. This helps me to determine exactly where I want the focus to be. Granted, there are cases where speed is of the essence and then AE and AF come into play. Usually those shots are not as nice as the ones that I took the time on. -- Best regards, Bruce Thursday, December 23, 2004, 5:31:42 AM, you wrote: SD> Sort of. I bought my first SLR in 1972 (SP500) and built-in meters were SD> pretty standard. The meter broke and I couldn't fix it then (16 and no SD> money) so I used Tri-X and guessed. Of course, it usually worked.
