Hi, Several of the lab people I know have said the same thing, and the same thoughts have been printed in many articles about photography and exposure. Automatic metering, if not used judiciously and with care and intelligence, can ruin more pics than it helps. The thing is that many photogs don't even know how bad their exposures are since the film goes to the lab and the prints are made by computers that adjust and balance the exposures to make a decent print. That, and the greater use of color negative film with its wide latitude, saves a lot of photos. Quite a few photogs have never even seen their negs. The film goes from camera to lab, the lab makes adjusted contacts or proof prints (which are also adjusted) and prints the final photos. The photog's ass is often saved by the guys in the lab and computer technology, and the photog ends up thinking how good s/he is.
Understanding the Zone System has saved my ass more often than the meters built into the cameras .... Shel > [Original Message] > From: frank theriault < > the fellow who runs the lab at which i get all my b&w stuff processed > tells me that he can tell by looking at exposed film who exposes > manually and who sets their body on auto. those who expose manually > have much more consistent exposures. those that rely on their cameras > have exposures all over the place. > > draw your own conclusions...
