Hey Everybody, I hope this subject doesn't result in heated arguments, but I recently did some experimentation with various light metering techniques, and I wanted to get some opinions and experiences from SPORRS Members.
A while back, on a very bright, sunny February day, I went out to photograph the KCS activity in my area. KCS's paint scheme resembles an 18% Gray Card, so I figured the light meter in my Nikon FM2 would work just fine without compensation. WRONG! With the camera set for ISO 100 for the Sensia 100 I was using, the slides came out about a quarter to a half of a stop overexposed. I decided that the meter in the FM2 was bogus, so I began to doubt it's reading. Later, after trying several other films in myFM2 and F3, I noticed that I was getting better results when I exposed Sensia and Ektachrome at ISO 125 and Kodachrome at ISO 80. I then remembered my experiences with 120 Kodachrome and Fujichrome when shooting with my Hasselblads. When shooting with the Blads, I used incident light reading exclusively for exposure measurement, with beautiful results on transparency and negative film. I decided to try the incident reading for my 35mm stuff, and I noticed remarkable improvement. The overall exposure, based on an incident reading was far better than I got using the spot, center weighted or matrix settings on my newer Nikons. It doesn't seem to matter if I shoot KCS Gray, KCS White, NS and IC Black, Conrail Blue or BN Green, the exposure looks to be right on the money. I now try to use an incident readings exclusively, and so far, I'm happy with the results. Does anybody else out there have similar experiences or advice to share with respect to light metering techniques? I'd sure like to hear about them. Best Regards, Danny -> SPORRS: Serious Photographers of Railroad Related Subjects -> Web Site: http://www.anet-stl.com/acphotog/sporrs -> Message © SPORRS® 1998 - All Rights Reserved
