light meter for a wedding????

[sk66]

Most of that is guff but not wrong...
That is why professional and serious photographers always established their own exposure indexes instead of using the published ISO settings.

Well, I have never created my own "exposure index" that I am aware of.
Back in the days of film i would maybe set the ISO off slightly based upon the film characteristics or set an offset into the exposure for the subject (kind of the same thing, but never "calculated/established" for the gear).

With digital, each camera (and sometimes even by camera/lens combo) may have an EC offset for a particular tendency, but it also varies by subject/situation/goal. (again, kind of the same thing, but never "calculated/established"). I have no clue how you can "not use" the published ISO settings with digital.

I find that my current bodies are more "accurate" than previous bodies and don't "normally" need EC set in. (i.e. I agree with the REI established by the manufacturer). But if I switch to a Zeiss or Sigma lens I might want a little...

 

[HoppyUK]

Well, I have never created my own "exposure index" that I am aware of.
Back in the days of film i would maybe set the ISO off slightly based upon the film characteristics or set an offset into the exposure for the subject (kind of the same thing, but never "calculated/established" for the gear).

With digital, each camera (and sometimes even by camera/lens combo) may have an EC offset for a particular tendency, but it also varies by subject/situation/goal. (again, kind of the same thing, but never "calculated/established"). I have no clue how you can "not use" the published ISO settings with digital.

I find that my current bodies are more "accurate" than previous bodies and don't "normally" need EC set in. (i.e. I agree with the REI established by the manufacturer). But if I switch to a Zeiss or Sigma lens I might want a little...

Back in the days of film, there were a few techniques with exposure. The basic rule was to use every trick in the book in difficult situations - incident reading, spot, multi-spot, to gather as much subject information as possible. Then do a clip-test in processing and push/pull as necessary.

With negs, rule of thumb was to over-expose a bit and with slides under-expose to be on the safe side. And then, just to make sure, there was the BLF technique - Bracket Like F*** And all that was because there was no 100% reliable method of exposure setting, but with digital, there is - right under your nose on the LCD/histogram/blinkies.

 

[Steve Smith]

Back in the days of film, there were a few techniques with exposure.

For some of us it is still the days of film. With film, if in doubt, give more exposure - the film's latitude can handle it (unlike digital).


Steve.

 

[sk66]

but with digital, there is - right under your nose on the LCD/histogram/blinkies.

I still find that with certain lenses, due to their contrast/color characteristics, the exposure *I* want may be slightly off from the in camera meter... But I've also never found a need for a handheld meter, and one wouldn't correct for those issues either.

I do flash work TTL/CLS. I can see the potential use for setting lighting ratios etc that a modern incident meter can tell you when doing manual flash/strobe work.

 

[Garry Edwards]

For some of us it is still the days of film. With film, if in doubt, give more exposure - the film's latitude can handle it (unlike digital).


Steve.

Not on tranny, as Richard says, tranny film has to be underexposed where there is doubt, otherwise the detail is lost. Same goes for digital. In the early days of digital people tended to go the other way, because of the problems with noise when underexposed, but modern cameras cope far better with noise now.

 

[Steve Smith]

Not on tranny, as Richard says, tranny film has to be underexposed where there is doubt.

Quite right. I was forgetting about that as 99% of the time I use black and white film.

Actually, with transparency there should be no doubt.


Steve.

 

[HoppyUK]

Quite right. I was forgetting about that as 99% of the time I use black and white film.

Actually, with transparency there should be no doubt.


Steve.

No doubt at all, apart from the doubts