I can't find my old Gossen from my 35mm days, so I generally switch to
Automatic on my Nikon D40, look at the setting, and then go Manual and
set a combination from that reading.
On Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:28:57 -0400, tony cooper wrote:
> I can't find my old Gossen from my 35mm days, so I generally switch to
> Automatic on my Nikon D40, look at the setting, and then go Manual and
> set a combination from that reading.
>
> What are others doing?
Pretty much the same, but as the shots generally call for an
approximate shutter speed or aperture, instead of starting with
Automatic (P) mode, I'll adjust one of the settings in S or A mode
and see what the camera suggests for the other exposure setting.
I've only used cameras that when switched to M mode, revert to the
last M settings, a nice feature to add (unless I've not noticed it
in the cameras I've used) would be a way to easily transfer P/A/S
mode exposure settings to M mode. One way might be to Dial up M
mode while the shutter is half pressed.
"tony cooper" <tony_cooper213@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Does anyone use a light meter with their DSLR?
>
> I can't find my old Gossen from my 35mm days, so I generally switch to
> Automatic on my Nikon D40, look at the setting, and then go Manual and
> set a combination from that reading.
>
> What are others doing?
I sometimes use my Pentax spotmeter with the 5D. The 5D can only display a
+/- 2 EV (i.e. 5 stop) range without adjustment, but the Pentax allows me to
scan the whole scene quickly for highlight and shadow values.
tony cooper wrote:
> Does anyone use a light meter with their DSLR?
>
> I can't find my old Gossen from my 35mm days, so I generally switch to
> Automatic on my Nikon D40, look at the setting, and then go Manual and
> set a combination from that reading.
Generally a test shot with a spot metered manual setting and a look at
the histogram confirm the metered setting. Adjust to need and away I
go. For consistency, nothing beats leaving it in manual.
If there is a good chunk of white in scene, I can usually spot meter for
that at 2 or 2.3 stops over middle and that will be confirmed by the
histo. Yellow: 1 stop; red: 0; green (-1) and so on. Quick histo check
and I'm done.
But for studio lighting, using an incident flash meter is better for
getting lighting set up, esp. if specific lighting ratios are desired.
(And then, like our Polaroid fore bearers, adjust after a test shot in
any case...)
tony cooper wrote:
> Does anyone use a light meter with their DSLR?
>
> I can't find my old Gossen from my 35mm days, so I generally switch to
> Automatic on my Nikon D40, look at the setting, and then go Manual and
> set a combination from that reading.
>
> What are others doing?
>
>
>
On my Nikon D40 I generally (with outdoors lighting, manual) use the bar
graph in the view finder to set my initial shot.
Bill H wrote:
> tony cooper wrote:
>> Does anyone use a light meter with their DSLR?
>>
>> I can't find my old Gossen from my 35mm days, so I generally switch to
>> Automatic on my Nikon D40, look at the setting, and then go Manual and
>> set a combination from that reading.
>>
>> What are others doing?
>
> On my Nikon D40 I generally (with outdoors lighting, manual) use the bar
> graph in the view finder to set my initial shot.
That's how I learned on the Canon AE1. Back then it seemed amazingly
super automated and really it is quite easy on a DSLR. Matrix metering
is too clever if you are in the frame of mind to go more bare bones than
this, it's always making some assumptions and those are often good but
when they aren't it's frustrating. Center weighted & spot are consistent.
In rec.photo.digital tony cooper <tony_cooper213@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Does anyone use a light meter with their DSLR?
> I can't find my old Gossen from my 35mm days, so I generally switch to
> Automatic on my Nikon D40, look at the setting, and then go Manual and
> set a combination from that reading.
> What are others doing?
I mostly use P mode since what it does is start with the camera's
preferred auto settings and adjusts those by whatever adjustments my
last use of the P-mode imposed. Within easy reach of my thumb in
P-mode are two adjusting wheels. One allows me to change exposure
value with the camera choosing how aperture and shutter are
adjusted. The other allows me to run through the full range of
standard shutter speeds and apertures which give that EV. I say
"standard" because it excludes certain extreme adjustments, e.g, those
which need a tripod and call into play special noise reduction
measures. For those I have to go to manual mode.
So unless I'm doing something unusually extreme, P-mode gives me all
the control of manual mode with auto adapting to changing light
conditions. I find that usually gets me the settings I want much
faster than manual mode would.
But not all cameras have two such conveniently adjustable wheels in
P-mode.
In article <ojm3545pmfrdcgldmjort0dfik74dobe5m@4ax.com>,
tony cooper <tony_cooper213@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Does anyone use a light meter with their DSLR?
>
> I can't find my old Gossen from my 35mm days, so I generally switch to
> Automatic on my Nikon D40, look at the setting, and then go Manual and
> set a combination from that reading.
>
> What are others doing?
I just use the built-in light meter. These days, the light meter that
comes built into dSRLs is fine and more than capable for the needs of
most photographers.
Paul Furman wrote:
> Bill H wrote:
>> tony cooper wrote:
>>> Does anyone use a light meter with their DSLR?
>>>
>>> I can't find my old Gossen from my 35mm days, so I generally switch to
>>> Automatic on my Nikon D40, look at the setting, and then go Manual and
>>> set a combination from that reading.
>>>
>>> What are others doing?
>>
>> On my Nikon D40 I generally (with outdoors lighting, manual) use the
>> bar graph in the view finder to set my initial shot.
>
> That's how I learned on the Canon AE1. Back then it seemed amazingly
> super automated and really it is quite easy on a DSLR. Matrix metering
> is too clever if you are in the frame of mind to go more bare bones than
> this, it's always making some assumptions and those are often good but
> when they aren't it's frustrating. Centre weighted & spot are consistent.
>
Have you got a Katzeye screen or similar?
I've found on a Pentax *ist-Ds that it over-exposes by 0.7 stops with
centre spot metering and is accurate with centre weighted.
My K10D seems to be able to spot meter properly even with a Katzeye
installed and I don't know why.
"tony cooper" <tony_cooper213@earthlink.net> wrote in message
newsjm3545pmfrdcgldmjort0dfik74dobe5m@4ax.com...
> Does anyone use a light meter with their DSLR?
>
> I can't find my old Gossen from my 35mm days, so I generally switch to
> Automatic on my Nikon D40, look at the setting, and then go Manual and
> set a combination from that reading.
>
> What are others doing?
>
>
>
> --
I bought a D40 body to use with an inherited collection of fast prime Nikon
lens from the late sixties and seventies. They fit the D40 just fine, but
the camera's exposure meter won't work with these lens. I thought I would
use a hand held meter to get the initial exposure but that turned out the be
more trouble than it was worth for me.
I start by setting either the aperture or shutter speed I need and guess at
its reciprocal. Then I check the histogram and highlight blinkie on the
monitor and fine tune the exposure accordingly. It usually doesn't take
more than a test shot or two to get it right. If I'm making several
exposures in the same light I use the last setting and adjust from it if
needed. I shoot in Raw so I get a bit of extra latitude there. The process
is surprisingly easy, it's as quick as shooting in manual, I feel engaged
in the process, and I very much like the results I get with those fast,
sharp, old SLR lens.
It is kind of funny though. I occasionally shoot black & white with an SLR
and after after making an exposure I frequently catch myself looking at the
back of the camera for a histogram that isn't there.
Light meter/dslr 
jm3545pmfrdcgldmjort0dfik74dobe5m@4ax.com...
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