Point-and-shoot vs. light meters

[P3D Morris M. Keesan <keesan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Gregory J. Wageman <gjw@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I've found that as little as 
>a half-stop can mean the difference between a so-so slide and a *great*
>slide.  Sure, one can use some rules-of-thumb to get correctly-exposed
>slides in full daylight, but when you get into more "interesting"
>lighting situations, such as deep shadows AND bright sun, I find a light
>meter to be an indispensable tool.  The eye is just too easily fooled.

And even after 5 years of shooting primarily slide film in a Realist (and
still occasionally using my SLF with print film) I still find bracketing to
be an
indispensable technique, even with a light meter.  Perhaps if I were more
consistent
in what film I used, or if I took better notes and studied them, I'd be able to
predict what my results would be when I encounter these bright shadows/deep
sunlight
situations, but as it is, I always bracket in half-stops, beyond both ends
of what my
meter tells me.  I find that the "correct" exposure is often a matter of
taste, and
also depends on whether the slide is being viewed in a viewer or projected,
and also
on details of the viewer, like what kind of bulb is in it, whether it's been
Themelized, etc.

Two of my slides in Expo2 are selected from series which were extensively
bracketed.
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Morris M. Keesan -- keesan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx


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