Re: Point-and-shoot vs. light meters

[P3D Gregory J. Wageman <gjw@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Morris Keesan writes:

>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.

Absolutely.  No question about it.  I would think that *without* a light
meter, bracketing would be absolutely necessary at all times.

I don't bracket every shot, but the way I decide whether or not to, is to
point the meter at the scene and angle it up and down, and left-to-right
slightly.  If there's a significant change across the scene, I'll bracket.
I'm using a Minolta IV-F meter, which has built-in averaging ability, so
that helps.

>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.

"Correct" exposure certainly is a matter of taste.  One can totally change
the color values of a film by underexposing slightly.  I've heard people
say that Fuji Velvia (rated ASA 50) is "really" an ASA 64 film that they
deliberately down-rate so that it is consistently under-exposed, and
therefore brings out the deep colors.  Some films have less latitude
than others, and require bracketing to guarantee a good exposure.  A
meter at least gives you a solid reference point from which to work.

	-Greg


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