P3D Meters

[Michael Georgoff <Michael_Georgoff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bob Maxey said "...Come on, now... you can learn to use a meter. Millions of
photographs were taken before the ""wonderful"" world of autoexposure
cameras. Use Dr. T's Sunny 16 rule is one good way, but you can shoot a few
rolls and get the hang of using a meter...."

Once upon a time, I too was a knucklehead.  Then I picked up an old Weston
meter for $18 and played a game called "Guess the F-Stop"  Figuring that the
Sunny 16 was a good place to start(I am sure that Dr. T did come up with
this all buy himself!  Just kidding!)... Anyway, I'd typically shoot ASA 100
anyway, so I'd say to myself, "Hmm, feels kinda f/11 to me right now..."
Then I'd check the meter to see how close I was.  "Mmm, kinda getting f/5.6
outside now... "  And, eventually I'd gotten pretty good at it.  One day I
dropped my meter on the driveway. Uh-oh.    Horrors!  It was like being
thrown back in time to 1927 with a Kodak Autographic No. 1A!  So, I had to
GUESS. Y'know, it was close enough for me.  For $5 you can get a GE Mascot
on Ebay... Calibrate it to good meter and away you go to play "Guess the
F-Stop".  And, after a while, you too can use a meter.  And survive dropping
it on the driveway.  If it's critical, bracket!  

Michael Georgoff
San Jose, CA

(PS: It's easier, after the fact, to have dropped a GE Mascot than it is to
have dropped a Gossen Luna Pro...)