4 replies to this topic

[bobbyjo007]

Lots of photography books have phrases such as "Take a meter reading. The meter will suggest an F-stop that corresponds to the shutter speed". My newbie question is, how do you take a meter reading? Do I need to be in shutter or aperture priority mode to get a meter reading that suggests an F-stop? And most importantly, is it possible to get a meter reading while in manual mode?

 

 

[Merco_61]

This sentence is left over from the days of hand-held meters. The functional equivalent is controlling two of the three exposure parameters and using the built-in meter to find the third.
With AutoISO deactivated, setting the aperture and ISO in aperture-priority lets the meter set the shutter speed.

In shutter priority, setting the shutter speed and ISO lets the meter set the aperture.

In manual with AutoISO, setting the aperture and shutter speed lets the meter set ISO.

In full manual, you have full control of all three and set them to a combination you want that zeroes the meter, so it shows neither over- nor underexposure. 

[La Bikina]

I still have a vintage WESTON MASTER IV LIGHT EXPOSURE METER, I use it for fun, still precise.

I started to use it with the F3 and is funny.

[Merco_61]

I use a Sekonic 358 I bought in 2001 quite a lot for flash lighting as my workflow is very similar to how I worked with film. To get the same precision when balancing several light sources, I need to shoot tethered and analyze each trial shot to reach the same adjustments as just popping one flash, changing the channel on the transmitter and popping the next and getting a comparative readout…

[Ron]

And, I still have my Minolta Auto Meter II Incident/reflected light meter. Unfortunately, no flash readout ability, but a great hand held meter for outdoor photography.

 

--Ron