Light Metering Question

[Kaden Kratzer]

I am seeking some advise on how to improve light reading for large format photography. Do you in general use reflected or incident light reading?
What type of light meter would you advise? I am considering a Pentax spot
light meter.

Thanks in advance.

[jeroldharter]

Of course you will get many answers. Most will recommend a spot meter and the Pentax is supposed to be very good. I have a Sekonic which works well too.

I have switched over to incident metering in the last year, using the BTZS methods and now I prefer it for most situations. IT is faster, easier, more accurate, and the meter is smaller/lighter.

Some problems with spot metering include user error and flair. Regardless of the metering method, you must have done some calibration to determine film speed and development especially for scenes with low and high scene brightness ranges. Incident metering seems more forgiving to me.

[Capocheny]

Hi Kaden,

You'll find some folks on this forum prefer incident/reflected and others prefer a spotmeter.

Personally, I fall into the latter camp with a Pentax spotmeter.

Cheers

[percepts]

depends what you are photographing. An incident meter isn't much good for metering a mountain range 5 miles away which may be in different light than where you are standing. So in that case a spot meter wins hands down as its measuring the light reaching the camera from the subject.
But if you are in the studio or photographing flowers or some other relatively close subjects where you can place the incident meter at the subject location, then take your pick as to which you prefer.
Personally I use a spot meter. But if I were photographing portraits or people who don't stay still between metering and tripping the shutter or in a studio where I controlled the lighting, then I would consider incident metering as well.

[Gordon Moat]

I should almost exclusively colour transparency in 4x5. So for me using a Sekonic L-358 and incident metering works best. There are spot metering attachments available for this meter, though I have not yet determined a need for one. The other aspect of metering is that after a while you will get better at understanding settings without needing to meter, just on the basis of experience; while always a good idea to take a reading, at some point you will better understand how and when to deviate from the readings.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography (http://www.gordonmoat.com)

[Shen45]

Of course you will get many answers. Most will recommend a spot meter and the Pentax is supposed to be very good. I have a Sekonic which works well too.

I have switched over to incident metering in the last year, using the BTZS methods and now I prefer it for most situations. IT is faster, easier, more accurate, and the meter is smaller/lighter.

Some problems with spot metering include user error and flair. Regardless of the metering method, you must have done some calibration to determine film speed and development especially for scenes with low and high scene brightness ranges. Incident metering seems more forgiving to me.

Exactly what Jerold said. ++

I also use BTZS with an incident meter and a Palm Pilot.

[Ken Lee]

http://www.kenleegallery.com/html/tech/index.html#SpotMeter

[Bruce Watson]

http://www.kenleegallery.com/html/tech/index.html#SpotMeter

What Ken said. I love my Pentax digital 1 degree spot.

[Ken Lee]

Here's a shot from last weekend, of a rather common subject for Large Format shooters. Having a spot meter made things quick and straightforward. Where I was standing, the skies were very dark, as it was just about to rain - so I metered through a medium yellow filter and made the shot in a hurry.

I'm not sure how one could have determined the exposure for with an incident meter, but I would honestly like to know the approach.


http://www.kenleegallery.com/images/forum/58.jpg
Storm Clouds, Massachusetts
Sinar P, 450mm Fujinon C
5x7 HP5+, Pyrocat HD

[aduncanson]

1/125 @ f/22 ?

edit:
Just a guess, but I forgot about the filter factor, (just like in actual practice) how about 1/30@f/22?

[Ken Lee]

OMG - How did you know ???? ;)

[falth j]

Why are you posting advertising that has nothing to do with the topic and photography?

[BrianShaw]

You'll find some folks on this forum prefer incident/reflected and others prefer a spotmeter.

When possible I prefer incident readings. Scenes like the one Ken posted require spot. My LF mete of choice right now is hte Sekonic L-558, which offers all three. The flexibility is nice, but was expensive.