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Thread: Sekonic L758 Spot Meter Question

  1. #1

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    Sekonic L758 Spot Meter Question

    With the Sekonic L758 light meter set to read spot mode in EV mode

    1. I meter something I want as middle gray and press the memory button
    2. I meter the darkest area I want detail and press the memory button
    3. I meter the brightest area I want detail and press the memory button

    The meter indicates that the Low value is 2 stops darker than the Middle value and the High value is 3 stops brighter than the Middle value.

    Question:
    If I then press the AVE button to get an average and use that reading as my taking exposure is that effectively putting the Low values on Zone 3 and the High Values on Zone 8?

    Have I got this right?

    Thanks.

  2. #2
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    Re: Sekonic L758 Spot Meter Question

    This is how I use my Sekonic L558 1deg spot meter with zone metering (0 = zone V; 1 = zone IV; 2 = zone III; 3 = zone II; 4 = zone I, etc.)

    Click image for larger version. 

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  3. #3

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    Re: Sekonic L758 Spot Meter Question

    Quote Originally Posted by IanBarber View Post
    With the Sekonic L758 light meter set to read spot mode in EV mode

    1. I meter something I want as middle gray and press the memory button
    2. I meter the darkest area I want detail and press the memory button
    3. I meter the brightest area I want detail and press the memory button

    The meter indicates that the Low value is 2 stops darker than the Middle value and the High value is 3 stops brighter than the Middle value.

    Question:
    If I then press the AVE button to get an average and use that reading as my taking exposure is that effectively putting the Low values on Zone 3 and the High Values on Zone 8?

    Have I got this right?

    Thanks.
    No. In yours exemple you having an ideal situation. You already know what you want to be a middle gray value and it is the first measurement. The second and third measurements confirm that the important shadow value 2 stops darker, mean falling on Zone 3 and higlite values 3 stops above the first reading, so they falling on Zone 8. So the first reading will be the camera setting if you want that subgect to be on Zone 5. If you press the average button then you will get the exposure value somewhere between zones 5 and 8. The exposure will be a little bit shorter than yours first measurement and that mean that subgect you want to be a medium gray will be a bit darker.

  4. #4

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    Re: Sekonic L758 Spot Meter Question

    Quote Originally Posted by R.K View Post
    No. In yours exemple you having an ideal situation. You already know what you want to be a middle gray value and it is the first measurement. The second and third measurements confirm that the important shadow value 2 stops darker, mean falling on Zone 3 and higlite values 3 stops above the first reading, so they falling on Zone 8. So the first reading will be the camera setting if you want that subgect to be on Zone 5. If you press the average button then you will get the exposure value somewhere between zones 5 and 8. The exposure will be a little bit shorter than yours first measurement and that mean that subgect you want to be a medium gray will be a bit darker.

    Thanks for the reply.

    Could you give me a rough idea how and when you would use the AVE button please

  5. #5

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    Re: Sekonic L758 Spot Meter Question

    Quote Originally Posted by IanBarber View Post
    Thanks for the reply.

    Could you give me a rough idea how and when you would use the AVE button please
    Let say you have two readings. One for higlites and another for shadows, and those readings a 4 stops appart. In that case if you use average it will be exact in the middle betwin your readings. If you use that average values as the camera setting that will be your medium gray mean zone 5. And the shadows you read will be 2 stops darker and fall on zone3 and this is exactly what you want. The higlites reading will be 2 stops away from the average to, and they fall on Zone 7. And again this is a perfect situation, but if you use the zone system, this is the only one case when you can use the average button.

  6. #6

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    Re: Sekonic L758 Spot Meter Question

    Average does not equal Zone V unless you want it to. It is merely the average of the measurements. It is still up to you to determine where shadows and highlights fall. Average is useful for 5 stops difference of scene contrast. But when you have 8 stops it would tend to lead you toward under exposure in your shadows. For me it is a visual reference. If my AVG reading (Zone V for the meter) is 3 stops more than my shadow, then I will likely add a stop of light so I bring that shadow up to zone 3, or maybe even zone 4 depending where the highlights fall.

    You can also measure several areas with similar tones to get the average of those - Example I often measure several wet rocks around waterfalls to see the different EVs , and since my highlights will already be at zone 8 or higher I am more concerned about capturing the texture in the shadow/wet rocks. Or if shooting Ferns in a shaded meadow , maybe only 3 EVs difference, so one has to decide is that zones 4-6 or 5-7 or 3-5 and plan expansion (add contrast) or normal development.
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  7. #7

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    Re: Sekonic L758 Spot Meter Question

    Ian,

    Here’s the way I meter with my Sekonic L558:

    1. Meter dark area where I want detail and store value.
    2. Meter light area where I want detail and store value.
    3. Hit AVE button, then I hold down the measure button and scan the scene watching the EV difference from the average.
    4. Adjust exposure accordingly.

    For example, if during the scanning I find another dark area that reads, say, -2.9 then I make a decision. If I want detail in that area, the average reading will cause that area to be in Zone II so I give a bit more exposure. Harder to explain than to do...

    And, as others have pointed out middle gray—18% reflectance—is not necessarily Zone V. Some meters use 18% for middle gray while others use 36%. I have to set the ISO on my Sekonic to half that of my calibrated Pentax Digital spot meter to get the same exposure readings.

  8. #8

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    Re: Sekonic L758 Spot Meter Question

    Quote Originally Posted by Alan9940 View Post
    Ian,

    Here’s the way I meter with my Sekonic L558:

    1. Meter dark area where I want detail and store value.
    2. Meter light area where I want detail and store value.
    3. Hit AVE button, then I hold down the measure button and scan the scene watching the EV difference from the average.
    4. Adjust exposure accordingly.

    For example, if during the scanning I find another dark area that reads, say, -2.9 then I make a decision. If I want detail in that area, the average reading will cause that area to be in Zone II so I give a bit more exposure. Harder to explain than to do...

    And, as others have pointed out middle gray—18% reflectance—is not necessarily Zone V. Some meters use 18% for middle gray while others use 36%. I have to set the ISO on my Sekonic to half that of my calibrated Pentax Digital spot meter to get the same exposure readings.
    Let say you light and shadow readings 10 EV apart. So what will you search for in the scene after pressing the average button?

  9. #9

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    Re: Sekonic L758 Spot Meter Question

    Quote Originally Posted by R.K View Post
    Let say you light and shadow readings 10 EV apart. So what will you search for in the scene after pressing the average button?
    Personally, I've never encountered any outdoor scene that I normally photograph that reveals a 10 EV range. But, if I did, then I'd need to decide which end of the exposure scale to bias the exposure. If I wanted full high value detail, then I'd expose accordingly and let the shadow end fall where it may, if the shadows weren't that important to me. If I needed to retain critical shadow areas, then I'd expose for them and do a minus development of the film to bring back the high value negative densities.

  10. #10

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    Re: Sekonic L758 Spot Meter Question

    Quote Originally Posted by Alan9940 View Post
    Personally, I've never encountered any outdoor scene that I normally photograph that reveals a 10 EV range. But, if I did, then I'd need to decide which end of the exposure scale to bias the exposure. If I wanted full high value detail, then I'd expose accordingly and let the shadow end fall where it may, if the shadows weren't that important to me. If I needed to retain critical shadow areas, then I'd expose for them and do a minus development of the film to bring back the high value negative densities.
    So in most of the situations you don't nead an average value. Am I right?

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