Tips for using lightmeter with LF

[welly]

Hey guys,

Looking for some tips/tutorials/advice on using my lightmeter with large format. My camera is yet to arrive but thought I'd do some reading in the meantime. I've got a Sekonic 758 meter which I've mainly used for flash metering with my old DSLR and have a basic idea of navigating my way around the meter but that's really as far as it goes. I understand the basics spot metering, having done so on many occasions with my DSLR but I get the impression there's a little more to metering with LF cameras. Can anyone point me to any links or if you've got any resources on best practices etc. and ideally some kind of tutorial or guide!

Cheers!

Welly

[vinny]

metering for lf isn't any different than any other film format. sometimes bellows factory comes into play but other than that I never meter any differently.

[welly]

metering for lf isn't any different than any other film format. sometimes bellows factory comes into play but other than that I never meter any differently.

95% of the time I used matrix/evaluative metering on my old DSLR, and that's something I don't have with my Sekonic light meter, so I'd kind of assumed I'd be spot metering everything. Is that the case or do you use something else?

[jeroldharter]

If you really want to understand metering and your materials, read Beyond the Zone System by Phil Davis.

[welly]

If you really want to understand metering and your materials, read Beyond the Zone System by Phil Davis.

Thank you, I'll go take a look for that book.

Ta!

[percepts]

suggest you read the following recent thread on using a spot meter.

http://www.largeformatphotography.in...ad.php?t=56334

works for B+W but you may need to modify for colour if you want colour matching. Possibly even use meter in incident mode.

[welly]

suggest you read the following recent thread on using a spot meter.

http://www.largeformatphotography.in...ad.php?t=56334

works for B+W but you may need to modify for colour if you want colour matching. Possibly even use meter in incident mode.

Very useful thread. Thank you.

[Walter Calahan]

Don't give up using the incident meter feature of the 758. LF isn't always about spot meters and the zone system.

[welly]

Don't give up using the incident meter feature of the 758. LF isn't always about spot meters and the zone system.

I think I'll experiment with the spot and incident meter with my digital camera and see what kind of difference there is between the two.

[Joseph Dickerson]

Bob Shell, Martin Silverman, and Jim Zukerman collaborated on a book some 10 years ago titled "The Hand Exposure Meter Book".

If you can find a copy, you may find it useful. The publisher was Mamiya America. It concentrate on Sekonic meters, naturally enough. ISBN number is 0-9671523-0-5.

Joe D.