Metering question (using a Sekonic L-858)

[W4ND3R]

Hello everyone, new member here, I just picked up a Sekonic L-858 meter (my Pentax V broke) and I’m learning my way around this fancy meter while I’m quarantined (potential exposure to this darn virus). With my previous meter, when shooting film, I would meter the shadows that I wanted texture/detail and then place that EV, 2 EVs below (actually I had a zone scale so would place in zone3). I would then analyze the highlights and see where those EV values fell on the scale. I’m trying to develop my workflow with this new meter that’s similar to what I know. I’ve read the manual (amazing, huh) and noticed that it has exposure compensation. What I’m thinking is that I could set a -2 compensation and meter my important shadows. Then select average mode and meter the rest of the scene to analyze the mid tones and highlights (which would show me how many EVs above or below the shadows that the metered tones lay as I move the meter around the scene). What do you think? Any issues with this workflow? Better way? I appreciate any and all input.

Regards,

Tom

[Kiwi7475]

There’s many ways...

What I do is meter the darkest, store, then the brightest, store, and average. Then if you press the meter button again and leave it press it will tell you EV relative to that average so you can check that everything is within the +/- range that you want.
If I use a 2 or 3 stop grad filter (mostly for color) then I just ignore the sky altogether and only look at min/max on the rest of the scene, then average.

Pretty simple, really.

[W4ND3R]

Cool, thanks!

There’s many ways...

What I do is meter the darkest, store, then the brightest, store, and average. Then if you press the meter button again and leave it press it will tell you EV relative to that average so you can check that everything is within the +/- range that you want.
If I use a 2 or 3 stop grad filter (mostly for color) then I just ignore the sky altogether and only look at min/max on the rest of the scene, then average.

Pretty simple, really.

[ic-racer]

On my Sekonic I use the exposure compensation as the Zone with a simple calculation.

Indicated Exposure Compensation = 5 minus the Zone.

So if the Exposure Compensation shows "+3" I know that means I'm metering for Zone 2. Etc.
If the Exposure Compensation shows "+4" I know I'm metering Zone 1.

Another nice thing is that 2.5 is the same in both systems, and I actually use zone 2.5 for almost all my exposure readings

I have had the meter for some time now and I now just think of the zones based on the meter's Exposure Compensation value.

The nice thing is that on my meter this value is shown in the viewfinder.

You can also use the same technique to analyze the saved values that show on the bottom of the screen, by pulling up the saved value and adjusting the Exposure Compensation to any placed zone using the guidelines above.

[W4ND3R]

That’s awesome! I’ll try that out. Thanks!

On my Sekonic I use the exposure compensation as the Zone with a simple calculation.

Indicated Exposure Compensation = 5 minus the Zone.

So if the Exposure Compensation shows "+3" I know that means I'm metering for Zone 2. Etc.
If the Exposure Compensation shows "+4" I know I'm metering Zone 1.

Another nice thing is that 2.5 is the same in both systems, and I actually use zone 2.5 for almost all my exposure readings

I have had the meter for some time now and I now just think of the zones based on the meter's Exposure Compensation value.

The nice thing is that on my meter this value is shown in the viewfinder.

You can also use the same technique to analyze the saved values that show on the bottom of the screen, by pulling up the saved value and adjusting the Exposure Compensation to any placed zone using the guidelines above.

[Alan9940]

I have an L-558. I set exposure compensation to "+2" and meter shadows where I want some detail knowing this is Zone III. Then, I store that value, press/hold the read button and scan the scene; mostly concentrating on the high values at this point. If I don't see anything beyond +5, then I know the overall scene is within the textural dynamic range of the film. Pick a shutter speed / aperture combo and shoot.

[W4ND3R]

Wait I'm confused....if a meter is calibrated for zone V and you add +2 exposure compensation to the reading, wouldn't that be zone VII? It seems that you'd need a -2 compensation for zone III. That's what I'd do on my Pentax V...meter the shadows and then set that EV to zone III on the scale. What am I missing?

I have an L-558. I set exposure compensation to "+2" and meter shadows where I want some detail knowing this is Zone III. Then, I store that value, press/hold the read button and scan the scene; mostly concentrating on the high values at this point. If I don't see anything beyond +5, then I know the overall scene is within the textural dynamic range of the film. Pick a shutter speed / aperture combo and shoot.

[Alan9940]

Wait I'm confused....if a meter is calibrated for zone V and you add +2 exposure compensation to the reading, wouldn't that be zone VII? It seems that you'd need a -2 compensation for zone III. That's what I'd do on my Pentax V...meter the shadows and then set that EV to zone III on the scale. What am I missing?

Nothing. It's totally counterintuitive with my L-558 and I've never understood why it works that way. Like everyone else, I would think -2 was the correct setting, but if I set my meter to that compensation value I'll get an incorrectly exposed negative. I've verified this oddity against my Pentax digital spot meter. Could be I'm simply doing something wrong with the Sekonic.

[W4ND3R]

Wow! That's strange. Well, at least you've got it figured out!