What would be the most lightest/compact digital cam that would have matrix metering?
What would be the most lightest/compact digital cam that would have matrix metering?
I'm guessing that your dslr, if it's like most, uses a loosely interpreted version of ISO ratings. If you check out the sensor tests at DXOmark.com, you'll see that there are a lot of discrepancies, especially at lower speed ratings. Your camera's software knows what its version of ISO 100 really means, so it can nail the exposure. But if you're translating that to film, it may be hit or miss.Originally Posted by Bob McCarthy
I recently discovered this phenomenon ... it's a drawback if you want to meter for film with the things. Maybe you could look at the tests (or do your own against a spot meter) and write down the best ISO ratings to assign to your films.
That's just a Nikon marketing term for a metering system that evaluates all of the scene but accounts for large subject areas and gives them great weight, it also tapers off the exposure if there seems to be a lot of sky in the image. Smarter and smarter versions can detect faces, night, flash, account for distance, etc. and compute exposure against know sample patterns. All the modern cameras have something more or less like it. But many people, including a lot of Canon users, will tell you that Nikon has one of the better metering systems.What would be the most lightest/compact digital cam that would have matrix metering?
My little Panasonic meters very well in "Matrix" or "Pattern" or "Wide Array" mode too.
If you apply a little experience and Sunny/16 common sense, the digital camera method of judging exposure is probably the most reliable up the full-on hardcore Zone System geeks. It certainly makes more sense than sticking the old Luna Pro out and calling the first click the exposure of the day.
One of the reasons I use my Nikon F6 as a backup; plus I have the advantage of having a 35mm slide of the same scene, if I choose to.
Mutt and Jeff.
Don't worry about what others use. Use whatever works for you.
Mike
Sorry, one last 2 cents/harping/preaching.
If you don't learn the Adams' and Minor White's Zone System (or something derivative, similar and equivalent), you'll never really understand exposures and what the "matrix meter" is doing... or trying to do. Worse, you will limit your ability to see creatively and realize your creative vision on the first go without trial and error. The fact is that the "matrix meter" could never understand that you want to hold the highlights of a particular small important area in the subject to Zone VIII so that you don't blow out your slide film... or that you want the darkest barks of the trees in Zone III to lend a dark drama that still has good texture.
It's just not that hard to learn when you have a DSLR that you can practice on and test yourself these days. What probably used to take months to become an intermediate, you can now probably do in a week. Actually, I shouldn't say probably. I did do this myself early last year in a week. I've since improved, but I had the basics down in a week of playing with the ideas in the evening in my house using the DSLR's built in spot meter and doing the exposure manually.
I use my 50D to meter at night, especially when theres too little light to get a usable/accurate reading from my handheld meter.
I usually set the camera to f/2 and ISO12,800, spot meter to get an idea of what I want, take the shot, review it, and if the exposure looks good then I shoot on on the LF.
I carry around a few charts in a notebook or on my phone. One is a series of equations which allows me to convert my DSLR shutter speed at f/2 and ISO12,800 to various apertures on EI values, and the other is a reciprocity compensation chart for whichever film I'm using.
instead of starting a new forum; i have a few additional questions. Please bear with me.
so i got this crazy idea from kenrockwell about using your digital dslr as a spot meter...
okay, cool, i can save myself a few hundred dollars and i have something to use while i walk up to the location.
- does focal length matter?
- will a longer focal length get me a more accurate spot meter reading?
- should it be the equivalent focal length of my field camera to match composition?
- can i use my compact camera (Canon G10) as a light meter for my view camera?
(i think the last camera is more difficult because it will be difficult to get the correct aperture values above f/8, in case i want to shoot f/32 etc. - the smallest aperture on the canon G10)
Well I'm guessing here, but it seems to make sense that a longer lens would be a narrower window for the spot meter to look through, hence more accurate. All metering in those cameras is done TTL (through the lens), so I'd imagine the magnification of the lens would affect the meter's angle of view. That said, the spot meter is already looking at a pretty narrow window, so unless you're talking about going from an ultra-wide to a telephoto, I think the difference would be pretty negligible. Any normal lens should do.
This is strictly my opinion, so some may disagree, but don't even consider using your DLSR to help with composition. You see things entirely differently through the pentaprism viewfinder than you do on the ground glass (I prefer the latter). So I wouldn't go through too much trouble trying to match up the focal lengths of your lenses (remember, a 150mm lens is considered "normal" on a 4x5, 50mm is considered "normal" on a 35, and thats probably around a 35mm lens for your crop sensor). That said, if you happen to have lenses of about the same equivalent focal length, you might try scanning around with the DSLR to get an idea of framing, but I personally find that once I become comfortable with the frame and focal length of whichever camera/lens combo I'm using, that "frame" appears automatically in my mind, without the need for a camera.
You Canon G10 should work just fine, and its a lot more compact than a DSLR to boot. Don't worry about stopping down to f/32 (most DSLR lenses don't do this either), just memorize or write down the f-stops and remember that each stop is half as much light as the previous, requiring twice the shutter speed.
If you look at my last post, when I meter with my DSLR, I do it at f/2 then convert the shutter speed. I keep a chart with a bunch of equations on it, then just punch the numbers into my phone's calculator (to make things more complex, I use ISO12,800 as well, so I'm often multiplying shutter speeds by things like 16,384)
So, if you were using your Canon at f/8 and wanted to take a shot at f/32, you're stopping down 4 stops, requiring 2^4 (2x2x2x2 = 16) times as much light. Multiply your metered shutter speed by 16 (1/160 becomes 1/10, etc).
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