Originally Posted by
Oren Grad
Yeah, when I go out with a meterless 35mm camera and B&W negative film I usually just wing it - can't be bothered to fuss with a separate meter when I'm shooting on the fly. Occasionally with LF too, but only when I'm working in bright sunlight.
The camera that I most enjoy using is a 65 year old Leica M3. No meter, but I usually bring along my Sekonic for an occasional incident reading. It's a bit like putting my finger in the air to judge the wind direction.
I'm reminded of a 2004 post by a gentleman named John Cook, who had a wry sense of humour, in a thread about Zone VI spot meters. The sentence next to last has stuck with me ever since I first read this post:
In my highly opinionated opinion, some folks attempt to use the zone system to photograph scenes which are impossibly (read: poorly) lit. They go to excruciating lengths to spot-meter every square inch of the scene, making copious notes for later super-heroic development antics.
I was taught still photography in 1960's Hollywood, by old-timers who were heavily influenced by the lighting and metering techniques of cinematography. A universal right of passage was the acquisition of the ubiquitous Spectra 500 incident meter.
If you work outdoors at the same altitude and latitude, in the same weather conditions and time of day, you can make absolutely breathtaking photographs with a simple incident meter like the Sekonic L-398M Studio Deluxe II, currently available from B&H for $161. And after a few hundred sheets of film you won’t even need that.
If, on the other hand, you insist on making photographs of a white bride standing out in full July sun at high noon in Arizona, while simultaneously carrying shadow detail in a black cat hiding under a nearby parked automobile, you probably will benefit from a whole suitcase full of expensive equipment.
My short answer to your question is that you might not actually require a Zone VI spotmeter.
Link to the original post: https://www.largeformatphotography.i...ll=1#post74142
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