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Author Topic: Spot meter for landscape photography?  (Read 22277 times)

muntanela

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Re: Spot meter for landscape photography?
« Reply #20 on: May 04, 2014, 04:53:47 am »

I've also found that Histograms (derived from *.jpg) is not convenient and doesn't tell the whole truth

Even the histogram before the shot, on live View?
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Vladimirovich

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Re: Spot meter for landscape photography?
« Reply #21 on: May 04, 2014, 11:23:37 am »

I'm not even going to try and imagine how someone could use a snap-shot camera as a 1 degree spot meter as an accurate "calibrated" light meter to accompany a DSLR's sensor!

just use rawdigger (www.rawdigger.com) to understand how spotmetering in your P&S superzoom camera is calibrated in terms of correlating it w/ your dSLR's sensor saturation (that's if you don't have ~1 degree already w/ a particular lens mounted in dSLR), that's it... it is very simple - just bother to study.


! I can't see why there is resistance to using hand held Spot Meter if it's the right tool for the job

sure, if you have something like Sekonic 758** or equivalent... but if you don't then camera's spotmeter is a replacement (combined w/ it's utility as P&S just in case)


« Last Edit: May 04, 2014, 11:26:06 am by Vladimirovich »
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Vladimirovich

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Re: Spot meter for landscape photography?
« Reply #22 on: May 04, 2014, 11:35:43 am »

I've also found that Histograms (derived from *.jpg) is not convenient and doesn't tell the whole truth.

I, as many others, found that "Histograms (derived from *.jpg)" can be used for as along as you took several steps like using UniWB, using options to make OOC JPG less contrast/flat, possibly using AdobeRGB instead of sRGB, etc (yes, OOC JPGs are not usable after all that - but I am not a jpg shooter) and using rawdigger to understand how that histogram is correlated w/ raw histogram... plus my cameras (E-M1 and A7) have "blinkies/zebra" that using the same approach can be tuned to show where raw clipping actually happens/happened in place (before shot in live view and/or post shot in review)...  granted it is not a replacement for true raw histogram (unless you have firmware options like Magic Lantern for some Canon cameras, which apparently has such option implemented) and requires some time invested when you get a new camera, but it pays off.
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Martin Kristiansen

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Re: Spot meter for landscape photography?
« Reply #23 on: May 04, 2014, 11:55:37 am »

I use a Sekonic. Can't remember which model. But then for personal work I frequently use a Leaf back on a Cambo monorail camera, no light meter of course. Much easier to use a spot meter with its ability to calculate averages and so on.  Checking out the scene with the spot meter before shooting is part of the creative process for me. Makes me really look at the scene and think about what I want to say and how I might want to say it. Always pleases me when I trip the shutter and nail the exposure straight off. If it's a bit out I just adjust and shoot again.

Nice way to work.

For commercial work I don't use a light meter at all. Mostly product photography. I just take a wild guess and then begin adjusting lights and stuff. The days of incident light meters and Polaroids are long gone. Can't say a I miss them much.
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Commercial photography is 10% inspiration and 90% moving furniture around.
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