BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: How to Work with Photos and Film Equipment

Photography Question 

Ray
 

Metering


Everytime I use a hand held light meter to set my exposures. My camera indicates that I'm either overexposed or underexposed. Do I ignore the camera indicator and follow what my what my light meter suggested?


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September 01, 2003

 

Jeff S. Kennedy
  If your handheld is an incident meter then it's not surprising that you may get different readings. The reflective meter in your camera will vary depending upon the tone of what it's pointing at. The incident meter couldn't care less what tones are in your scene. All it knows is how much light is falling on the scene. That's what makes incident meters so nice to use. It takes all the guesswork out. So yes, if you're metering with an incident meter you can ignore the camera. To a point anyway. If your readings are way off it can tell you a couple of things. First, you should check to make sure you have the meter set to the right ISO. Next, make sure you are metering the same intensity of light that is falling on your scene. IOW don't stand in the shade to meter a sunlit scene.


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September 01, 2003

 

Ray
  jeff, thank you for the advise.


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September 01, 2003

 
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