How I Meter for Film Photography (breakdown)

[@robertvonthaden]

exposure is an awesome opportunity to be creative - let me know if you enjoy this type of slower content - breaking down a shot. I was so stoked to shoot something green, it’s been a long winter!

[@andrewcanton3539]

I really enjoy your videos, Robert - good advice and presented in a way that's enjoyable. As another commenter mentioned, and for anyone looking for precise metering, a spot meter is incredibly accurate for fine-tuning a scene. It's invaluable, to say the least. But before getting a spot-meter, it's very important to know how a light meter actually works. It may not be known to some that a light meter exposes for middle gray, always. It's just how they are calibrated to meter. For instance, if metering for a snowy scene with a lot of bright white, a meter will want to exposure for middle gray, and what you'll end up with if you go with what the meter is saying is a "correct" exposure, is an underexposed image. To counter this, you'll want to overexpose by at least 2-3 stops (for a snowy scene in particular). The same is true for shadow areas, except a meter will tend to overexposure shadows (exposing for middle grey), so you'll need to compensate and underexpose. A good starting point is looking for and recognizing a middle gray tone in your scene and using that to meter, and then double checking your metering with light areas and shadow areas. Ansel Adams' Zone System is a perfect example of this and it's a really easy technique to learn and implement.

[@robertvonthaden]

thanks so much for the kind words! I guess my hope is this video will find an audience that's familiar with grey scale and the zone system, but interested in how people apply that knowledge. There's so much great information that's all about the technical side of metering, I wanted this video to focus on how I put that info to use. But some of this probably would have been worth mentioning incase someone who's watching isn't so familiar, so thank you mentioning this! - Cody Mitchell's video on grey scale is such a great visual learning tool for anyone who may be interested in more about how light meters work!

[@TheGangsterousG]

Love these videos - beautifully shot and concise

[@robertvonthaden]

appreciate! means the world!

[@LincolnEllwood]

Just subscribed. Love your videos!

[@MarcS4R]

the light meter in the M7 is so good, i find it usually always nails the exposure very well

[@robertvonthaden]

same! it was such a learning curve for me at first, i had to really take a step back and be like oh wow okay i gotta actually pick an exposure here hahaha but now i trust it/myself so much!

[@fjlk32]

This video is incredibly helpful for someone like me. Just curious what apatures do you use for these situations?

[@robertvonthaden]

so glad! I shoot 99% of my photos at f11! with my lens, I can set focus to 10ft-infinity while at that aperture and it just makes everything easy and I think it helps get a cohesive look across my photos! thanks for the kind words!

[@fjlk32]

@@robertvonthaden awesome, thanks for the reply. I live down at the cape too, hopefully we run into each other sometime hahaha

[@juanimal]

Beautiful result in terms of light, color, and composition. On your overexposed shot, the sky is surprisingly controled (zone 9) and same for the road on the underexposed one (zone 1). Great latitude of that film. Which one did you use?

[@billvonthaden]

You’re so natural at explaining your process.

[@theophile68]

Nice video ! Not that it needed because the result is great but I would have been curious wirh the exposure at 1/60th of a second that would have put the sky in zone VII and the shadows in zone 4 .. but I am impressed how good turned the picture anyway

[@robertvonthaden]

thanks so much for the kind words! with a scene like this, 1/60th is a great result as well! I shoot scenes often where the darkest parts of the image are much than the scene for this video. and as I'm sure you know, metering becomes a real game of what to compromise because lots of times we can't have it all haha. for the sake of the video, I tried to keep it simple!

[@jacquesgude]

Excellent video with great advice.

[@robertvonthaden]

thanks so much! glad you enjoyed, it feels like learning to slow down is something that’s gonna take me a lifetime, but constant practice!

[@avdidit]

Good work man! These videos are awesome

[@robertvonthaden]

thanks so much bro! really appreciate the support 🤝 stoked to link up in the future!

[@JohnDoe-m3q]

Did you take your camera out of spot meter mode before you took your shot? Wouldnt that throw off your shot if you left it in spot since you are spot metering one tiny spot of the scene? I prefer hand held meters.

[@georgespuja]

f/8, be there, is what they say right ? Absolutely loved this video :)

[@bopiyeff]

Why not use a gradient filter ?

[@NateG459]

I use the mamiya 6. Its an averaging meter and its usually spot on except for harsh sunlight situations; it tends to underexpose and i can get some useless rolls. Its either be disciplined and wait until softer light or carry a light meter with me lolll

[@robertvonthaden]

i hear ya man! last year i almost switched from the 7 to the 6 but the different light meter was a big reason why i didn’t. it’s very nice to able to point the camera at a specific object and get a reading of light!

[@grainfrizz]

dunno bout y'all but i loved the 1/15s a lol (A LOOOOTTTT) more than 1/125

[@GIazed]

Nice Vid, Roberto!

[@robertvonthaden]

ayyye thank you thank you!

[@Flippy2good]

So good man!

[@robertvonthaden]

appreciate it man! thanks for tuning in!

[@randallstewart1224]

The concept of previsualization he discusses her is a very solid point. His comments on overexposing color negative film, not so much. The need is to critically measure your scene, determine the exposure requirements of each part of the scene, then select an exposure which best balances those requirements within the exposure latitude of the chosen film. Metering is critical, and the Mamiya 7 is not the best technology for that job. Its meter reads a constant area of the scene. As you change lenses, your subject coverage varies greatly, but the area read by the meter is fixed. So, it is a spot meter with widest lenses, and some degree or another of center weighted with normal or telephoto lenses. As a separate matter, the Mamiya 7 is well known for its inconsistent meter coverage, in that none of them critically read the area covered by the rangefinder patch as most users assume, and the real metering area varies around the patch from camera to camera. In short, you first have to learn the location of where your meter actually reads, then you have to learn how much that area varies from lens to lens. A TTL metering system, as used in the Pentax 645 is always going to be easier to use and give more accurate results, because its measuring coverage is constant. As he notes at the end, his issue with the Pentax was not learning how the meter worked Arguably, that is why a separate. hand-held spot meter is a superior choice, as it is a technology you master once, then can get reliable results all the time. As for the Mamiya 7, note that when used to make manual light readings, it reads to the nearest full stop. That is good enough for color negative film, which has considerable latitude for small exposure errors. However, the 7 reads and sets exposure in continuous speeds, i.e. exact exposure, when used in auto-exposure mode. Again, not a critical metering tool.

[@robertvonthaden]

the mamiya 7 is absolutely not the best tool for this job. but it creates images i’m happy with through this process. if u disagree with my point about over exposure, then absolutely by all means - over expose your film! i find that the more i over expose vibrant scenes - the less negative film renders saturation. which is why i get light readings for different parts of a scene, and pick an exposure that will retain the most color while balancing the shadows.

[@TyRonKitzeRow]

Good tutorial