Using a Spot Meter to Make Better Pictures

[@escargotomy]

I am getting back into film after about 12 years of DSLR and like you "spot" was something I'd heard and seen but never looked into. I think it comes down to how much time and patience you have to devote to getting the exposure because you still have composition and timing and lens selection and all the other critical factors to deal with. You can get really into the weeds and OCD with a spot meter it looks like but you can probably get really close with the incident or reflective types too. Metering for 5 different areas in an image is probably something most of us don't have time for, but moving your shadows from zone 5 to 4 or 3 is something most of us do.

[@hurleygreen927]

APPRECIATE THIS INFORMATIVE VIDEO! I'M A VETERAN CAMERA GUY who uses mostly center-weighted or Matrix on my Nikon, but this is a real game changer! Thanks again

[@SmokinGun55]

Excellent explanation with fine illustrations consistent with all other good videos on this subject. I would like to see a video on spot metering with COLOR film.

[@Reason-fg4ik]

When using a spot meter: Negative film, expose the shadows, develop for the highlights. Positive film ie slide film, expose for the highlights, develop for the shadows. Love using the spot meter and have used one for 40 years. Further, it's possible to get more range from your images by calibrating your meter to the brand and iso of the film you're using. Good video, thanks!

[@Photillustrator]

Ah... I didn't know that about negative film vs. positive film. Thanks for the tip.

[@Reason-fg4ik]

@@Photillustrator kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpDOY5x3nL-ZfdUsi=3rLHSVtF6xL-qcu8

[@frankrhee9766]

2:26

[@Photovintageguy]

Color film and slides is a bit different, especially slide film color you have to use a graduated filter or something if the sky is outside the dynamic range.

[@DrBrianOCallaghan]

I use exactly the same spot meter as you and I also have a Hasselblad. What I do is that I have two film backs on the go at the same time. They both have the same film in them. One I will develop normally, but I'll have a second back with a film that I'm going to under develop. I use this film back where I have a very high contrast range, like with your tree. So when developing that film I knock about a third off the developing time and in most cases that will rescue the blown out sky.

[@chriswilcockson8595]

Really interesting video that I came across today! I assume that this spot metre, like most, still metres areas as if they were neutral grey - ie zone V. So, using the Police Car example- you read f5.6 off the side of the car. However, is that a result as if it was zone V? If it was, presumably you would have to dial in, say, two stops of extra exposure to get that "grey" door white - so expose your image at f11. Is that the process you went through or did you keep the f5.6 and adjust your 1/500 second to near 1/125th?

[@timoripatti4572]

The Minolta Spormeter F is my all time favorite. It outperforms any other meter I have used. It gives me accurate EV values of contrast, it calculates best exposure for reversal color film or B/W negative film, it shows me the right balance of flash and ambient light with just two measurements…. A really useful tool.

[@Photillustrator]

I'm loving mine. However, I have to admit I'm not very familiar with EV. Need to look into that a little more.

[@gabrielsilvaz4199]

That’s nice to hear you try to explain the zone system. On your images, I think some people who are interested in learning how to use the light meter would’ve like to know your EV readings rather than the f-stop because you can choose any f-stop you want according to the EV reading as long as your camera is capable of handling the shutter speed necessary. By just exposing for the shadow detail that you are most interested in and not developing for the highlights of course your highlights are going to blow out. If you meter for the shadows that have details, you are metering in zone three which makes your spot meter think that it is middle gray, which is in zone five. You will need to cut your development by 30% since zone three is 30% of the zone system then you will be able to have detail in your highlights as well as your shadows.

[@Photillustrator]

Thanks for the technical information.

[@kalenderquantentunnel9411]

When you place shadows in Zone III it says nothing about the contrast in the scene you are trying to put in your picture or the development needed. To determine that you need to measure the higher Zones, say Zone VIII and add that to the equation by having a look how much apart Zone III and VIII are from each other with respect to their brightness. Then you know if and how much you need to adjust development and spread or contract the zones over the films densities if you already did the needed sensitometry on your film. But as Adams recommended it for 35mm and 120, you can just ignore that and let the films latitude take care about the higher zones and develop to normal contrast which will be just fine most of the time and correctable when printing or after scanning. Putting an area in Zone III just means to underexpose it by two stops when taking the shot, nothing more, nothing less.

[@joshuabanks1769]

I just realized we both use the same film store! Garland Camera!

[@Photillustrator]

Sweet. What kinda stuff are you shooting?

[@goldenimageworks9629]

Zone system photography works best with sheet film, control your development one sheet at a time. Spot meters are the way to go

[@gongqichen2154]

Yep I saw the same video and boom! the same feeling

[@Being_Joe]

We all got to keep an open mind otherwise we miss out on good stuff (like a spot meter). The Zone system is the base of all photo exposure, film, digital, phone cam.

[@giuseppecrescitelli4505]

Congratulazioni, and thanks, ok!! Ciao.

[@Photillustrator]

You're welcome

[@nebesniak1]

I enjoyed this. Thank you! :)

[@Photillustrator]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Normanskie]

There are only two thing that education teaches you;. 1) how little you know and how much more there is to learn, 2 it teaches you enough so the you can go away and learn on you own using the knowledge you already have.

[@neigborhoodbassdealer]

quality content, you explained the zone system so well, cheers! It’s currently night time and I wanna go out and shoot now 😂

[@Photillustrator]

Happy it helped. Now go take some pictures!

[@onakasuitakai-x5t]

Man, your content is so good👍🏻 i appreciate it

[@Photillustrator]

I appreciate that!

[@ronaldmoscatello6441]

It looks like you are using a Minolta F spot meter. If so all you have to do is find a good shadow area and click the trigger. Click the memory button and then the shadow button. Second you find a good highlight area and click the trigger. Press the memory button and then the highlight button. Then click the average button and it should give you perfect exposure levels for your photograph. Try it and see if I'm right.

[@joeycovington4681]

Thanks for that tip. I just purchased a Minolta F and was wondering how most people use it.

[@AldermanFredCDavis]

I don't know why, but The Zone System doesn't make sense to me. I always assumed that with a spot meter, you just aimed it at a part of the scene that was middle grey and it gave you the ideal exposure combinations. I had no idea of taking multiple spot readings and averaging them. The only time I used a spot meter, it was a built in spot meter, in a digital camera. I aimed it at a part of the scene that I thought was the closest to middle grey, and the shot turned out exactly as I wanted it to. I can only guess that an in-camera spot meter does all the calculations for you, as long as it's not something like extreme backlighting or shooting a black cat in a coal mine?

[@Photillustrator]

With a spot meter you meter what you believe to be middle gray and your exposure will be based on what you want to expose for. If middle gray is what you want to expose for then you just keep your reading. If, however, you want to expose more for the shadow areas to hold details, then you'll tweak your exposure towards the shadow areas. I did several meter readings in this video ONLY to show the wide variety of readings one can get from a scene. However, when I chose what meter reading I wanted to used, I based it on my middle gray and shadow areas. Digital photography and film photography, while the same in that you'll use a camera, are MUCH different. Film will give you 1 to 3 stops latitude in your exposure before you start loosing details while digital almost has unlimited latitude. This means with digital, your exposure can be WAAAYYYY off and with some Lightroom or Photoshop tweaks you can bring the image back to almost normal. You can't do that with film.

[@ackamack101]

I believe the readings that your meter gives are all Zone 5/Middle Gray. So like with the tree picture, your meter gave the shadow reading of f/2.8 @ 1/250th, which is a Zone 5/Middle Gray reading, right? I thought you want to put your shadows into Zone 3, which would mean stopping down 2 stops to f/5.6 or 1/60th of a second, if you wanted the 2.8 aperture. Don’t you stop down 2 stops to put your shadows in Zone 3? 🤔

[@Photillustrator]

How I interpreted this was my 5.6 was my middle gray and zone 5 and my 2.8 was more my zone 3. I typically like to expose for the shadows in zone 2 or 3, which is why I set my camera at 2.8 at 1/250th. If I had gone with 2.8 as my zone 5 and stopped down 2 stops, that would have been exposing for a zone 1 or 2. So, my understanding is to find a middle gray in your scene, take a spot meter reading, and tweak your metering based on what's important for your exposure. In the case of the tree, I interpreted my middle gray to be the ground area in front of the tree at 5.6. The shadow areas are where all the cool details are so I exposed at 2.8 to hold the details in the shadows and get that depth of field. Hope this helps understand what I was thinking and thanks for the comment.

[@ackamack101]

@@Photillustrator I see and thank you for the clarification. It’s a lot to keep up with lol

[@ackamack101]

@@PhotillustratorThanks again for the video. Every time I think I have spot metering figured out, it can sometimes still be like Huh? when I go to do it lol 😂🤔😩

[@kalenderquantentunnel9411]

You are just describing the simplest way to apply the zone system as recommended by Ansel Adams in The Negative for small format film: Look for Zone III (well defined shadow), meter it, underexpose that by two stops and let the films latitude take care of the highlights. Works better than most other methods and is only beaten by also measuring contrast and having a second A12-back for another film, that will receive less development to also capture the full range of tones in very contrasty scenes as already mentioned. I understand some will have to read the full explanation to understand the why and how but it's here and put in a nutshell so by far the worst video on spot-metering as someone in the comments put it. 😅

[@gordmills1983]

When youngsters ‘discover’ the tech us oldsters grew up with…..

[@Photillustrator]

Can't beat old school in my opinion

[@giuseppecrescitelli4505]

Great! Thank for movie, i have spotmeter f. Bye

[@roiloubia4483]

Sorry, but this is the worst explanation on how to use the spotmeter for a good film exposure. Very confusing..

[@Photillustrator]

The worst? You've never seen a video on the spotmeter worse than this one? Huh... 😩

[@roiloubia4483]

@@Photillustrator YES, Sir. I have been using a spotmeter and the zone system (field, dev., and printing) with all main formats (35mm, 6x7, and 4x5), for almost 30 years. Yes the worse video. Thete is on KZbin several photographers that explained the metering with a spotmeter better than you did..some, unfortunately complicated it..Sorry, that's the reality, and you shouldn't be offended..You should have asked me why, and would have gladly explained to you why..so you can improve..This said, I am not saying that your pictures are bad, not at all, I am talking just on the way you explained the use of the spotmeter..Good luckin your photography.

[@Photillustrator]

I'm honestly not offended at all. You have every right to your opinion and I respect that. I'm just sharing the way "I" use a spotmeter for anyone interested.