Nikon metering controversy revisited

Some folks say that the Nikon meter is calibrated to 12% grey not 18%. Some

folks say that's rubbish. I discovered at the weekend that using internal spot

meters, my Nikon consistently exposes 1 stop over what my Contax 645 does. The

Nikon is giving the correct exposure (correct for my workflow that is, which is

all designed around Nikon-produced negs). So we can conclude that there IS a

one-stop difference between the Nikon meter and some others, but whether the

Contax is actually calibrated to 36% grey I couldn't say. Would be surprised if

it was tho'.

Guy,

 

Assuming both are film cameras youre talking about then it makes no real difference what the camera's meter is calibrated to. All you need is to determine a film's appropriate EI against that meter and all is fixed.

 

Great taste in shoes.... :))

All meters are calibrated to 12.5% grey except for the Zone VI-modified Pentax Spotmeters. There actuaally is an international standard (the designation escape me at the moment)

 

Kodak Grey cards are 18% grey, because that's what Ansel chose and he chose it because it was a good match for Zone V. So grey cards are Zone V, but not a standard midtone.

 

Meter tuning varies by design and by simple variation in manufacturing. This is why you'll rarely find two meters which agree. A half stop variation is pretty common between meters on a given model of camera, which is why finding a good EI for your film is important. Meters are often tuned for certain things, like how high-end Nikon DSLR's underexpose a bit to preserve highlights while the consumer models have hotter metering to nail the midtones.

Kodak Grey cards are 18% grey, because that's that is the color of the sky in Rochester New

York.

Nikon uses 12.5% as neutral grey because that is what the film manufacturers use to be in line with the old A.N.S.I. standards.

Grey cards are 18% reflectance for historic reasons. That is why I

shoot Kodachrome 64 at A.S.A. 80 (now I.S.O.).

 

/Clay

My only question with Nikon's metering is how the heck am I supposed to use a 'color

meter'? All I know about and want from an exposure meter is to point it at something and

have it tell me what exposure to use to make that thing 18% grey.

 

People rant and rave about a color meter but I have never been able to get a straight answer

from a person regarding what it DOES that makes it so special compared to a normal meter.

The theory is that if the colour meter sees a lot of yellow, it figures you're shooting on a beach and ups the exposure by a stop. If it sees white it figures you're on snow, and so on. It is pretty good... but for a crucial shot, I switch back to the spot meter!

I find thge F5's "color meter" no more accurate than that of any other modern AF Nikkor I have owned, and I do lots of shooting in mixed light. You can trick it's metering sytstem just as easily as the next one's. That being said, is it adequate for what I need? Yes.

"The theory is that if the colour meter sees a lot of yellow, it figures you're shooting on a

beach and ups the exposure by a stop. If it sees white it figures you're on snow, and so on."

 

So, basically exactly the same as everybody else's evaluative meters, except it can tell sand

from snow?

 

I still do not fully understand. But that's OK. Thanks for trying!