Metering with 903SWC

[paul_chan]

When I shoot transparencies with the Hasselblad 903SWC, I usually

carry my Canon EOS with a 20mm lens to take a comparative meter

reading of the scene. Short of this inconvenience, what other less

cumbersome method is recommended to lessen my percentage of spoilt

shots due to inaccurate metering with medium to long distanced mix of

interior and landscape subjects? How should I use a handhold meter

with all those spot/average and incident/reflected reading methods

available on hand to yield satisfying results?

[jerry_lehrer]

Paul

 

Before buying any meter, I suggest that you buy and read Ansel Adams

books; "The Negative" and "the Camera"

 

I also suggest that till you master the art/science of exposure

determination, that you should use a Polaroid back on your H'blad

or bracket your exposures.

 

Remember, film is the cheapest commodity in photography, time is

the dearest.

 

Jerry

[adrian_tyler]

When I changed over from 35mm to Hasselblad stuff metering was something I had to learn from scratch too, I am a slow learner and it took me about a year to get all types of light under control (luckily I'm not a profesional). I think that most people take time to learn, especially as we are used to playing an inactive part in Metering with most modern 35mm gear, so the sooner as you stop using the EOS the sooner you can start thinking about it, As Gerald says, read stuff, but my friends helped me a lot too, good reading...

[cpj]

Here is the most brief of all possible instructions on using a spotmeter to shoot transparancies and apply the Ansel Adams zone system of exposure control. (1) Remember that any meter gives you a reading for a Zone 5 exposure (the middle range) (2) take a reading from the darkest area of the subject matter where you want to see detail, and write down the exposure (f5.6 @ 250th) (3) take a reading from the brightest area in which you want to see detail (puffy white clouds against a blue sky=f22 @ 250th) write it down. (4) read a mid-range spot on your main subject matter (the sunlit brick church-- f16 @ 250th) write it down. You have written f5.6, and f22 as your extremes: look at the standard f-stop scale 2-4-5.6-8-11-16-22-32 then remember that a transparancy of ISO 100 speed, can capture a range of five stops (although if you really want to get technical every film, shutter and lens combination is slightly different.) In the above case f5.6 to f22 is exactly five stops. Thus you make your exposure at f11--right in the middle. If you want to sacrifice the detail in the darker area in favor of the brick church, you shoot at f16. If you want to sacrifice the details in the white clouds to pick up greater detail in the shadow area, you shoot at f8. Just remember that MOST color transparancy film in the ISO 50 to 200 range can capture an f-stop range of about five stops and that the "perfect" exposure will fall only at one point over that range and that one point has only a half-stop latitude. "Read what you Need," then check your extremes to make sure you don't "blow out" your highlight areas or muddy your shadows. Keep them within the 5-stop range. I hope this helps. To save wading through Ansel Adams (which took me three semesters to fully "understand") pick up a book called "Creative Exposure Control" by Les Meehan, published 2001 by Amphoto and probably available through Amazon. Good luck.

[q.g._de_bakker]

Re Zone-metering using a spotmeter:

 

If you want to do that you should have a look at the Gossen Spotmaster (non-US name).

The procedure then is:

 

1) Measure a dark spot in the scene.

2) Shift the reading into the zone you want it to be in (say zone II or III)

3) Take upto nine further readings. Make sure the lightest part of the scene is included. The meter will display what zone they fall in at 'N'eutral development.

4) Next have the meter display the difference and middle value.

5) Compress or expand the range until you're happy with its distribution over the zone-scale (for instance by placing the reading taken off what you selected to be the medium point in zone V). The meter will display necessary processing in 'N+' or 'N-" steps.

6) when you're done, switch to any other mode and select an aperture/shutterspeed combination.

 

All calculations are done by the meter. No need to do them yourself. Or remember intermediate results. Easy.

 

Doing multiple spot readings and calculating the middle value without needing a zone-system like compression or expansion is even easier, of course.

[dan_lindsay]

I commonly carry my Nikon Coolpix 950 with me for shots, and

use it routinely for metering my 903SWC shots. Of course, I also

bracket my shots a bit as well. With its matrix metering, it is

highly effective.

 

Dan Lindsay

Santa Barbara

[tom h.]

Quick solution:

1) Point dome of incident meter skyward

2) Take reading

3) Make exposure at the recommended setting, then bracket

one stop either side. This will work in nearly all lighting

situations. For more extreme lighting, or to achieve a particular

effect you must learn (practice, practice) how your film reacts to

different light. In a pinch tho, you can simply bracket two stops

either side.