Metered prism finder or non-metered prism finder this is here the question...

[berlinhennig]

... is it better to do it with in the camera or with an external light meter in front of the object you want to

take? Espacially if you are just starting with a Mamiya RB67 Pro-S and without any non-automatic

experiance!

 

Who may help?

[mag_miksch]

meter by hand and use the waistlevelfinder, the prism, metered or not, is very heavy and darker. <br>

Regards<br>

Martin

[bueh]

An incident light meter will give you the best starting point for correct exposure. Just factor in the bellows compensation and everything will work out fine. As I said in another thread, the 6x7 prisms are awfully heavy and bulky and get to much in the way.

 

Once you mastered the incident metering (in, like, 5 minutes) you can use your meter and skill for all kinds of inexpensive classic cameras with great success.

[machts gut]

I would always prefer an external light meter, because of the possibilty of incident light measuring.

With a 35mm-camera a built in meter is very convenient, because the cam is much faster and so is the style, but not with MF.

 

Stefan

[russ_britt3]

The hand held meter will make you slow down and make better exposures....think more about what you are doing......a better photographer.....less machine gun shooting. Just my opinion....plus you can get more acurate exposures.

[raczoliver]

Once you start using an incident light meter, things become so much easier. After using medium format for a while, now I even tend to disregard my DSLR's built-in meter. You will also get a "feel" for how much exposure you need (assuming we are talking about ambient light) and can easily find yourself taking properly exposed pictures without even taking any kind of meter reading.

[peter_hovmand]

Just bought a Gossen Digisix. Very handy. Very wonderful :)

[jean-louis llech]

The only real advantage of the prism is TTL light measurement, and the drawback is the weight.<br>

If you accept the extra weight of the prism, take the metering version.<br>

Otherwise, the waist level folding hood is excellent, and can be used for vertical shots, as the camera has a revolving back.<br>

Personnaly I would prefer to keep the waist level hood and use a hand-held spotmeter.<br>

[david_henderson]

Looking first at metering, if you buy a metered prism it will only give you average and spot metering so if your background is in modern auto cameras you're going to have a bit to learn anyway- so there's an argument that you may as well do your learning on a more versatile tool -which many of todays hand-held meters are- and learning a skill which is eminently transferable from one camera to another. Even if you're spot metering then its a lot easier using a hand-held than moving a camera on a tripod round your frame to meter off-centre dark and light elements. Its also a lot lighter- it seems the Mamiya prisms weigh 2lb.

 

The one counter argument concerns image correction. Most MF camera with a WLF give a reversed image. Some people are OK with that, others not. Personally I like to see a landscape the right way round whereas for abstracts I often use a wlf. I don't know how a Mamiya RB works in detail, but if the WLF does provide a reversed image its something you might want to think about.

 

Finally, do you anticipate pointing the camera sharply up or down a lot? WLF's are easier than most prisms in looking up, but more difficult looking sharply downwards.

[jean-louis llech]

David, just a joke :<br>

If you don't like reversed images, <u>never</u> use a large format camera. The image is reversed left-right, like on MF waist level finders, but also up and down. ;>))<p>

 

Personnaly, I use Rollei SL66-SE 6x6 cameras, which have a great advantage : The TTL metering system is integrated into the body, not in the prism. The system consists of average center weighted, and spot metering, with an extra cell for TTL flash metering.<br>

Thus, the light can be measured with the waist level finder. A 45 deg. prism can be added, but it is much lighter.<br>

[david_henderson]

Jean-Louis. I know, I occasionally see mental pictures of myself with a large format camera mounted low with me straddling it, facing backwards and bending over to look through the viewing screen upside down whilst trying to manage a darkcloth. My issue isn't coping with the image reversal but a feeling that I compose better when I see scenes fully corrected. I'm probably imagining it.

 

I use Bronicas and use both a hand-held meter and a prism. Thing is though that the prism weighs only a fraction of the Mamiya's and for that I get both a corrected image and the ability to check that my conclusions/calculations from several readings from a hand-held spotmeter haven't led me too far from reality.

[berlinhennig]

Thanks a lot to all of you folks, that gives me an andvantage by finding a decision.