I Degree Spot Meter, beginners tutorial, part 1
Gallery Support Channel martinimages.photium.com/port... (Password = support)
Your contributions help me make these learning video's. If you enjoyed this video, please consider making a contribution at
www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr...
This is part 1 of a two part series, this video shows a simple guide to new users on how to use the 1 degree spot meter, part 2, to follow (next week) in another video, walks you through the Zone System as a metering technique. Just realized I have had a senior moment, in the zone scale, there are 11 zones not 10 and 9 zones in between not 8.
Personal Website
www.martinhensonphotography.c...
Visit my shop below to buy my Contrast Grading tutorials, enter code KZhead at checkout to receive a 20% discount
martinimages.photium.com/cont...
Visit our Black and White Learning forum
www.digitalmonochromeforum.co...
Visit our Large Format Learning forum
www.5x4.co.uk/
This, not only clears up the use of the spot meter, it also puts the grayscale zones in context in a way that gets to the point and is easy to understand. You are a natural-born teacher. Thank you Mr. Henson!
Thank you
That’s the best explanation I’ve seen to date on spot metering and the zone system. Excellent work.
Van I just say in all my years listening to all kinds of people explaining the Zone system, this is the most succinct and easiest explanation to follow I’ve ever heard. Thank you very much sir keep up the good work.
Very good looking forward to using this Light Meter understanding a little bit more now. Thank you for your good tips. Will give it a try cheers all the best
Finally someone who knows the real information!
I have watched loads of videos on this subject and Martin just puts things into a format which makes sense, thank you for the great work Mr Henson 👍
Possibly the best quick tutorial on the zone system I have seen so far. Brilliant sir!
Thank you for making this simple for a novice trying to learn the Zone System.
thank you for the full explanation of the reflective spot metering technique, very helpful
Thank you for this.
well done video Martin!
Very well explained Martin…simple to the point. Thank you…be safe, Cheers..
Yup. Good presentation.
excellent video
thanks for the video ! I have the Sekonic 758 Cine and never had this idea of using the ISO2 to go from Z5 to Z2 ! Brilliant !
Very helpful and I thank you Martin.
Very well explained and presented. Thank you!
Mr. Henson, thanks for giving me a clear concept about a light meter.Thanks so much!
Simple and easily understood. Thank you.
This is the best video by far on spot metering
short and understandable, Thank you ! .....
Just discovered your channel. Really enjoying it. Subscribed. Thank you for the great content.
This was great, thank you.
Brilliant work Martin great explanation of this somewhat tricky subject, this video I willhave to play several times to get it into my head and to reverse this thinking for positives thank you
Excellent
Dear Sir, this is by far the best video to explain the spot meter.
Awesome! Thank you so much Martin!! It's starting to make sense!
You are so welcome
thanks Martin ,
I used a Honeywell 1° spot meter when learning the Adams Zone System in 1971 while in college and quickly realized metering off the 18% card for exposure could be skipped is instead you metered for exposure from a Zone 1 area of the scene then shifted the ASA setting on the meter 3-4 stops slower (e.g. 50 for ASA 400 Tri-X based on looking at the negative and reproducing that solid black object in a scene with enough density to see a perceptual difference between it and the max. black printed film base + fog. Then determine the development time to fit scene to paper so white Zone 9 objects where a very light shade of gray with the just paper base rendering the Zone 10 specular on #2 grade paper per the gospel of St. Ansel one just needed to do a test for the EV range of different lighting contrast - flat sun, cross-lit sun, partly cloudy, overcast - to find the required negative development time. The Adams method of changing development time to vary keep negative highlight density (and shadow - highlight range) the same on all negatives only works if using sheet film, or all photos taken on the roll have the same Zone 1 - 9 EV range when measured with the meter. I was using a 35mm Nikon F back then and would buy Tri-X in bulk and load my own reusable 10-exposure canisters for each scene, bracketing generously when learning to do it his way and doing “artistic” photography. But I was actually making money doing photojournalism for the school paper and other publication where that wasn’t practical. I still used the Zone 1 spot metering for setting exposure, but used knowing the EV range between Zone 1 and 9 to know in advance what Polycontrast filter would be needed, again based on one time testing. I developed all the roll film for the time it took to fit the EV range of a cross-lit sunny scene on the paper with #2 filtration, then altered filtration as needed based the actual EV range for each shot, based on my notes. Shooting color negative film I did the same Zone 1 metering and meter ASA/ISO speed shift to get optimal shadow exposure, then measure the Z1-Z9 range to discover whether or not the EV range would fit the print paper. If the scene range exceeded the EV range the paper could render there wasn’t anything which could be done via development of negative or print. The solution in that situation was being able to custom print the color prints and burn in any blown highlights during exposure. My first job in 1972 was assisting top wedding shooter Monte Zucker who never showed proofs to customers. We would get 220 color negative film back uncut which he would review on a light box, marking those he wanted printed and the film was sent back to the lab (Meisel in Dallas) where a color print maker he had trained to print to his specs would custom print 10” x 10” prints, burning and dodging as required. Those were the first prints the customer saw and they would buy every one of them. If the contract was for a 50 photo album we’d typically shoot around 120, then print 70 - 80 upselling the customers without them resisting because they wanted all of them. 😊 After that I worked in the National Geographic HQ photo lab and shot a lot of (free) Kodachrome or Ektachrome with my spot meter. I would spot metered the Zone 9 content for exposure, adjusting the meter ASA/ISO setting up based on bracket test of meter ASA/ISO setting to find what adjusted setting nailed the Zone 9 / 10 highlight exposure. I would then meter a Zone 1 black object to find the Z9- Z1 EV range which would tell me how many stops of shadow detail would be lost if that scene was exposed for the highlight detail. I stopped metering entirely after getting my first digital camera with histogram and overexposure warning. Like color print or slide the sensor has a fixed EV range the scene will fit, or not. The way to find out is to shoot in M mode and expose so only specular highlights are blinking then look at the left side of the histogram is indicating a loss of shadow detail. When using studio lights with digital I used drape white and black terry hand towels on a stand, raise the fill flash until there is shadow detail on the black towel, turn on the back rim light and raise until what it hits is just at clipping in the playback, then turn on the key light and raise it until the front of the white towel is just below clipping. Much faster than metering. Plus even if you meter you wind up adjusting by eye. I used the same approach with speedlights with one flash on a camera bracket as fill and a second off camera.
Super video Martin, thank you! Just got a similar meter to yours and have only been using incident mode so far. This has given me incentive to try the spot and place the zones where needed using exposure adjustments relative to zone 5.
Hi Martin, this is the best learning video on spot metering I've ever seen! Thank you so much for this!
Thank you
Nice video
great explination! thanks for making it easy to understand!!
Your welcome
I just purchased an old spot meter. This is very helpful!!
Thank you
Thank you for making this clear. Best video on this information wise on OnesTube
Thank you
Danke Ihnen für die nützliche Information.
Ihr Willkommen
An easy to understand lesson on spot metering that is straightforward and well presented. I do think though, that when teaching spot metering that using the terms underexposure and overexposure leads to confusion since those terms are associated with a photographic mistake. I've heard "adjust down/up" which seems better, but I prefer the term that Adams used: "Place the exposure up/down" since it indicates a thoughtful action and a path to using zone metering as a creative process.
Thanks, yes your quite correct
Thanks! Very helpful. Does this mean that the usable range to still have a bit of detail is about 6.5 EV?
This is fascinating and easily the best explanation of spot metering AND the zone system. A mentor taught me to meter for Zone III then go plus two stops. Explained the opposite way but the same result on your video. If the meter read Zone III as f22 at 1 second, the shutter should be 1/4 second. Scene lighting didn't matter, just find your Zone III and add two stops, he said. It always seemed to work, but the missing part was finding the Zone IX reading and seeing if it was five stops from Zone III. The overexpose for Zone VIII or IX rule wasn't anything I considered. The waterfall photo is interesting because I hadn't thought to overexpose for an image like it. For example, a meter for Zone IX would be f22 at 1/4, your exposure would be f22 at 2 seconds or 4 seconds right? Would a Zone III reading have worked in the waterfall photo? The N+/N- developing isn't something I'd considered either. A five-stop range would be Zone III is f22 at 1 second and my Zone VIII is f22 at 1/30. If I find a Zone VIII is f22 at 1/60, then it's N - right? Sorry for all the questions. Been getting more and more serious with 4x5 after a lot of mucking around with it. Thanks for making this video.
Not sure that's correct about metering to zone 3 then adding two stops, I might be miss understanding what your saying, if you added 2 stops on a spot meter reading for the shadows at zone 3 it would become zone 5, however, your example explanation. From memory doubt it would have worked because of the dynamic range been beyond the 5 stop textural range , it would work with a N- time to bring the highlight values down the gray scale, for that better to use a single sheet film camera such a 4x5 or 10x8 etc Yes that right, your 1 stop over the textural range then employ a N-1 development
@@martinhensonphotography Re Zone III exposures. I guess you're right about Zone III becoming Zone V then. I will try your way: meter for Zone V and underexpose two stops. Re waterfall photo. I will try your way with metering and setting exposures Zone VIII or IX shots as well: overexpose three or four stops. This and part 2 are great videos. Easily the best explanation of the Zone System I've seen. A friend gifted me Adams' The Camera, The Negative, The Print. Will be tucking into them shortly. Cheers. PS - also, have you seen this dial in the link? Wish they'd used shutter speeds instead f/stops but its still pretty cool/ shop.stearmanpress.com/collections/photography/products/zonecalc
Thanks for a much needed tutorial on this essential technique. So you showed two meterings , one for shadows and one for highlights. When metering for your picture do you do both? or just the one? Your church and water picture is high contrast; which area did you meter to get the metering you wanted? Lastly, you mentioned that you don't usually measure dynamic range, but could you demonstrate how you compensate for dynamic range using +/-N development of the negative? It's an area I have found to be confusing. Love your channel. I like it's quiet low-hype tone and the videos are quite well done. Congratulations.
I use both methods, the water fall picture, it was important to get detail in all the water as this was the main focal point of interest in this picture, if you over expose the bright highlights and go beyond the films capacity (film curve) this would not be an ideal scenario for this image. The Church picture, for this the important area was the building, everything else was secondary, keep in mind your looking at an edited picture so the zones will have been shifted in editing to some extent, by exposing were I did gave me a good negative with plenty of negative information to work with, if you go to 7.14 in the time line I show were I placed the shadows on Zone 3. Also, I do not just use spot metering, I often use Incident readings were for me its difficult to identify a dark or light area to meter from, some of the pinhole images I have shown on KZhead are created that way, it all depends were the camera is pointing and the subject type, that's why these type of meters give you options. I will be uploading a video next week, part 2 of this series, were I go into detail regarding dynamic range and development, the Zone System. Thank you regarding the way I create these videos, I have limited equipment to do them, however I an learning all the time and hopefully they will improve, thanks for commenting.
Great explanation of the zone system and metering. I have a question, will my in camera spot meter give similar results? Does it also meter for zone 5?
Your in built meter will probably not be 1 degree, so will not be as accurate placing zones, if its a partial spot meter say 5 degree angle , if the area were your placing the spot is one tone then yes it will see it as zone 5
@@martinhensonphotography Thank you.
..i understood the bit where you said your using a sekonic L758D...Aaaand thats it...the end.
Thanks 🙏🏼
Excellent tutorial Martin,please ,when you measure the dark area and put it in zone 3, as a result you have also changed the highlight area by 2 stops, correct?Every time you measure the high and low lights and change the area if the other also changes, right?Many thanks!
Yes that is correct , change one zone and it alters another, however , you can use development also to alter zones without effecting other zones very much , called +- development
@@martinhensonphotography + development change high light right?Thank you very much for yr great contribute for analog photography!!!
@@Nat.ImagesLarge.F.Photographer Yes up or down the scale is controlled by development time which will have a minimal effect on the shadows
hi martin, base on the video if i take o reading on the darkest part and the brightest side, what eposure will i use on my camera inm doing a slide negative shoot in black and white large format?
Two ways , measure light in the shadows were you want detail to show and place that area on zone 3, or take the shadow reading and one fir the highlights and average the two readings
Sir, can a spot meter give us a value that doesn't put the metered object in zone 5? I made a test a few days ago metering a dar blue sheet and the meter's suggested value have underexposed the sheet 2 stops from middle grey. Thanks for the video!
The meter is calibrated to zone 5, so no it cannot, the way around it is to set the iso on the meter to a higher value that equates to minus 2 stops, but IMHO not a ideal way of working.
@@martinhensonphotography I see. The meter gaves me a f1.5 and it had room to give me a proper exposure. I don't understand what happened. Oh, I was using a digital camera. Thanks for replying!
🙏🙏🙏🙏👍👍👍👍
How can I use the same for digital photography
You can use it in a similar way, however the highlights take priority when using digital cameras
@@martinhensonphotography the opposite, interesting. Any future videos on digital?
@@BalaKrishnan-sh3vt Well only in the sense of editing after scanning as I don't use digital cameras only film cameras, thanks
Out of curiosity. When I count them all I see 11 zones
Was a verbal error, my bad, pure black and pure white, 9 zones in between, 11, should have been clearer with that , thank you
@@martinhensonphotography no it’s ok, could just be my inexperience. Maybe 0 or 10 aren’t counted?
@@danielemilazzo432 Zone 0 and 10 are also considered part of the zone system.
That’s not a one degree in the sekonic. It’s a 5 degree. If it’s a one degree I’ll eat my hat (or celebrate with a six pack of Modelo dark). There are very few 1 degree spot meters stills in manufacture.
Better start eating your hat lol , “the Sekonic L-758D incorporates a precise 1-degree, reflected light spot meter.”That’s a quote from the Sekonic spec sheet cvp.com/product/sekonic_651112_l-758d Look under the features tab
Physics: Warmth Lesson 1: We are going to boil water. What do we need, what are we doing and what happens? Do you think a wise teacher will start his lessen on warmth with a thermonuclear test? ------------------------------------- Photography: The lightmeter It is not wise and almost useless to do a lesson on the spotmeter and the zones. You have to start with an ordenairy meter ( with a dome ). Do your average reading of the houses on a square, the cars, the people and the sparkling water of the fountain. If you want do a metering with the lightmeter plus the dome on it. If you want do the reading of photo grey cart on the same square. Forget the spotmeter, the zones, developement short / normal / long. Ansel Adams was day and night busy in his darkroom with burning and dodging print after print. Forget the three books of Ansel Adams. I think most of the time a spotmeter is a show off toy for photo wankers.
The last part of your comment says it all about your own credibility and lack of knowledge
i am so angry because this particular meter has a lot of usability issues
Love your Videos....one question on your sekonic meter how do I set the ISO2 to minus two? Sorry, this is a new meter for me to learn...
If its the same model of meter press the iso button and use the jog wheel to set compensation values, hope that helps
@@martinhensonphotography thanks for quick reply… I’m using a demonic L-508 which is almost the same model… when I hold down the ISO2 button and spin the wheel all it does is change the iso values… I don’t know how to get the negative 2 value…
Sokonic model L-508 the model before yours
@@SNxr400r That model works that way, all you have to do is dial in with iso 2 + or - iso values, so if your using 400 iso and you want 2 stops under exposure set the iso to 1600 iso for 1 stop over set 800 iso, the other way to over expose, I stop set iso to 200, 2 stops over set iso 100
@@martinhensonphotography Thank YOU!