For folks who do not do their own processing a spot meter is overkill. All you can do in that case is move your exposure up and down the scale to select for shadow or highlight detail. In which case an incident meter and a little intelligence works much better than a spotmeter. A little more experience and you can use a incident meter almost as well as a spot meter for zone system work. For actually controlling lighting (as in a studio) an incident meter is hands down better. However I will admit that a spotmeter is far more gadgety and that seems to be what 90% of todays photographers want.
graywolf http://www.graywolfphoto.com "Idiot Proof" <==> "Expert Proof" -----------------------------------
Shel Belinkoff wrote:
I disagree about the choice of a meter to learn with. An incident meter is ok in certain situations where it can be used properly, but in and of itself it can't really tell you much about the range of light in a scene, as can a spot meter.
Shel
[Original Message]
From: Bob W
The way to learn, in my opinion, is to turn off all your automation, and
use
an incident light meter. You can buy perfectly good used meters very cheaply.
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