>===== Original Message From "John Pendley" <jpendley@xxxxxxx> =====
>Hello Thomas,
>Years ago, the photojournalist Bill Pearce, wrote in the Leica Manual that
>an easy way to approximate the Zone System in 35mm format is to spot meter
>the highest value that you want to retain detail, say Zone VII or VIII, then
>do the same for a desired Zone III or II area. Then average the two and
>fire away.
Forgive me, John -- this is not an attack on you -- but I've never understood
why this is viewed as approximating the zone system, since it really makes it
hash. Placing a value at zone III or VII is one thing, but why would an
average between II or III and VII or VIII give the correct exposure? Sure, it
would be close, but is that good enough? Furthermore, in a high contrast
setting using slide film, you might very well blow out highlights as well as
block up shadows.
The general rule with slide film is to shoot for the highlights and let the
shadows fall. You can easily use the OM-2S for highlight preservation by
putting the exposure comp nob on +2, spot highlights, and shoot. This would
keep them at a Zone VII. I have to admit only to doing this when shooting
sun-lit snow, but it's been infallible in those circumstances. This seems
more faithful to the zone system than spot averaging, IMHO.
Interestingly, Ansel Adams recommended using an averaging meter in conjunction
with a spot meter to help one evaluate the effect of placing a value in the
scene at one zone or another. In other words, if you place sun-lit sand at
zone VII and the average reading of the scene seems to suggest you should stop
down a bit more than your spot reading, that's an indication that it is a
high-key setting and following the spot reading is probably wise. On other
occasions you may simply discover that the averaged reading agrees with your
placement. All this is supremely easy to do with the OM-2S.
Sorry for the long-winded diatribe.
Joel Wilcox
Iowa City, Iowa USA
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|