At 04:47 PM 4/22/2002 -0700, William you wrote:
There is nothing objectively "correct" about Olympus's
recommended multi-spot technique. As I previously explained, blindly following
this method does not guarantee either "correct" or pleasing exposure.
The Japanese bring an "aesthetic" sense to things that Westerners often find
rather odd. The true purpose of multi-spot is _not_ to produce a more-accurate
exposure, but to allow the photographer to tweak the exposure in whatever
direction pleases him -- in a fashion that appears to be scientifically
objective, rather than arbitrarily subjective.
I don't disagree with this, but the basic recollection I have of Olympus
discussion is centered around an example: a girl in the foreground with
hard back light. They recommend a couple spots on the girl and one on the
background. In general this example gives one an idea of a common
situation in which multispot metering works well, and the example is
probably more useful for The Many than a great deal of description. I
agree that Olympus does seem to create an impression that multispot is a
"make it fit" capability.
For me spot metering is terrific to the extent that one spot of middle
value can be found. To the degree that it is unclear whether that spot may
be a middle value, multiple spots often help clarify.
The real value of the multi-spot function is the memory feature. I use
spot metering with the OM-2S mainly for exposure information but end up
shooting in auto mode because I want to shoot some brackets (I shoot mainly
slide). With the OM-4 multispot and memory, I can use the spot reading and
still shoot brackets. Very nice.
Joel W.
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