· 7 min read
Selenium, CdS, and Silicon Meter Cells Compared
How selenium, cadmium-sulfide, and silicon photodiode meter cells differ in spectral response, memory effect, and low-light accuracy.
All our articles about metering
· 6 min read
Why Circular Polarizers Exist: Polarized Light and Through-the-Lens Metering
How beam-splitter meters and autofocus sensors misread linearly polarized light, and what a quarter-wave plate changes optically and for exposure.
· 7 min read
The Weston Master Dial: How U and O Markers Prefigured Zone Placement
How classic selenium hand-held meters encoded an exposure system on their calculator dials, and why the U and O markers anticipated Zone System placement.
· 6 min read
Center-weighted and matrix metering patterns
How camera meters average a scene with center-weighted and multi-zone matrix patterns, where each fails, and when an exposure override is warranted.
· 6 min read
The Sunny 16 rule for meterless exposure
How the Sunny 16 rule estimates daylight exposure without a meter, its adjustments for cloud and shade, and why it still checks a metered reading.
· 7 min read
Metering Shadows and Highlights to Find a Scene's Stop Range
How spot readings of the darkest and brightest important areas reveal a scene's contrast range in stops, and whether it fits the film.
· 6 min read
Spot Metering the Shadow and Placing It on Zone III
How a spot meter reading of the darkest important shadow, placed two stops down on Zone III, secures shadow detail in a negative.
· 6 min read
The 18% gray card and reflected-meter calibration
Why reflected meters render every reading as middle gray, how a gray card fixes a base exposure, and why 18% and 12.5% calibration disagree.
· 7 min read
Incident and Reflected Metering: Reading Light Two Different Ways
How incident and reflected meters read light differently, when each excels, and why incident readings sidestep the middle-gray assumption.