[shajufx]

Originally Posted by tifosikrishna

Hope you read my comment about usage of a separate light meter......

How often you will use a light meter unless you are shooting in a studio ?

Originally Posted by rajb3125

Sorry mate, but M mode is not a hangover, I didn't shoot when it was film era, I only entered the realm of photography when it had already gone digital. Yes i shoot film but that is more for fun than anything.....my camera meter always tells me I am shooting more than 2stops underexposed, go figure that out.

M mode in hangover sounds funny ! Anyway I feel its more of a personal choice than anything else. I find M easy to use with few exceptions in frequently changing lighting conditions or fast moving subject. I must also add Chethan gave me the confidence to try it as he got familiar with it within 6 months of owning a DSLR. If my memory is correct, he shoots 100% M. Another thing I heard from my Guru (Anil) is getting equal exposure to every shot in a situation (stage show, wedding etc) which is easy with M as any other mode will keep varying for every shot, giving more work on PP. These are observations by a learner, open to correction.

Whatever said and done, I will be sticking to M mode whenever I shoot Macro, shots with Flash, Long exposures and many such unique situations where 100% control is absolute necessity.

Originally Posted by vina

As @tsk wrote earlier, wouldn't bracketing more or less take care of this issue? You'll have multiple shots in quick succession with different exposures and you can chose to delete some....

I have never used BKT but have seen people using it, probably once in a blue moon ! They were mostly for focus stacking than exposure control.

[amitk26]

I use canon DPP for processing and converting my RAW , Can someone tell how to add a new lens data to this tool ? also if there is any Lens correction data available for Sigma 10-20 F4.5 ~ 5.6 for DPP ?

I tried using Adobe lightroom ( 20 day free trial version) but it also lacks the lens data for Sigma 10-20 F4.5 - 5.6.

I think lens correction is required most in UWA lens.

[kaushik_s]

Guys, need a little bit of info. Have anyone recently purchased Canon 50mm 1.4 ? What is the current market price? Has it gone up quite a bit recently?

[ampere]

Question:

Whats your take on Spot versus Evaluative metering?
Which mode should be used where and in what light conditions?

[robimahanta]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Guys, need a little bit of info. Have anyone recently purchased Canon 50mm 1.4 ? What is the current market price? Has it gone up quite a bit recently?

Somewhere around 23-24K.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by ampere

Question:

Whats your take on Spot versus Evaluative metering?
Which mode should be used where and in what light conditions?

Depends upon what you are shooting. IF you want to expose the center area of your shot, you go for spot metering, evaluative is the average of the whole scene.

[rajb3125]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

You should buy a good modern camera with automatic metering.
As a professional, equipment is very important.

Maybe when nikon makes something better as both d700 and d3 show me, I am under exposing significantly.

Tried a friends d3s and it did the same thing

The trick is to get flash to correct the exposure. If I am exposing perfectly and then firing flash, I will end up with clipping.

[lucifer1881]

Originally Posted by rajb3125

Maybe when nikon makes something better as both d700 and d3 show me, I am under exposing significantly.

Tried a friends d3s and it did the same thing

The trick is to get flash to correct the exposure. If I am exposing perfectly and then firing flash, I will end up with clipping.

You don't get it. If you are using flash to correct the exposure, then why not use the P mode? The camera meter will automatically compensate for the flash. In M mode, the camera meter will not compensate for flash. It is not designed that way. In fact, the camera meter will not compensate for flash in Av or Tv modes either. It will only compensate for flash in the P mode.

So it is not the fault of the camera. If you are using flash, then P is the mode to go with. Otherwise you will have to set exposure manually. Please try to understand how metering works in each picture mode before you say that M mode is better than any thing else.

Let me see if I understood what you are trying to say. You say you use the M mode. According to you, whatever exposure you set in M mode the camera meter always tells you that it is underexposed by 2 stops. This could mean one of two things -

1. Your camera meter is indeed faulty.
2. You prefer underexposed photographs. This is strictly a personal preference and it is neither wrong nor right. Let us not have a debate on this.

Since you have tried this on multiple Nikon cameras, it is safe to assume that the camera meter is not faulty. Perhaps point number 2 holds in your case.

[tifosikrishna]

Originally Posted by shajufx

How often you will use a light meter unless you are shooting in a studio ?

Me? I don't even have a clue of how light meter looks like, so I don't have first hand experience. As far as I know, there's no connection between external light meter and shooting in studio/artificial light conditions.

If someone is used to incidental light meter, they can use it any situation. Recently I saw a program in NGC where a professional photographer specializing in shooting architecture always uses an external light meter and M mode to shoot photographs.

My previous comment on external light meter was my reply to Tanveer where I had said that if some one is using an external light meter to derive the exposure, then the choice of modes (Tv, Av or M) to use is quite different than from when using a inbuilt light meter.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by lucifer1881

2. You prefer underexposed photographs. This is strictly a personal preference and it is neither wrong nor right. Let us not have a debate on this.

Since you have tried this on multiple Nikon cameras, it is safe to assume that the camera meter is not faulty. Perhaps point number 2 holds in your case.

I feel that raj should use Av/Tv mode with underexposure set to 2 stops.
For example, when I shoot snow, I do not go to M mode, I simply dial in +1 exposure, and let the camera meter for me.

Since he owns D3x kind of cams, they can definitely shoot with -2 setting.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by rajb3125

..... If I am exposing perfectly and then firing flash, I will end up with clipping.

Thats very true, I have been trying to nail the 'clipping' issue for quite sometime even in the normal lighting conditions, so its now a habit to try underexposure first, mainly because we can correct the RAW data easily than overexposed files. Flash usage is anyway asking for underexposure (or higher shutter speed), specially if its fired in full power. Strobist techniques are totally different world to master, I just started experimenting.

Originally Posted by tifosikrishna

....As far as I know, there's no connection between external light meter and shooting in studio/artificial light conditions......

Are you sure ? I thought every metering is the same regardless of external or built-in, because the purpose is one and the same = to get perfect exposure. Infact external light meter is used maximum by fashion photographers where all kinds of strobes are used indoors and outdoors.

My question to you was, how often you see normal hobbyists carrying a grey card or external meter. I have not seen anyone till date.

[tifosikrishna]

Originally Posted by shajufx

Are you sure ? I thought every metering is the same regardless of external or built-in, because the purpose is one and the same = to get perfect exposure.

If every meter provides the same reading, then there's no point in using an external light meter.

External light meter, as I understand, arrives at exposure value based on "incidental" light falling on the subject, where as camera's in built light meter will base it on the light "reflected" from the subject. In tricky lighting conditions, it is more likely that reading provided by external meter and camera's inbuilt meter are not EQUAL.

Originally Posted by shajufx

My question to you was, how often you see normal hobbyists carrying a grey card or external meter. I have not seen anyone till date.

I don't know why you are asking me this question at the first place, but in my experience, I have seen people using grey cards, but not an external meter.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by tifosikrishna

If every meter provides the same reading, then there's no point in using an external light meter.....
I don't know why you are asking me this question at the first place.....

I meant the purpose of every metering is the same. Accuracy levels of internal and external are obviously different so the usage and cost too. Question was asked to you because you brought the 'external meter' topic into this discussion Anyway learning is fun !

[architect]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Guys, need a little bit of info. Have anyone recently purchased Canon 50mm 1.4 ? What is the current market price? Has it gone up quite a bit recently?

A friend of mine bought one for around Rs 5,000/- about 2 months ago.

[bikxsans660]

Originally Posted by architect

A friend of mine bought one for around Rs 5,000/- about 2 months ago.

I second, 5k's for a 1.4? Presumably you must talking of the 1.8, which is available at that price. For a 1.4, one needs to shell out around 20-22k's.