The Confused Photographer’s Guide to On-Camera Spotmetering
Product Description
World’s first book written to illustrate the on-camera spot metering technique for 35mm, Digital, and Medium Format photographers:
All types of metering systems used in different cameras (with the exception of the on-camera spotmeter operated by a skilled photographer) use a "cookie-cutter" approach to photographic exposure. What this means is the camera meter measures the various tones of your subject, and then averages all of the tones in order to come up with an overall exposure. Sometimes the overall exposure works and sometimes it doesn't. With this approach, the ball is in the camera's court and in many instances the photographer has no hand in the final look of the image. With on-camera spotmetering, the photographer uses a "tailored" approach to find the correct exposure for a very specific subject. With this approach, the skilled photographer interprets the spotmeter readings from the subject and establishes the correct exposure that captures the desired image (what the eye sees) on film. The consistency and flexibility of the narrow-angled spotmeter makes it the most powerful and versatile exposure tool in existance today. The only catch in using a spotmeter is that the photographer must have the skill to use this powerful tool correctly and effectively. The Confused Photographer's Guide to On-Camera Spotmetering does just that! It is simple, easy-to-follow, and uses a common-sense teaching approach to the material. With more than seventy full-page illustrations, it is designed to get the beginner and the intermediate photographer started in a couple of days. I assume that you have a camera with a built-in spotmetering (partial metering) feature. I also assume that you have a ninth grade education and are willing to learn. To facilitate your learning process, I have included a two page cheat sheets for each of the following cameras: Canon EOS 10D Digital Slr, Canon EOS 20D Digital Slr, Canon EOS 3, Canon EOS A2/A2E, Canon EOS Elan 2E, Canon EOS Elan 7E, Canon EOS Rebel 2000, Canon EOS Rebel Ti/300V, Canon PowerShot G3 Digital, Canon PowerShot G5 Digital, Minolta Maxxum 5, Minolta Maxxum 7, Minolta Maxxum 9, Minolta Maxxum StSi, Nikon CoolPix 990 Digital, Nikon CoolPix 995 Digital, Nikon CoolPix 4500 Digital, Nikon CoolPix 5700 Digital, Nikon Coolpix 5000 Digital, Nikon Coolpix 8700 Digital, Nikon D70 Digital Slr, Nikon F4, Nikon F5, Nikon F100, Nikon N50, Nikon N55, Nikon N60, Nikon N6006, Nikon N65, Nikon N70, Nikon N75, Nikon N80, Nikon N8008s, Nikon N90/N90s, Pentax *ist, Pentax *ist-D Digital SLR, Pentax 645N Medium Format, Pentax MZ-S, Pentax PZ-1P, Pentax ZX-5N, and Sony DSC-F717 Digital. If your camera is not listed here, you will still be able to learn the technique and apply it successfully.
February 18th, 2010 - 00:23
This book can be good for 12 to 14 year old children. What this book explains in 166 pages can be explained in 2, if you have some brains. This book makes incredibily stupid comparisons to explain simple matters. Chosing a Reference Tone is explained by moving a stool from one room to another, dhah! The 18% gray card is compared with the way FedEx used to work. The author even starts with explaining what percentages are. Photografy is and will always be a quit technical thing. It’s very nice of the author to try and make Photografy accessible for everyone. If you’ve had any proper education or technical background, please don’t read this book, it’s a big waste of money and there’s tons of information on the net, that will teach you much more then this poor book, and it’s for free.
Rating: 1 / 5
February 18th, 2010 - 01:26
Spotmetering with the 5 Zone system in this book will help you take better photos. Thanks
Rating: 4 / 5
February 18th, 2010 - 02:56
An excelente book for begginnners and amateur photographers who want to know the basics on exposition.
Rating: 4 / 5
February 18th, 2010 - 03:02
I know spot metering is becoming a luxury in many consumer grade cameras and only true hobbyist would acknowledge its value in existence. However, this book simply uses too much real estate to decribe a concept that could have concisely decribed in half of the space provided. There isn’t enough color examples to illustrate how to take readings in real life situations. A substantial section to describe individual camera operation is not that useful since it duplicates what should have provided from the owner manual of the camera.
Rating: 1 / 5
February 18th, 2010 - 04:45
I can’t say enough about how great this book is. For me, getting the “correct” exposure has been one of the more challenging aspects of photography. With the simplified zone concept presented in this book I now feel much more confident. In the end, the simplified zone concept is quite simple. The author uses several different methods to explain the same material to make sure you “get it”. For some, this might seem repetitive, but I think he got it right. An explanation that works for one person might not work for someone else. The end goal is to send the reader away with a new tool for having total control over the exposure of his or her images. The author achieves this brilliantly.
Rating: 5 / 5