When I'm seriously shooting, I use a gray card almost all of the time, and all of the when I'm on Manual. When things are fast, I may make an initial reading using the gray card, and if an auto or Program mode is close enough, I'll just use what it gives me. I like to check with Mr. Gray a lot, though.
A camera's meter "reads" the light in a scene, but knowing how it does that is important. Unlike the human eye, which looks at a bright part in a scene and automatically compensates (closes down), and then looks at a darker part and automatically compensates (opens up), a camera cannot do that. It "averages" the light in the scene.
The light the camera's meter is "reading" is reflected light. Different objects reflect light differently because of their surface texture and their color. If a large part of the scene is light colors, the meter will read that brightness and automatically stop down to compensate, rendering the rest of the scene dark; vice versa, if much of the scene is dark, the meter will read that darkness and open up average the light. For example, if you want to photograph a person, and the person is surrounded by very dark colors (or shade), the meter will read the small amount of bright (the person) and the surrounding large amount of dark, and open up because it's trying to average the light. The person will then be over-exposed.
Most people take average photos. By that, I mean that most things they shoot do not have a critical section for the light (the focal point of the shot is not in radically different light from the rest of the scene); across the scene, the light IS average. So, the Auto or Program mode that is being use to set shutter speed/aperture combination (the exposure ratio) works, and the resulting photo looks fine.
But, occasionally, they'll take a shot and what they hoped to capture isn't "right": the subject is too bright or too dark. By metering a gray card that is held in the same light as the subject, a proper exposure ratio can be set, and the photo will be fine; the subject will be properly exposed.
The Gray Card reflects the true average between black and white, working with the camera's meter to obtain the proper exposure.
The more serious the photographer, the more the gray card is relied upon, especially if you're shooting in Manual mode. It's better to get the image you want in the camera, rather than reply too heavily on after-the-fact doctoring.
Just haven't gotten one yet.
I do use Lightroom and have been keeping the camera in RAW. Because I am still trying to keep the camera out of Program mode and learn Manual Mode, I guess I really should invest.
TKnect, I do have a question though. I work in a photo lab and if I could get the densitometer control strip could that be a decent gray card in the interim? It does show the labs gray density.
[quote author=YSG and RedBeard link=topic=2464.msg23693#msg23693 date=1368993785]
I work in a photo lab and if I could get the densitometer control strip could that be a decent gray card in the interim? It does show the labs gray density.
The Gray Card ism technically, the 40% Gray Card. I've never satisfied myself why 40% is halfway between black and white; I was an English major, and not a science or math major, so...............
I would suppose the densitometer strip would suffice, but you are probably more able to determine that than I am.
[quote author=Yak link=topic=2464.msg23790#msg23790 date=1369274002]
I miss the old match needle metering, it gave you a starting point, pick you shutter speed or aperture, also easy to bracket your shots. I miss split screen focusing.
My first camera: Minolta SRT 102: match-needle and split screen.
What do I miss MOST? Aperture with the left hand, shutter speed with the right: fast and easy.
I, too, use many modes. Unfortunately, most people do not understand what the modes are doing for them. I liken it to people who only know how to drive automatic transmissions, and driving on snow and ice; they don't know the limitations of what the car can do. If you understand manual, you can really USE auto to your advantage.
[quote author=kitphantom link=topic=2464.msg23797#msg23797 date=1369317922]
I never got the manual/automatic difference on a car until I bought a standard shift car, so I get the comparison.
My frustration these days is middle-aged eyes and being able to see the settings in the view finder. My new camera has diopter settings, so I'll have to fiddle with that to make it work.
My 2 AE-1s had slightly different types of focusing screens, so I had to adjust when I got the second one.
Yeah, most people don't understand the comparison, because they don't know how to drive a manual trans.
God bless diopters!!!
I understand why, with auto focus, most DSLRs don't offer other focus screens, but I do miss the cross-hatch screens I put into my (old) Nikons; helped keep everything four-square.
Ii was selling the equipment when "things changed". I understand why people bought AE-1s, but I also know how many people were unhappy because they kept getting blurred pix; trying to use a too small aperture for the light conditions resulted in too low a shutter speed for hand-holding. I preferred Nikon's Shutter-Priority for that reason; even if 60th (or 30th; I was younger and steadier, then!) didn't quite allow me the aperture I really wanted, I made do, knowing that I could still hand hold.
I also miss depth-of-field preview..... And the depth of field charts that were on the lenses....
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