"You will never get the same consistency in exposure with an
Om(anything) compared to say, a Minolta with matrix metering".
That's what my friend just told me. I don't know if that's true or
not. All his pictures out of his Minolta 9, is very consistent. But
I don't know if that is all that great, as far as creativity..
Albert.
For what it is worth, I did see a Popular Photography comparison of
metering accuracy for automatic cameras a few years ago and the thing
that I remember is that Minolta's matrix metering seemed to be better
than others and Nikon's seemed a little worse. Of course those
things are true until the next model comes out, but it does indicate
that Minolta had a handle on it back then.
Now for the rant. Almost all of the exposure errors made in the
tests would not have occurred with an exposure system that is easily
understood and operated by someone with a brain. They were standard,
simple situations like back lighting, side lighting. The problem with
matrix metering is that when it makes an error you have no idea that
it is doing so and you cannot compensate for it because you do not
know if it has already been compensated for. With center weighted
metering the concept is simple and you know that certain lighting
situations are not compensated for by the meter, ever, and you can
take charge of the situation, either with the exposure compensation
dial or a spot reading.
It is true that if you mindlessly point and shoot, a matrix system
may be more consistent in getting well exposed images than a center
weight automatic system used in the same way. But, if you actually
look at what you are taking and judiciously use the exposure
compensation dial with an easily understood center weighted metering
YOU may be more consistent than matrix metering. Your Minolta friend
may enjoy handling exposure in a mindless way, but it does not sound
like you do, especially if you are comfortable with an OM1N. Just
think. Each time his matrix system messes up he will have no idea
why and there is nothing he can do to improve his consistency. In
addition his idea of perfect exposure will have less to do with what
he has in mind than what the camera gives him.
--
Winsor Crosby
Long Beach, California
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|