Wayne wrote:
OK, all you OM-4t fondlers. How often do you actually use the hi.light
and shadow buttons? And do you have any techniques you care to share to
use them effectively?
I use it quite often in very bright, contrasty, light. I look for the area
that I want to retain detail in - either the darkest area or the lightest
area. I still fumble around some finding the right button with my eye to
the viewfinder though.
Here is a brief summery of HI.LIGHT and SHADOW button operation. They
are available only in spot metering mode.
For a single spot reading, the SHADOW button under-exposes by 2-2/3
stop and HI.LIGHT over-exposes by 2 stops by adjusting the shutter
speed up or down from the current spot reading. The assumption is you
spot meter on a dark object for SHADOW and a light object for HI.LIGHT.
The SHADOW mode darkens the dark colored object while HI.LIGHT
brightens a light colored object.
Actually, I believe the shadow sets the dark area as the darkest area that
still has detail, while the hi.light sets the light area as the lightest
area to still retain detail.
In multi-spot mode, the SHADOW button sets the exposure at 2-2/3 stops
up from the darkest spot (2-2/3 stops faster speed) while HI.LIGHT sets
the exposure at 2 stops below the brightest spot (2 stops slower
speed). Here is an example, you take several spot readings covering
your scene and the fastest (for a given aperture) is 1/250 while the
slowest is 1/8. Pressing the SHADOW button (and you can watch it
compute) the bar first goes to the lowest spot reading, 1/8, then moves
up to 1/3 stop below 1/60, a 2-2/3 stop shift. Pressing the HI.LIGHT
button the bar goes first to 1/250, then drops down to 1/60, a 2 stop
shift.
I have never tried using the buttons with multi-spot. I will have to try
this to see what the result is.
Spot metering is ideal for use with the Zone System, which I am
somewhat familiar with (but always willing to learn). Is this
HI.LIGHT/SHADOW feature at all useful for multi-spot readings? or use
with the zone system? Use with slide film versus negative film?
I believe the shadow corresponds to a particular zone, and the hi.light
corresponds to another. I was under the belief that each was two stops
away from absolute black or white, but I would have to check on the shadow
setting to be sure. Using the hi.light button with slide film helps keep
the bright spots from burning out, while with negative film it would keep
the same area in the negative from blocking up.
I mostly use multi-spot reading to slightly adjust the shutter speed up
or down. That is, I spot on the area I want exposed correctly, then
spot a slightly brighter area if I want to darken the exposure, or a
darker area if I want to brighten the exposure. For example, I spot on
a tree trunk and get 1/60. If I want the tree trunk darker, I move off
to the side a bit (where is brighter) and spot again, moving the
average up to 1/60+. I find that easier than using the compensation
dial, which I always forget to reset. However, I rarely use these extra
buttons.
I have never tried this either. I usually take more spots of the critical
areas-say the face and chest or skin areas that are important- and let them
average out. Unimportant areas are ignored.
Gregg
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