A Spot Exposure Meter Designed for Color Photography

The use of handheld spot-photometers and through-the-lens (TTL) exposure measuring devices built into professional still-photography and motion-picture cameras seems to indicate that reflected light measurement techniques tend to win out in the lively, usually friendly and often enlightening controversy¹ between the supporters of incident light measurement and those in favor of reflected light measurement. An analysis of both methods of exposure determination is made. Present-day reflected-light exposure meters are not adapted to the measuring of light reflected by colored objects. They do not respond in the same way as do color-photographic materials. This discrepancy, due the use of a single spectral overall response instead of three spectrally selective responses, leads to important errors in exposure indication and scene contrast determination, especially when employing narrow-angle reflected-light spot photometers. A spot exposure meter having three light sensitive elements with responses similar to those of the three emulsion layers of a color film is described.

Print ISSN

0036-1682

Published

1977-10

Content type

Original Research

DOI

10.5594/J06737