Gossen Sixtomat flash - Manual (Page 8)

8 GOSSEN Foto- und Lichtmeßtechnik GmbH
Measurement by the incident method is far more
accurate and reliable to establish the correct ex-
posure setting than the calculating of a mean va-
lue obtained with the reflected light measurement
in your camera. In the latter case, the reading de-
pends upon the range of contrasts of the subject.
However, there is not always a uniform distributi-
on of bright and dark areas of equal importance
within the subject. Incident light measurement is
also imperative with inaccessible subjects.
For this purpose it is necessary to select a point
that has the same lighting level as the subject.
And then a meter reading is taken that lies paral-
lel with the projected connecting line between the
actual subject and the camera. This very conve-
nient method of light metering at a point with the
same lighting level is highly recommended for
outdoor shots. The measurement is performed
with a complete „180°“ turn in front of the camera
so that the reading is taken with the meter poin-
ting towards the camera, i.e. opposite the actual
picture shooting direction. Incident light measurement, i.e. with diffuser, also
gives a precise reading of the brightness range of
the lighting. Both kinds of lighting – flash and con-
tinuous light – are measured with great accuracy
by the incident light method with diffuser.
Parallel to this, the SIXTOMAT flash also offers
the reflected light measuring method. In this
mode the diffuser dome is pushed aside to the
left or right, and the meter is pointed from the ca-
mera towards the subject. The meter now only
measures the light reflected by the subject. Con-
sequently, the reading always depends upon the
inherent brightness of the subject!! This means
that inherently brighter subjects are not precisely
measured and therefore rendered darker. If rea-
dings are to be taken exclusively by the reflected
light measuring method, then it is advantageous
for the professional to use a grey card (18 % re-
flection) in this mode. The reflected light method
is used to measure the subject contrast which is
displayed by the SIXTOMAT flash on its analog
scale (see Section 3.2.4 Contrast measurement,
page 12).