A reaction I had to a post to an earlier thread over my 'ideal' camera.
And now you will realize why I do not appreciate newer cameras full of 'options'.


I have no issue with having a meter in camera as long as it is simple and allow spot metering and averaging. Spot to measure for the subject and average for the scene. Both are needed. What is not is going through menus or dial combination.

I have a 'classic' Gossen meter gathering dust on a shelf. I use the camera spot exposure most of the time and rarely move from that to average as I use a milky diffuser (as not to mess with the menus). The exposure difference due to the diffuser I use is -0.5 so I compensate +0.5 to the metered light.

The rant]
You need to learn light, especially if you shoot outdoor.
- The same amount of light hits everything regardless of its shade or color.
- Using a camera average reflective light gives you a generic control, not always accurate.
- Measuring incident average light will give you a variant depending if you measure it from a shady or a fully lit area. (You need to be in the scene and use a domed light meter for that or a neutral milky filter on a camera)
- Measuring the reflective light on a subject gives you the correct exposure for the subject and likely will under/over expose the rest.

Normal use of a camera always give you a reflective light measure which is not really accurate as averaging. Spot metering allows you to pin point the reflective light where you point the measuring point. From there you can decide what is more important, light or dark and select the best exposure reflecting your intent. If you do not know what you are doing, there is always the bracketing sledge hammer plus dependance on a camera DR if you dare using raw.

Indoor lighting is a whole different mess that depends in many factors like:
- Source of light (single or multiple source/flash*)
- Strength and temperature of light (per source/flash)
- Orientation and distance of individual source/light
- Use of reflectors or on light adapters
- Subject reflective quality

You basically paint with light that you fully control, a luxury you do not have outdoor, even if you use reflectors and fill flashes even if they do add some control (open shadow/ modify color shade)

Studio lighting is complex and one needs experience and expertise to really achieve something outstanding.

Many studios use a proved set formula to produce consistant result for mass producing portrait like school books, individual or family shoot at fund raising...
- Set the subject/group location
- Set lights according to diagram Height, distance, power, attachement if any.
- Set the tripod and camera according to the diagram
- Preset focusing, tape the focusing ring even.
- Select this lens, this aperture, this sync speed and oh, yeah, WB as well as JPG output.

Then you just push the camera button and then 'Next!, Next! ...'
No experience necessary.
If the guy is great he may even get a few natural smiles (good luck with teens).

----------
* Source = Continuous light. This does refer to modeling light often found is studio flashes. Modeling lights are great to preview where the light will fall, nothing else. They should be turned turned off when shooting.