Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 8:55 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
![Embarassed :oops:](./images/smilies/icon_redface.gif)
The UK Large Format Photography Forum
http://www.lf-photo.org.uk/forum/
I don't know whether I can do that but as Lynne says, green grass is a decent midtone as a check.Lynne Evans wrote:Now someone will tell you how to do it properly.
I would disagree with that estimation of range for Velvia 50. I used to expect that from Velvia 100 but found that I was still getting blocked shadows or blown highlights. Since I started limiting Velvia 100 to 4 stops my results have been much more predictable. Although I have never actually used Velvia 50, my feeling is that, if you limited the expectation to between 3 and 3 1/2 stops, you will stand a better chance of "perfection"DJ wrote:I prefer Fuji Velvia 50 which I generally assume to have about 4-4.5 stops of range
Now this is something I never understand; why change the rating on a film ? Surely, what would be better is to understand how much of the range of the film is above and how much below the "standard" exposure instead of just cutting the range in half ?DJ wrote:... and I rate it as ISO 40 on my meter.
Now this is something that I (sort of) do; except that I simply take (for Velvia 100) the shadow reading and then add two stops to it; sort of the equivalent of placing that reading in zone 3 for B&W work. I then meter for the highlights to see what I get that is over the "zone 5" reading and if it exceeds 2EV over, I will try and use a grad ND; if the over-range highlights are in the middle of the shot and can't be filtered, I will either abandon the shot until a softer light or take more than one shot to accomodate the range, mixing them together in Photoshop. N.B. I do not use the HDR gizmo in Photoshop, instead I manually copy correctly exposed Highlight/shadow areas into the "other" picture and blend them together subtlyDJ wrote:I put my meter into EV mode, and look around my scene, I find the EV of the highlight area, and I find the EV of the shadow area to find out what range I must work with. I'll then use ND filters to get these within 4.5 stops of each other if at all possible. I then look around and find something in the scene with a reading just below the mid-point of that, and use that for my final metering. For example, if my highlight is EV 9.5, and my shadow area is EV 5, I'll look for something at EV 7 or thereabouts. When I'm done with the filtering etc, I'll switch the meter back to aperture mode, set my aperture, and take a reading from my known metering point. Then add on any compensation for reciprocity failure or bellows compensation, and you have your exposure time.
Yes, if you were using the zone system, you would be said to be putting the exposure for the shadows in zone 3, in other words, making it darker by 2 stops. e.g. measure 1/2sec - expose at 1/8sec.Tom Perkins wrote:I think I like Joanna's idea of metering for the shadows and (presumably not adding but taking away) 2 stops?
Experimentation is always a good idea but I would tend to start by working with 2 1/2 stops for Provia, depending on the subject.Tom Perkins wrote:That seems to make sense. Is that the same for provia, or do I need to change the number of stops?
I use a Minolta Spotmeter F with colour transparency films and set the meter to the recommended ISO and take a light reading from the white side of a Kodak Grey-Card which represents a `diffuse` highlight. The meter reads this as a mid-tone and the standard reading will grievously under expose the film. For the correct reading, simply press the `Highlight` key.Tom Perkins wrote:Sorry guys, but I have a really dumb question. I have been getting quite a few underexposed images so far, and I think it might be down to my choice of mid tone. What exactly should I be looking for to meter as my mid tone? 50% grey or 18% grey or halfway between the darkest shadows and the brightest highlights or what? Sorry
.