Digital Camera

[lungovw]

Hello,

Does anybody know or use a digital camera as a light meter for LF ?. I guess It may have all that it is needed in hardware plus the advantage of actually recording the scene what sometimes can be convenient. I don´t know if any producer ever thought of adding some software to convert the light measures it certainly does into readable information for the photographer. Any brand or model in mind?

Rgds

Wagner

[Ron Marshall]

A digital could be used to test shoot a scene, as well as a lightmeter.

For a good quality print 300 dpi is required. 6MP sensors are 2000x3000, giving a 7x10print. 6MP cameras from Nikon, Canon or Pentax are fairly cheap now, and all about the same image quality. Consider what lenses you might want.

[squiress]

I use a DSLR (20D) and a zoom lens (17-85mm). The zoom lens allows framing the same shot as your LF. For a 4x5 the ratio is roughly three to one so my 120mm SA f/8 is about 40mm in 35mm format. I need to divide the 40mm by 1.6 to make up for chip magnification for my 20D yielding 25mm. Setting the 20D at 25mm should give roughly the same image as the 120mm Super Angulon. Then set the ISO on the camera at the same level as your film, go to aperture priority mode to get the level of DOF you are trying to achieve with the shot and read off the shutter speed in the view finder. If the camera is at a speed or aperture not available on your lens just range up or down by f/stops or shutter speed pairs until you get what you need for the shutter on the LF.

Stew

[Brent McSharry]

Although a newbie to LF, I have been using a d200 as a light meter, and as you say, this can also whip off a few keepers, particularly if there is wildlife in the vicinity (with af and 600mm lens - no equivalent in LF).

I got the idea from Ken Duncan - a very commercially succesful Australian panoramic (617) photographer

a few things I have worked out for shooting colour trannies (which seem to have a similar contrast range to digital):
-having a camera with a luminence histogram helps (as opposed to a single channel of the RGB channels)
-you can (and should) put the dslr under the focusing hood to get a good view of the LCD.
-your film (I predominantly shoot colour trannies) will hold highlights a little better than digital (?zone VIII & IX)

hope this helps

[Brent McSharry]

Sorry - I was assuming above that you understood how focal lengths compare between formats, and also the relation between aperture and shutter speed.

if you shoot at f22 on the digital your image quality will be severely difraction limited, and therefore your dslr lens probably wont stop down any further. If you don't already have an understanding, Have a look on the web to explain how to work with exposure variables (EV), as you will need to stop the LF lens down significantly more than the aperture you are likely to be using on the dslr. As a good start you can try:

http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm

good luck.

[Frank Petronio]

I use a Nikon dSLR now, I used to use a spot meter. It is an easy transition thanks to histograms and aperture priority. I tend to shoot more open that f/16 so I don't even have to convert aperture/time in my head.

One thing I know for sure: don't judge exposure based on the LCD preview!

[Matus Kalisky]

By now I have no dedicated lightmeter - so all the time I use my Dynax 7D to meter the light. Advatages are obvious, but there are also some disadvantages - it's a bit large so it is not comfortable to keep it hanging on your neck while you are under the darkcloath - it becomes another item (well, actually camera :) to be taken care of. If I am going out to shoot only for couple of hours - it is another 1.5 - 2 kg hanging on my shoulder (though I could make it lighter - I always take 2 lenses). Also once I have ti along I am tempted to photograph with it what may cut the time left for my tachihara to get involved.
But I still hesitate to go for a lightmeter as good (spot) lightmeters cost ~ $150 or more (the little one from Metered Light even some $450 - lucky me the producer is unreachable :)

M..

[Darin Boville]

If you really want to use a DSLR as light meter/Polaroid substitite and if you shoot B&W have a look at some of the models like the Nikon D200 which has a B&W mode--very nice to see your image in B&W, just like a Polaroid (if you shoot in RAW mode you can actually keep the color info hidden away for later iuse). Pretty cool.

--Darin