Metering with filters, tips?

[lenser]

If you wrote this down correctly "under" exposed by two stops means that you wiped out the shadow detail as you gave it four times less exposure than your meter called for (since exposure is based on the square root thing). You should have over exposed by one or two stops to gather more light and therefore more detail.

By under exposing that much and not recording the detail at all, there was no way to recover. No amount of added development will show up detail that did not get recorded in the first place.

Exposing for the shadows means making sure that you get enough light on the film to record the shadow detail the way you will want to see it on the print. Slightly under developing is then used to control the possible blocking (loss of detail) in the highlights if the exposure range from shadow to highlight would place the highlight near pure white on the zone scale.

If you can get a copy of Adam's "The Negative" and bone up on his Zone System techniques, it would help you understand much more.

[alavergh]

Perhaps I did type it incorrectly, but I'm basically saying that my meter wanted something dark to be medium gray, or zone 5, so I turned down my light meter two stops somitmwasnt too bright. I was metering through the filter so I didn't apply a filter factor. Basically, I was trying to put the shadows in zone 3 by under exposing what my meter told me by 2 stops.

Anyways, I'm still just going to meter with no filter and apply an exposure compensation to deal with the filter. Everything else that I shoot seems to turn out fine and it's fairly easy to print.

[lenser]

Understood, and that makes much more sense and is a definite Zone System application.

[Drew Wiley]

I'd never trust a meter reading thru a dark filter. Start with the published filter factor for your particular combination of film and filter, and then take some test shots
against a reference, like a gray card to evaluate the negative afterwards. The deep red filter you mention might be a 3 EV correction with some pan films, 4 with
certain others, and just too red for an orthopan film like ACROS. I leave it at the basics rather than complicate it with Zone System technique per se.

[Ken Lee]

If you only use a small number of filters, you can likely remember the required filter factors.

If you can't remember, you can write them somewhere convenient, like on the item in which you carry them.

[Jac@stafford.net]

If you only use a small number of filters, you can likely remember the required filter factors.

If you can't remember, you can write them somewhere convenient, like on the item in which you carry them.

Filter factors are usually engraved on the filter rim.

[VictoriaPerelet]

Place your favorite digital camera in to manual mode, set same iso as your film, zoom to match your view camera lens, put filter on.
By trial an error pickup exposure that matches your artistic taste. You may use histogram to fine tune your exposure. Transfer #'s to your lf lens shutter. Take pic.

Later on have beer with your friends and discuss zone system etc