digital camera for proofing

[Saulius]

After getting back some chromes sent away for processing I had a few where I somehow grossly misjudged my exposure. This got me to thinking about how to improve upon this. Of course I shall first review what I had done, what I metered and try to learn from my mistakes. But sometimes even when you think you have it right you may be sometimes slightly off so when circumstances allow it would be nice to proof the image. I don't have a poloroid back but since I was thinking of replacing my broken down old cannon 35 mm camera with a digital one I was wondering if this could be an effective way to proof a scene like a polaroid does. Can this be done with a digital camera say something like a Canon EOS 30d? Looking at the LCD screen on these cameras can help one judge a composition but can it aid you in judging a proper exposure or am I hoping for too much from such a camera? Anyone out there tried it? If so has it been successful for you and what is your set up? Thanks in advance.

[Marko]

Hi Saulius,

Short answer - yes, it is possible and a very good idea at that. You can pretty reliably use it to judge exposure, especially for slides, provided that you know what you are looking at and provided that you ran a few tests to match your camera's settings to your film.

Just be warned that you should not attempt to use it the way as you use Ploaroid. In other words, you do not judge the image visually, because what you see on that tiny LCD is just a very rough preview. You should use the histogram feature instead, which will show you exactly how the exposure will affect the image.

Having used Canon DSLRs, histogram is the feature I could not be without. I will risk lynching here, but if you want a good run-down on that feature, Michael Reichman has a few very useful tutorials on his site.

Good luck.

[400d]

Just make sure the histogram shows all three channels, older digi cam may show combined or only one channel; say if it shows only green, you can blow red easily shooting sunset/sunrise and think: yes, I nailed the shot!

Plus, under exposure can always be fixed later. You blown chrome? You just totally lost it then.

http://kenrockwell.com/tech/meters-digicam.htm

[Saulius]

I didn't even think of using the histogram on these digital cameras for that. Sounds like a great idea, thanks.

[AJSJones]

Don't forget that the histogram is derived from the in-camera jpeg that is what the LCD image shows. The tonal values ARE affected by how the in-camera jpeg settings are configured, even if you shoot only raw images. It's best to decrease the contrast in those settings, if you can, to get a more realistic evaluation of the range of levels. This is needed in addition to confirming that the camera provides the same exposure from a gray card that your trusted light meter does. If not, you should note the difference and use it correct with.