DSLR as lightmeter??

[mfratt]

How does the histogram on the DSLR match the exposure range of film? The DSLR may flag something as being overexposed, where you might still have detail in the film. That's why I stick with 35mm film. I see very little value in a histogram with any of the film stocks I use.

Very good point. Value on digital is determined by a hexadexinal value of 0-255. Anything below zero will be clipped to black and above 255 will clip to white. Film has a much more gradual (analog) transition before it will "clip" anday not line up with what a digital sensor will do. This is even more phased by the ability to process your film so as to comtrol you contrast.

So take them as a warning, and if they are present
focus on the highlight and go to spot meter mode.

I personally think metering is overrated. In daylight conditions you can guess the exposure (especially given latitude of films like TMY) most of the time without a meter.

I agree completely. In fact I almost never have a meter with me when I need it, so I'm gradually just forgetting about the darn things.

Sunny? Use sunny 16, or a stop more.

Shade? 3-4 stops more if it's deep shade.

Bright overcast? S16+ 2 stops

Office lighting? S16+ 8-10 stops.

Heck, going handheld, a lot of the time it just boils down to exposing as much as I can given subject/camera motion and DOF constraints.

I think this is heavily dependent on your style, but when I shoot lf, I like to be very specific and deliberate about everything, so guessing makes me very uneasy. I will often guess or take a single light reading for the day when shooting 35, but with lf, I feel a need to be in control of eveuthing.

[Jack Dahlgren]

Very good point. Value on digital is determined by a hexadexinal value of 0-255. Anything below zero will be clipped to black and above 255 will clip to white.

If you are interested in being deliberate and precise, decimal 0 to 255 = Hex 0 to FF.

As a side question, how do you get a light reading of below 0? :-)

[mfratt]

If you are interested in being deliberate and precise, decimal 0 to 255 = Hex 0 to FF.

As a side question, how do you get a light reading of below 0? :-)

Ugh anything other than base 2 or base 10 makes my head twirl.

And I know you were being coy with the second one, but to answer it anyway, there are values which exist below what the camera interprets at zero, though it won't render them.

[roteague]

I personally think metering is overrated. In daylight conditions you can guess the exposure (especially given latitude of films like TMY) most of the time without a meter.

Unfortunately, when shooting Velvia you can't get away with that.

[Jack Dahlgren]

Unfortunately, when shooting Velvia you can't get away with that.

I think you can. Bright sunlight with high contrast? Put the Velvia away :-)

[Ivan J. Eberle]

You have to know your DSLR's dynamic range to make use of the histogram (and it changes with ISO). It's mostly useful to me to quickly see how fully populated the range is to decide whether to shoot 4x5 in color transparency or print film (or a graduated neutral density filter).

I use a Nikon D200 with a dynamic range that's reasonably close to Astia 100F. The Spot Meter readings with it are derived from the same 1008 pixel RGB array that meters for the Matrix Metering. This is arguably more precise and immune to color temperature errors than any handheld spot meter (at least any with which I'm familiar).

[Frank Petronio]

Actually the short range of Velvia and digital probably match up pretty well.

[Brian Ellis]

If all anyone wants is a printable negative Sunny 16 and variations will work fine. If someone wants to place the shadows on a particular value and process the highlights to a particular value so that they can make a negative that will print the way they want the print to look, it's next to useless.

[Jack Dahlgren]

If all anyone wants is a printable negative Sunny 16 and variations will work fine. If someone wants to place the shadows on a particular value and process the highlights to a particular value so that they can make a negative that will print the way they want the print to look, it's next to useless.

What meter did Ansel use for Moonrise?

The sun is the sun
rocks are rocks
trees are trees
clouds are clouds

Sure, things vary, but I think you are selling your own judgement short.
Try this exercise, it is free and takes almost no time.

Look at the scene, guess the exposure.
Then take out your lightmeter and go about your normal routine.
Finally, compare your initial guess to the metered results.

I think it won't take you long before you are almost as good at guessing as your meter.

[roteague]

Actually the short range of Velvia and digital probably match up pretty well.

Except that Velvia holds more detail in the highlights than digital does.