Learning to shot Chrome film??

[stradibarrius]

When shooting film like Velvia or Provia what is the best method to get the correct exposure? I know B&W and color neg. film has more latitude when setting exposure.

[vinny]

spot meter is how I always do it and 95% of my exposures are right where I want them. or a good slr (slr won't teach you much)

[Preston]

As Vinny says, a spot meter is a good choice for metering your scene. Velvia has a useable dynamic range of about 4 stops, and Provia's is about 5 stops. The main concern is to keep the significant high values from blowing out. So, you'll want to expose for these.

In terms of a procedure, here's the method I use with a spot meter...

1. Meter your significant high values.
(I normally will place these between Zone VI-1/2 and Zone VII. This ensures I'll have good detail. Small, very bright areas will blow out)
2. Next, meter your significant low values to see where they fall on the scale.
(I have found that with transparency films, I can get decent detail at Zone III. Small, very dark areas will block up with no detail.)

I found that the response of transparency films is best when the scene's overall brightness range is on the low side. If the brightness range is too great, your best bet would be color negative. Provia is a little more forgiving than Velvia. Also, you'll need to pay attention to reciprocity with these films.

My best advice is to follow the general guidelines I've given above and then see what works best for you.

--P

[timparkin]

As Vinny says, a spot meter is a good choice for metering your scene. Velvia has a useable dynamic range of about 4 stops, and Provia's is about 5 stops. The main concern is to keep the significant high values from blowing out. So, you'll want to expose for these.

In terms of a procedure, here's the method I use with a spot meter...

1. Meter your significant high values.
(I normally will place these between Zone VI-1/2 and Zone VII. This ensures I'll have good detail. Small, very bright areas will blow out)
2. Next, meter your significant low values to see where they fall on the scale.
(I have found that with transparency films, I can get decent detail at Zone III. Small, very dark areas will block up with

--P

I've done a bit of digging with results below. This is for Velvia 50. This depends on your light meter but for me I now rate velvia at 40 for this scale

http://www.timparkin.co.uk/2008/02/u...-zone-sticker/

This is for a typical non drum scanner.

I also think you can probably push the shadows another stop and a half with a good drum scan or just a half or so with an modern, well set up Imacon

If you're cibachromeing then you'll probably get a stop less in the shadows.

Reciprocity acts on shadows only so less dynamic range by up to a stop for shots with reciprocity.

Provia is similar but you can get a bit more out of the shadows with a desktop scanner (but drum scans don't get the same amount extra as the dmax is less i.e. shadows for provia aren't as dense)

Astia has a bit more highlight tolerance.

Interestingly, these dynamic range figures are 'working' values. If you test velvia 50 using sensitometry, you get about 8 stops of dynamic range. It's just that your one degree spot meter for the shadows will be picking up a probable texture with a couple of stops of brightness itself hence the discrepancy.

Tim

[Preston]

Tim, your results pretty much tie in with my experience using a pro-sumer scanner (in my case a Microtek 1800f). I've also had drum scans of V-50 and 100, and again, your observations and mine agree.

It's true that Astia has better tolerance in the high values, but its palette tends to give blue skies a slightly yellow cast and it is quite sensitive to yellows, like fall foliage, dry grass, etc.. Careful scanning and Photoshop work is called for. Harley always gets on my case about my "Astia Yellows" (smiley face) so, I'm trying to be careful with that.

Thanks for your comments on this subject, Tim.

--P

[Eric James]

Check out this thread - it's loaded with great advice. Pay particular attention to Eric Leppanen's contribution.

http://www.largeformatphotography.in...transparencies

[Heroique]

What I’ve learned about exposure choices comes from a major source & a minor source.

The major source is hitting the field, taking notes about metering (always more detailed than I think necessary), bracketing if it makes sense, comparing final results back home w/ field notes (that never seem detailed enough), writing down “lessons learned,” then hitting the field again – to begin again this eternal cycle. Let’s just say I treat every trip as a “training mission” of sorts for the next trip.

The minor source – also helpful – is reading “how others do it” in threads like this.

[Alan Gales]

A spotmeter, as previously recommended, would definitely help. I used to shoot Kodachrome almost exclusively with my Contax 35mm camera using the in camera center bottom weighted meter. I also used to print using Cibachrome which is contrasty and adds to the problem.

If you shoot a lot of chromes you eventually learn what is too contrasty a scene to shoot. Bracketing helps until you learn but large format film is expensive to bracket. Spotmeters are not cheap but can pay for themselves with less wasted shots when shooting slide film.

[ShawnHoke]

I don't have a spotmeter, just a little Digisix meter. I've always, if I'm able to in the situation, used incident metering. It rarely lets me down, but I always consider the range of contrast in the scene when using transparency film.

I've just moved up to 8x10 from 4x5, so I think I'll be WAY more choosy about what to shoot.

[ignatiusjk]

Try using a Luna pro or spot meter and double check your exposure with a digital camera.Don't meter with the digital just use the digital to check exposure.If your meter says f16@125 shoot the digital at f16@125 if it's to dark or light then adjust from there. It's worked for me.