metering w/ filters in B&W

[brian steinberger]

When using color filters for black and white, should you use the manufacturers recommended filter factor, or would it be more accurate to meter though the filter?

[John Berry ( Roadkill )]

Start with the indicated factor an look at the results. From there you can deviate for different scenes and personal preferences.

[ronald moravec]

Meter w/o filter and open lens required amount.

Yellows are closer to correct thru the lens than reds and some films are more or less responsive to red shades.

I have metered thru filters for really cold weather pics where the hands are too cold to change filter. To do it, I metered a grey board, added the filter, then adjusted the meter compensation so I got a reading thru the filter giving the same reading plus the filter factor. You will be suprised the compensation varies by the color of the filter, but the system does work.

[Leonard Metcalf]

I always meter through the filter, using a spot meter. This is so I can still make judgments about where I wish to place all the tones / zones. Remember you are using the filter to change the tones of various colours. An added benefit is that I don't have to remember the filter factors or do any additions in my head. Always accurate, mind you the meter has been zone modified.

[steve simmons]

We have described how to meter with filters many times in View Camera magazine. If you are a subscriber go to the Subscriber Section on the web site. There is a new article that will help. If not call me

steve simmons

505-899-8054

[Kirk Gittings]

If your meter is not modified as Leonard mentioned. I suggest Gordon Hutchings method as described in Steve's book on the View Camera. My one caveat is that what we are trying to do is preserve shadow detail so I always do my filter metering with a Zone III shadow placement.

Always Be Careful To Avoid The reflections Of Light Objects Behind You In The Area Of The Filter You Are Using To Meter Through!!!! Or you can put the meter right up to the filter, but to avoid scratches I put a piece of electrical tape on the barrel of my light meter to create a soft bumper.

[Brian Ellis]

There are several different methods of adjusting exposure when using filters, none is perfect because (among other reasons) different films and different meters respond differently to different colors, every scene is a little different, almost no scenes include only a single color, colors come in many many different hues and degrees of saturation (what does the color "red" look like?), etc. etc. So if you're looking for a system that provides perfect predictability I think you'll be disappointed, no system will do that, there will always be at least an occasional disappointing surprise.

The methods I've tried have included (1) metering different objects in the scene through the filter with a spot meter and then basing the exposure on the reading for the object(s) whose tone I'm trying to affect, (2) metering the entire scene through an in-camera meter with a a filter on the lens and basing the exposure on the resulting reading (a method I used for a while with a 6x7 camera), (3) using (1) or (2) but adjusting the meter reading by factors published in a View Camera magazine table five or six years ago; and (4) ignoring the filter, taking the readings, determining the exposure based on the meter reading, then adjusting based on the filter factor.

My current method is (4). It seems to me to do as good a job as any (i.e. it produces an acceptable result most of the time) and it's the simplest of the methods I've tried. (3) worked well for an in-cmera meter but I don't use the 6x7 camera any more.

To me the most important thing is selecting the correct filter in the first place, which involves a certain amount of knowledge of the effect different filters produce with different colors, a certain amount of experience, and a certain amount of judgement (aka guess-work). E.g., if you want a blue sky to appear very dark with a scene that also contains a lot of green foliage, do you use a red filter to get the very dark sky you want and accept the likely loss of detail in the foliage, do you use an orange filter and get a somewhat lighter sky than the red filter would produce but with better detail in the foliage, or do you use a yellow filter and get only a slightly darker sky but with almost no effect on the foliage? Or if you're photographing a red apple against green leaves do you separate the apple from the leaaves by using a red filter, thereby making the apple lighter and the leaves darker, or do you use a green filter and thereby make the apple darker and the foliage lighter? If you've selected the right filter ("right" meaning the filter that will produce the effect you want) with a little experience it isn't that difficult to make the right adjustment for the filter ("right" meaning the exposure that will usually produce an acceptable negative).

[Bill_1856]

Bracket.

[Kirk Gittings]

"bracket"

With chromes yes, but with just a little testing in b&w bracketing is unneccessary. Loaded sheet film holders are too precious in the field and readyloads are too expensive. I haven't bracketed color or B&W negs since 1978 (except in very rae circumstances like I suspectmy meter is on the fritz). Yes I always shoot two negatives for insurance but always at the same exposure.

[Nature Photo]

I use the correction factor provided by the film manufacturer for the specific filter.
Do my metering (spot off the subject or of the gray card), then correct the exposure time with the (1) filter factor; when appropriate, further correct with the (2) bellows factor and finally, when needed, with the (3) reciprocity factor.