When EV is lower than the spot meter can handle
Another vote for the Luna Pro SBC in incident mode. I shot some pictures inside the old Tennesse Theater in Knoxville, Tn. It was so dark I had to use a flash light to see the lens settings. My spot meter was useless, but the SBC was a life saver. You can see one of the pictures in my folder over at Photo.net.
When EV is lower than the spot meter can handle
I have heard of people making exposures of a couple of hours or more on 'auto' with an LX.
That's pretty amazing - ought to eat those S76's in a hurry, though. Although "B" on the LX is mechanical, it must be draining power on "AUTO" with the mirror up. Yeah, the ability to integrate the changing light during exposure is seriously cool. Another twist on the same idea, literally and figuratively, is the autoexposure thingy you can attach to a Noblex, which I believe varies the rotational speed to match the measured light.
A sensitive integrating meter would be a simple enough electronics project - photodiodes and their controllers have improved a lot since the LX was made. If someone ever made the elusive self-timer/long exposure/IR-remote shutter plunger for LF you could integrate it into that too.
Back on proper LF ground, do you think it would be practical to build an integrating OTF meter into an LF camera? Imagine a self-contained unit with a lens mounted in electronic leaf shutter, integrated with rear-facing photocell on the back of the lensboard, and whatever control circuits you need for self-timer, controlled long-exposure and remote-release functions...
When EV is lower than the spot meter can handle
One night I tried my little digital with an 8sec exposure mode and to tell the truth it did pretty good. I don't know if there are other cameras with longer exposures, but it could be extrapolated.
As far as cameras are concerned, I've shot my Rollei 6006 at night on auto and it did very well. Scenes were pictures of the local port and garages. In the end I think it comes down to seeing the results from alot burning film. After a few rolls you'll start to develop a sort of inborn meter where you'll know when to stop exposure.
When EV is lower than the spot meter can handle
Mako said, "Ralph, it is my understanding that the EV is independent of the ISO . . ."
True, but depending on the meter and its display program (i.e. digital displays), the display may lead us to believe the light level is below the meter's sensitivity, when it's actually trying to say the light is too dim for it to give an exposure reading within the range of f-stops and shutter speeds it has available in the mode we have set.
When EV is lower than the spot meter can handle
Ralph, the Pentax spotmeter doesn't have "modes". It does only one thing: convert a photocell reading to an EV number. The calculator that's used to relate the EV readings to ISO speed/aperture/shutter speed combinations is a purely mechanical device not connected to anything, it's just a convenience for the user to have it built in to the meter rather than provided as a separate gadget.
When EV is lower than the spot meter can handle
Thank you all for your comments. As I am going to stick with my Pentax Spotmeter V for a while, I suppose I have to make the best of it and consider some of the recommendations you suggested. The Spectre Professional has to wait a bit (thank you Michael).
I would like to reply to Rob here:
> Assuming black and white film, then you could reduce development to pull highlights back but you will be reducing highlight contrast which may not have been great to start with.
-- In cases of extreme contrast such as 'room in relative darkness and light coming through a window' highlight contrast is reduced anyway as the highlight values are recorded on the film shoulder of the characteristic curve. I therefore reduce development slightly so as not to affect shadow contrast too greatly and then flash selected areas during printing. This works fine for me provided my meter can read the shadows.
On alternative metering for Zone VII:
Usually there is a Zone VII in the above scene such as 'window sill' or 'floor bathed in light' so there is no need using a white card. However, to determine subject contrast (and hence the required development time) I need a second reading, preferably of the most important shadow, which, alas, my spot meter cannot handle. In my view the alternative is to search for the second most important shadow that I can meter. This might mean risking shadow detail. So I guess experience plays here an important role.
When EV is lower than the spot meter can handle
Quote:
do you think it would be practical to build an integrating OTF meter into an LF camera?
The biggest problem is that unlike 35 mm and MF cameras the geometry of the view camera is not fixed, which makes it hard to find somewhere to put the sensor. Even if you put it on the lensboard, it would need a zoom lens and some way to focus it and make sure it was pointing at the center of the film. In a 35 mm camera's mirror box, you know where the film is going to be.
I have heard that 35 mm film is more consistent in its reflectivity, and so the meter doesn't have to be re-calibrated if you change the film type. Supposedly this was used as an excuse not to include off-the-film metering and even TTL flash in Hasselblads. Only hearsay though.
That said, there are some very nice miniature video/frame grabber technical cameras that would be fun to integrate into a view camera. With a white darkslide or an highly diffusive opaque ground glass you could compose, focus and meter using a video feed and do off-the-film metering should you so wish. For small view cameras I suspect live readout from a digital back will make such an idea not worth developing, but in ULF it would be workable and fun, if somewhat against the hair shirt spirit of the genre.
When EV is lower than the spot meter can handle
Right, the movements mess up the geometry... I always wondered about the reflectivity issue, though. I used to put all sorts of weird emulsions into my cameras, and I was pretty skeptical that they were that close. But I'm sure Pentax and Olympus analyzed the market share for different types of films and drew their own conclusions, and I also wouldn't be surprised if for most users in most situations, the reading that governed was really the one off the shutter curtains.
When EV is lower than the spot meter can handle
Mako,
I have the Pentax digital spot meter, and have frequently run into the problem you describe when I was photographing inside the old American Tobacco Factory in Durham NC (see: www.mpr-photography.com). Following Bruce Barnbaum's suggestion for photographing in slit canyons I placed the highlights in Zones XI-XVI (11-16), and then gave N-3 or compensation development depending on the lighting situation. This method ensures good shadow detail when the shadows do not meter. If you are using TMax or Delta film the shadows and highlights will be on the linear portion of the curve, and away from the toe which kills shadow details. You get a dense negative with excellent shadow contrast (very important) that is printable with some burning of the hightlights. I got great negatives, and it never failed - what is online is a limited portfolio; I have made over 70 prints of buildings from there and 80 percent were interiors.
I recommend you buy Barnbaums book where he describes how to handle this lighting situation and the theory behind it.
Regards,
Mike
When EV is lower than the spot meter can handle
Hello Mike,
Thank you for your reply and the link. I have enjoyed your works in your online gallery. I think they are brilliant. I am familiar with Bruce Barnbaums 'The Art of Photography' book, but I cannot recall his suggestion for photographing slit canyons. But I will check again.
Overall I did not enjoy his book because (a) he tends to be polarizing, (b) some statements are not particularly founded. For example, I have never understood why he had to add new zones while there is overall consensus that there are nine textured ones - II-VIII. But this is another matter...
I understand your explanation despite the extra zones though (ha, ha) and the importance to bring the shadows on the straight line of the characteristic film curve.
Best regards,