Measuring the light using a digital camera

[Tin Can]

Not to confuse OP, but what about the 'rule' underexpose digital and overexpose film?

As I was shooting the same subject under studio strobes yesterday, I underexposed the DSLR and over exposed the film.

If DSLR is overexposed the blown areas are lost.

Consider this https://petapixel.com/2015/08/10/how...m-have-a-look/

[Alan Klein]

How would you correct the digital camera readings once he gets the hand held light meter? Just see if they match or something beyond that?

[Tin Can]

This get's real nuts after a while. This thread addresses matching DSLR to Sekonic L'758

https://www.largeformatphotography.i...=1#post1328935

[rbeasley]

Have you found the ISO between digital and film to be consistent?

[Tin Can]

No

Have you found the ISO between digital and film to be consistent?

[Oren Grad]

Everything that Tin Can has been saying.

Digital camera ISO ratings and metering calibration are designed by the manufacturer to expose a digital sensor without excessively clipping the highlights (not that this always succeeds, mind you). There is no necessary relationship between the ISO settings on a digital camera and the ISO or EI ratings you use with film. (Digital cameras don't even match each other in this respect!) To boot, at least with negative film one usually exposes for adequate shadow detail and chooses development to control highlight density, which is a very different target compared to prioritizing avoidance of highlight clipping above all.

The implications, again: don't use the evaluative metering mode. Use a simpler metering pattern that will behave more consistently and can be interpreted. Keep in mind that even "simple" metering modes may be not entirely linear (for example, some film camera meters used to be calibrated to give disproportionately greater exposure at very high brightness values, on the assumption that those were likely to be something like a beach scene or a snow scene under bright sun). Run a calibration test against film to determine how the exposures determined by the camera meter at a given ISO setting relate to the exposures you need for your chosen film/developer at your preferred EI.

[Alan Klein]

Why run a test with film? If the digital camera readings match your hand-held unit, then it's the same. If it doesn't, then it doesn't.

[Oren Grad]

Why run a test with film? If the digital camera readings match your hand-held unit, then it's the same. If it doesn't, then it doesn't.

The thread was started by someone who doesn't have a separate meter yet and at least for now wants to proceed without it.

[Alan Klein]

The thread was started by someone who doesn't have a separate meter yet and at least for now wants to proceed without it.

I thought you were referring to testing with film assuming you had both the meter and digital camera. In any case, he's shooting this weekend so I don;t know how testing with film will help him at this late date.

In any case, I did such a test a while back with my Sony digital and Minolta Autometer IIIF handheld meter and they were pretty close in readings. I was using the center weighted average on the digital camera so I could better line up to the 10% reflective reading angle on my Minolta meter.

[Oren Grad]

In any case, I did such a test a while back with my Sony digital and Minolta Autometer IIIF handheld meter and they were pretty close in readings. I was using the center weighted average on the digital camera so I could better line up to the 10% reflective reading angle on my Minolta meter.

That's good! Calibrating one of the camera's non-trick metering modes against a hand-held meter of known performance is certainly a reasonable approach.