There is also a 5-degree spot attachment for the Minollta IVF.
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There is also a 5-degree spot attachment for the Minollta IVF.
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Reid
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rjbuzzclick/
I didn't know that Tri-X sheet film has a different emulsion than its roll film version! I will try HP5 Plus, I'm glad it's cheaper than Tri-X.
The tailoring of development is something I'm not interested in doing. I'm a very minimalist photographer, I always preferred to work with only one film, one lens, one paper etc... That's why I also prefer not to work with the zone system or spot metering. I've never done that with medium format, and I'm hoping to keep it simple moving up to large format.
Can I ask you if you shoot HP5 at box speed? I sometimes shoot HP5 roll film rated at 200 and get the same results as when using Tri-X. They're really interchangeable in my practice. I'm wondering if it's the same with their sheet film versions.
Thank you for the article, I will take a look at it.
My Minolta Autometer IV already has the functionality of giving me the difference between two different readings – shadows and highlights in this case.
I didn't read the article yet, but would this functionality be useful with BTZS?
I tend to like flat negatives with lots of shadow detail myself, so I tend to incident meter the darkest shadow area that I want to retain detail, and use that as my nominal exposure reading! If I am concerned about blown highlights when enlarger printing I'll shoot two sheets and develop the first nominally, and if the highlights are too hot I'll pull process the second sheet as required. If you use a forgiving film such as HP5+ as already suggested, a second sheet will rarely be required. I usually print digitally these days, so I'll shoot TMY (higher contrast than HP5+ but better reciprocity behavior) and selectively pull back highlights as needed in Photoshop rather than pull process the entire negative.
Sounds like we're in the same place. I treat HP5 Plus more or less the same way as Tri-X - expose generously and develop conservatively, aiming for a long-scale, relatively low-contrast negative. The exact degree of "pull" in development usually differs between TX roll film and HP 5 Plus sheet film not only because the films differ to some extent but also because I'm developing TX rolls on reels in a standard tank to get negatives intended for enlargement, while I'm developing HP5 Plus sheets in Expert drums on a Jobo rotary processor to get negatives intended for contact printing. But the basic approach is the same.
As for metering, you might try some exercises where you meter a variety of scenes as you normally would with your Mamiya 7, and also with your Minolta in incident mode. You may find that to achieve consistent exposures it's convenient to set a different ISO number on the incident meter than on the reflected meter. I usually have my Sekonic set at 100.
Overall, if you've successfully tamed Tri-X and HP5 Plus roll film for your purposes you should have no trouble getting HP5 Plus sheet film under control as well.
Good luck and enjoy!
Drew Bedo
www.quietlightphoto.com
http://www.artsyhome.com/author/drew-bedo
There are only three types of mounting flanges; too big, too small and wrong thread!
Just point your incident meter 180degrees away from the sun and you’ll get a pretty good exposure point.
Since you have the Mamiya 7 and the lightmeter, why not go out and try them against one another?
If you’re happy with your exposure technique on medium format, you will be on 4x5. No need to get a spot meter.
A word of caution about HP5 : developed in D76 I find it much less punchy than Tri-x 400. This is made even worse with the bigger latitude of a 4x5 neg. If I had to use HP5 I’d pair it with an orange filter.
"I am a reflection photographing other reflections within a reflection. To photograph reality is to photograph nothing." Duane Michals
I use the method mentioned by Sandy King - get the meter into general shade and point the dome at your body. That your other hand and hold it a few inches above the dome to cut down on sky illumination and take your reading. I’ve used this method successfully for more than a dozen years.
Ideally...if you can place your incident light meter within the shadow you want to meter (dome facing your lens), and then take a reflected reading off of your highest (important) highlight value, then adjust your exposure/processing for this range, this would be great!
This of course assumes that the area within your shadow exhibits its own brightness range and you want to accommodate as much of this as possible...whereas if you can otherwise simply identify the darkest area within the shadow that you are wanting to show some detail, then you can just use a spot meter for this, then read the brightest highlight value in the overall scene, and adjust your exposure and development for this. But maybe you don't own a spot meter?
While I love my Zone VI modified Pentax spotmeter, I've always thought that it would be great if this meter could feature an additional incident light sphere on the rear portion of this meter, along with some means of reading the EV's externally, because I sometimes feel that an incident shadow measurement combined with a reflected highlight measurement would be the cats pajamas!
The meter mentioned in the OP is pretty flexible; does incident and reflected (with spot attachment) as well as flash metering with and without cord. There is even a port to connect one of the focal plane probes.
Have had mine since the mid 1990s and it works for me.
Drew Bedo
www.quietlightphoto.com
http://www.artsyhome.com/author/drew-bedo
There are only three types of mounting flanges; too big, too small and wrong thread!
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