Hey guys, I postponed by DIY camera project to get some more experience with LF photography first. I've managed to find a really nice Sinar F1 setup with a Prontor-Press shutter and MC Rodenstock Geronar 210mm F6.8 lens. (pic of the camera: http://i.imgur.com/Wg4lNtx.png) Right now I'm at the point where all my parcels have come in the mail. I've got my camera, film, chemicals etc. and I'm just waiting on the changing bag and mod54 to really get started. For my first pictures I elected to use some economical fomapan 100 film.
Anyway that also means I'm currently working out the practical problems like getting good exposure. I'm seeing a lot of mentions online on using a DSLR to do the metering. I assume this essentially means matching the film's ISO and the camera's aperture. I have some questions about this.
- How much does the lens used on the DSLR affect things? I was under the impression that a long lens requires more light than a wide one and thus affects the suggested shutter speed when metering with a DSLR. I only use primes for my digital camera so I don't have one exactly matching the focal length of the Geronar 210. Nor am I entirely sure what the equivalent of the geronar would be for my DSLR (Canon 7D).
- Is it really as simple as spot metering the most important areas of the composition and deriving a suitably weighted average?
Along the same lines I have some questions about developing the film. I found the developing charts on Digital Truth and they look quite helpful. But for the purposes of learning I'd like to experiment a little. In order to get a better feel for what makes a good exposure, would it be smarter to make several pictures while bracketing the shutter speed or would it be more educational to take several pictures with the same camera settings but play with longer and shorter development times?
Finally, I'll probably start with some still lives so I don't spend anyone else's time with my experiments. But my real interest lies in portrait photography. I figure the main challenge there will be shutter speed. The obvious solution seemed faster film but googling around a bit it seemed that solution wasn't as obvious at it seemed. The fomapan 400 film seemed to get considerably more unfavourable reactions compared to the fomapan 100.
My other thought is studio lighting. I have a number of Canon speedlite 580s and accompanying umbrellas and softboxes. I noticed the shutter has a synch attachment. Are there any unique challenges regarding the use of those speedlites with my 4x5 camera?
Your replies are appreciated as is any unsolicited advice you might have.
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