Transparency exposure correction for noctilux?

[subotic]

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Hi everyone

 

I'm a very recent Leica M6 owner after having used a lent M2 to see if a rangefinder camera is something for me. I got hocked and now here I am.

 

Until now I have only used digital photographic equipment not counting some and my last exposed films which happened sometime at he end of the last millennium :-)

 

So I never had to worry about the exposure time to much, since I had an histogram which would tell me if I did it right or not.

 

Now with the M6 I would like to start using transparency film which I had never used before.

 

After reading the Erwin Put's article about the noctilux (f1), he mentions at the end that he makes a habit of correcting the ISO value for transparency film: "As a habit I set the ISO value of transparancy film 1/3 to a 1/2 stop higher (under exposure)"

 

I have read somewhere that it is better to slightly underexpose transparency film then to overexpose it. But also that the TTL light meter is generally calibrated for transparency film (since normal film is more flexible in regard to exposure).

 

So why should one generally underexpose transparency film with the noctilux?

 

Thanks

Ivan

[leitz_not_leica]

You might not want to use any exposure comp. with the Noct', as it's f1.0 only in the center with sig. vignetting out into the corners.

[aesop]

Hi everyone

 

I'm a very recent Leica M6 owner after having used a lent M2 to see if a rangefinder camera is something for me. I got hocked and now here I am.

 

Until now I have only used digital photographic equipment not counting some and my last exposed films which happened sometime at he end of the last millennium :-)

 

So I never had to worry about the exposure time to much, since I had an histogram which would tell me if I did it right or not.

 

Now with the M6 I would like to start using transparency film which I had never used before.

 

After reading the Erwin Put's article about the noctilux (f1), he mentions at the end that he makes a habit of correcting the ISO value for transparency film: "As a habit I set the ISO value of transparancy film 1/3 to a 1/2 stop higher (under exposure)"

 

I have read somewhere that it is better to slightly underexpose transparency film then to overexpose it. But also that the TTL light meter is generally calibrated for transparency film (since normal film is more flexible in regard to exposure).

 

So why should one generally underexpose transparency film with the noctilux?

 

Thanks

Ivan

 

 

...welcome to the forum, Ivan.

 

Slight underexposure of colour transparency film results in extra saturation of colours, so a lot of photographers set the film speed on the camera slightly higher (+1/3 to +1/2 a stop) than recommended by the manufacturer to achieve this effect. Note this has nothing to do with the Noctilux.

 

This forum is a wealth of useful (and arguably not-so-useful) information - for issues like the above, I always recommend using the search facility as a first step. For instance, I found the following thread:

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/film-forum/71511-tips-4-shooting-velvia-slide-film.html

 

Let us know how you get on and again, welcome to the nuthouse.

[subotic]

...welcome to the forum, Ivan.

 

Slight underexposure of colour transparency film results in extra saturation of colours, so a lot of photographers set the film speed on the camera slightly higher (+1/3 to +1/2 a stop) than recommended by the manufacturer to achieve this effect. Note this has nothing to do with the Noctilux.

 

This forum is a wealth of useful (and arguably not-so-useful) information - for issues like the above, I always recommend using the search facility as a first step. For instance, I found the following thread:

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/film-forum/71511-tips-4-shooting-velvia-slide-film.html

 

Let us know how you get on and again, welcome to the nuthouse.

 

Thanks for the link asota. The thread answered a lot of questions that I didn't even know I had :-)

 

Somehow the search function doesn't seem to work for me. As an example if I have the film forum open and then click on the "search this forum" link and type in "velvia" (or anything else for that mater) I get zero hits! Even if I search globally over all forums I can't find the thread that you have linked here (although I get a lot of hits). A bit strange. I will use from now on google for searching this forum. Searching for velvia and M6 gives me on the 1th place the thread that you have linked :-).

[jplomley]

If you plan on scanning, you are better off with a lighter transparency. You can saturate until your heart is content in PS. OTH, it is difficult to recover shadow detail from transprency film on anything but a pre-press scanner or drum scanner. Desk top scanners just don't have the Dmax. Just remember to meter the highlights with chrome film. Two stops above mid-tone is about the best you can do before highlights are blown.

[jacarape]

Personally with an MP (or any other camera, metered or not), and any film I meter on the part of the scene that I want to.

 

The cameras meter,or light meter is a reccommendation where I start. But with slide film I probably do tend over expose by 1/2 a stop, b+w I tend to over expose by 1-2 stops, and C-41 I tend not to pay as much attention.

 

If you don't have a light meter, swing the camera around and up and down, use your camera as a meter as you learn the highlights and low lights, checking how many f-stops between the brightest and darkest parts of the scene, then as you print/scan or project, you'll get exposure nailed for your particular use.

 

This is what I do, everyone has their own technique, whatever works for you. Consistency is probably key.

 

Have fun, try some K64!

[NB23]

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What is it with people recommending over or underexposing films or combinations with lenses?

If a film company rated a film to, let's say, ISO 100, then effing rate it at ISO 100. Just forget about the unknown sources that recommend anything.

 

It's like when someone asks for a lens recommendation and then 100 people reply recommending the lenses they own, which includes all kinds of junk. Just insane.

[giordano]

The sensible approach is to start off with the film manufacturer's stated EI while you get used to the camera-lens-film-exposure meter combination. After that, if your preferred metering technique consistently produces trannies that are darker or lighter than ideal, adjust the EI as required.

 

Back when I shot reversal film I used an incident light meter and never needed to "underexpose". Sometimes, however, with a very low-contrast subject I would over-expose slightly in order to desaturate the colours and give a more realistic-seeming image (e.g. a misty landscape).