Hello, I haven't posted here in a while because I'd been busy shooting all summer! Today I got all my rolls back from kodak, and naturally I have a few questions
First off, the camera I'm using is a Bauer 709-xl. I'm shooting mountain biking, and often find myself in dark places (woods or somewhat enclosed by trees). I specifically remember shooting 2 shots where the lens could not open any fuller than f1.2, so i assumed the shots were to dark to film for k40. I decided to film them anyways....Looking at the shots today, one came out not bad at all, and another came out stunning. The entire area i was shooting in looked perfectly fine exposure wise...so why did my camera want to open the lens more? Most of the shots looked very good, and I couldnt be happier! I wonder if someone has mabey experienced this with the same camera or another? Thanks,
yeah, recently i got a reel back where i shot a train going by.. i was about 10 feet away from the wheels down low.. shooting the wheels going by, was reading f1.2 on k40 with my canon 512xl.. thought it would look bad but it came out pretty incredable, perfect exposure. all the people and cars on the other side of the train looked cool with the train wheels wizzing past your face.
I've found an image that explains what I'm seeing a little better. It's the red lines under f1.2 that I see, but the shot still turned out very good. Now, I have a second question: Will the camera know if I'm using a higher speed film? It should adjust the f stops correctly to the type of film, right? here's the part of the manual that briefly touches on the lines below f1.2:
if this is just stating the obvious please ignore it but... :oops:
I think what you are describing are situations where your cameras light meter is doing its best but is not equiped for the situation.
The light meter by going into the red is just saying that the average density on the film is going to be more than 18% grey. (i.e. that across the frame the dark and light areas will not average out to 18% grey.)
Which in many cases is fine, as you have found out.
[The meter in your camera is trying to achieve an average of 18% grey but this is (often) not the best exposure for the scene.] :roll:
...and k40 can easily take up to two stops of underexposure and still look great. you lose a lot of shadow detail of course but the midtones hold up fine, and the highlights obviously will have more detail and be more saturated.
yup, shooting the underbelly of a moving train had a lot of grey, but only where it belongs of course.. colors in the forfront and background were perfect. the K40 captured that scene exactly the way it appeared in real life.
aha! Thanks for the replies! Ok, so this makes a lot more sense now. I'll just have to guess which situations are better for shooting where the camera is trying to achieve an average of 18% grey....perhaps I'll look into a handheld meter as well :oops: Cheers,
