--- Ken Durling <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Thanks, that does help me understand what's going
> on. I didn't want
> to get into such a detailed off-topic description of
> what was wrong,
> but I think it IS the prints that are overdeveloped.
Actually, underdeveloped or underexposed.
Overdeveloping (and overexposing) in the darkroom will
make the prints darker, just like overexposing the
print will. (It took me quite a bit of darkroom time
to inutitively remember that overexposing the print
makes it darker, not brighter--the joys of negative
thinking).
> As I mentioned
> in another post, there was one series of about 12
> shots of a hallway
> that I did to compare wide-angle focal lengths, and
> these were
> severely underexposed on the negative - very very
> light negative. I'm
> guessing that they had to set the machine to give
> something reasonable
> on these shots, and that caused the rest of the roll
> to be over
> exposed in the printing process. Sound feasible?
Well, a decent lab should adjust for each negative,
either under operator control or by automatic
exposure, but your hypothesis is certainly possible.
> Besides that, there ARE some washed out skies, and I
> am familiar with
> the need for filters to control that. In those
> cases though, the
> entire print was too light and contrast-less, but I
> think that may be
> due to the above.
Someone else suggested comparing the frame numbers and
film info with the actual image. If the frame numbers
seem very light (on the film), the film was
underdeveloped. If they seem very dark, the film was
overdeveloped. If they seem okay, then looking at the
numbers on the contact sheets will tell you if the
contact sheet was exposed correctly or not.
Knowing that, you should be able to tell if the
problem was in camera or in the printmaking.
> I should add that some of the prints did come out
> just about right.
Of course, if the printing was off, the prints that
look just right could have actually been over or
underexposed <g>.
Back to your original question: there shouldn't be
any special requirement to meter B&W negative film.
ISO 400 is ISO 400, B&W or Color. But with any film,
you need to take into account high contrast
situations, and decide whether to expose for
highlights or shadows. And to be aware that an
unusually bright or dark area in the frame can throw
the metering off.
It's really hard to judge how the camera is metering
from prints. It's actually fairly easy to tell from
B&W negative film, once you learn how to read the
negs, but that takes some experience. If you think
your camera may have a problem, you should probably
shoot a roll or 2 of transparency film. Bracket each
shot, by maybe +- 1/2 or +- 2/3 stop (if your body
allows this), and then evaluate the slides with a
lightbox or projector. If you prefer the underexposed
shots consistently, then your meter may well be
overexposing, and vice versa.
HTH,
Bob
=====
Bob Meyer
Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.
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