All the talk of exposure IS interesting, BUT... My experience is that each and every camera has a mind of its own when it comes to exposure. Sure, most of the time, good enough is good enough, but when you really need to be right on the money, like for that once-in-a-lifetime consist in killer late evening light, you need to know what the camera is really going to do.
Case in point, I have 3 Nikon F3HP bodies that I use for railfanning. I refer to them as Oscar, Bob, and Norm (I realize '1', '2', & '3' might be a more conventional way of identifying camera bodies, but why be conventional?). Each one has its own unique personality. By carefully recording all exposure info for just about every frame I've ever shot with these, I've concluded the following: Norm likes to underexpose things by about 1/3 of a stop, as compared to Oscar & Bob, at all shutter speeds above 1/250th. Bob is very cranky about closing the back, and often has to be fiddled with when loading a roll. This is important because it means I NEVER use this camera when I'm on a chase and need to load film rapidly. Oscar has focusing problems with lenses shorter than about 80mm, as it will NOT focus all the way to infinity with say, a 50mm lens, and yes, this CAN cause tremendous grief. Interestingly enough, longer lenses seem to work just fine. And of course, all of them have lots of other minor little idiosyncracies. Several of my friends who use multiple bodies have discovered similar things, especially regarding critical exposure, or probability of scratching the film. My point? It pays to know your gear. Will 1/3 of a stop kill you? In most cases, no, but 1/3 of a stop CAN make the difference between a shot that is ok, and one that knocks your socks off. The more you know about how your cameras behave, the more PREDICTABLE will be the results you get. And isn't that what we're all striving for? Isn't it a tremendous nusiance to remember which body has which characteristics? Well, yes, as a matter of fact, it IS. However, over time, I've become quite accustomed to it, and pretty much KNOW how the camera I have in my hand will behave. In fact, I don't even have labels on them to tell one from the other - I just know which one is which when I pick it up. I wonder though, are the newer bodies any more consistent from one to the next, or do they all have their own unique personalities just like my F3s? Why does a railfan need 3 bodies? Because there is no such thing as the perfect film. I like to be able to choose which film I use for a given shot. Right now, Bob is loaded with Velvia, Norm is loaded with K25, and Oscar is loaded with Provia. All you one-bodied shooters out there should seriously consider a second or thrid - they really ARE useful to have. Not to mention the backup value in case one fails. You don't need a fancy expensive spare, just get somethiing used in decent shape that mates to your lens collection. Oh yea, one last thing. If I've learned anything over the years, it's to keep good records. You'd be surprised what you can learn about photography by studying mass quantities of statistical data :) Jim "where's my damned caffeine at" Gilley E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED], alternate /dev/null See "Grumpy's Home Page" at http://www.eesoft.com/rr --> SPORRS: Serious Photographers of Railroad Related Subjects
