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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-18-2012, 12:22 PM
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It has been a while, but I had some time to play around today. In my original post I said that the KM over-exposed. What I really meant to say was that the light meter was suggesting that the settings would over-expose. i.e. that the needle is higher than the mid-point. I was thinking of it a bit backwards.
Since I last posted I have bought a P30t for a really good price. This camera is amazing - large, clear viewfinder with a diagonal split focus screen. Very quick to focus and nice and easy to use in Av or manual. I wish my k100d had a good split focus screen. Using this after using only DSLRs was a revelation. Anyway, back to light meter issues.
I was able to put the P30t in the mix with the k100d super and the KM. All three cameras were tested with the same lens. I used the A 50 f1.7 as this is compatible with the k100d.
Most of the time the k100d and P30t agreed, but the KM definitely sets the needle about 1 stop above the middle. Inside the house, under lights things go all over the place. I thing that the k100d and P30t were close enough though.
I have managed to convince myself that the KM is suggesting over-exposure by 1 stop. I have gathered from this post and some research that it is better to ever expose than to under expose film. With this in mind I will run a test film through the KM with the ISO speed compensated down one stop.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-09-2012, 10:02 AM
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Just goes to show that film has way more dynamic range than digital, even RAW. This is one reason I am trying film. I can get amazing results very cheaply compared to a full frame DSLR. But I also like the way each film has its own personality straight out of the camera, whereas with digital this means sitting at a computer and digitally processing each shot.
Did you have to tinker with the waterfall image? It looks amazing considering the exposure settings. Seems like i don't really need to worry too much about hitting the exposure perfectly every time. I only have experience with digital and it really needs to be close. I have heard that the digital sensor's response is closest to slide film, where the latitude for correct exposure is quite small.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-09-2012, 02:04 AM
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Wow, thanks LesDMess. It really shows that I could live with an accuracy of +/- one stop either side of optimum. The Fuji 100 seems to me to perform very well as does the BW. Does the kodak portra 400 vary more due to the higher speed? Do lower speed films have more margin for error? Would portra 160 give more latitude if light conditions allow its use over the 400?
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-08-2012, 01:45 PM
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I had the cameras set up to be as equal as possible. So ISO and centre weighted meter was set on the k100d in order to match the KM. The lenses were different though. The combination of shutter and f/stop are not the same on both cameras as well, which made things harder. The k100d offers a half or third of a stop in between the shutter speeds allowed on the KM. It took some hunting around for scenes which gave an equal setting or else I just made the necessary calculation to compare.
I'm going to run a film through the camera and keep note of the settings and maybe take some shots with the digital just to have another comparison. From then onwards everything should be fine.
How much exposure latitude can film handle anyway? I am guessing that the development stage is set as a constant (unless the film is meant to be pushed). So is the compensation of the exposure made at the printing/scanning stage in a similar way to a RAW digital image? How do different films cope with non-perfect exposure i.e. negative colour, slide or B&W etc.?
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-08-2012, 01:39 AM
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Just got a KM camera and before i put a film through it I first checked the light meter against the meter in my k100d.
It seems that the KM's meter is consistently overexposing by one stop compared with the modern k100d. Is this a normal experience when using old film cameras? I know i can compensate with the ASA speed dial anyway. I could just run a test film through it and do some bracketing to fully test out the exposure i get. Any suggestions?
My question is should i expect that the metering for film to be different than digital? I wouldn't have thought so, but I wanted to see if others are having issues with their old film camera's metering.
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
02-05-2012, 11:58 AM
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Hi to all,
It's great to know that there are others out there using Pentax. This forum is great - very in-depth and friendly.
I became a Pentax fan after I got the k100d super as my first proper camera. After discovering the wealth of legacy kit out there I have recently picked up a KM 35mm camera to get back to basics.
I shoot mainly travel and people with a keen interest in street photography.
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