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Photo Forum / General Photo Topics / General Topics / November 2004Exposure Compensator
Is my camera's exposure compensator useless? I read somewhere that any exposure compensation you do in-camera won't be noticeable once you get your prints back from the photo lab. > Is my camera's exposure compensator useless? > > I read somewhere that any exposure compensation you do in-camera won't > be noticeable once you get your prints back from the photo lab. I once took a series of art photos on colour neg film using strong coloured tint filters. I sent them off to the lab, and when the prints came back, there was no sign of the colour tints. The lab had painstakingly filtered them out to produce perfect'y balanced prints! The way to get around this is to contact the lab and ask them about it. If you have particular processing requirements, most labs will be happy to accomodate you. If yours isn't, find one that is. The other alternative is to do your own processing. It's actually not that difficult.  SignatureCliff Smith www.cliffsmith.co.uk "Cliff Smith" posted: "... The way to get around this is to contact the lab and ask them about it. If you have particular processing requirements, most labs will be happy to accomodate you. If yours isn't, find one that is. ..." You are correct ... the minilab manufacturers have spent literally millions of dollars to develop software that will automatically "correct" the image before it is printed. Actually ... you just have to tell them to turn that software off ... which is usually done by telling them to (1) Turn off "scene compensation" (or whatever term their particular equipment uses), or (2) "Print it to "Shirley." Sometimes ... though ... you need to get their attention by using a 2" x 4" "between the ear-balls" *before* you tell them. > > Is my camera's exposure compensator useless? > > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > Cliff Smith > www.cliffsmith.co.uk > > Is my camera's exposure compensator useless? > > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > The other alternative is to do your own processing. It's actually not that > difficult. So, is my camera's spot meter useless too? >> > Is my camera's exposure compensator useless? >> > [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > So, is my camera's spot meter useless too? I wouldn't go as far as to say useless. A correctly exposed photo will always produce a better picture than one that needs loads of post-processing to get it right. There are really only three ways out of of your dilemma. The first is to start using a processing lab that offers specialist printing services, and will print your pictures without tampering with them. The second option is to do your own printing. For this, I'd recommend shooting on slide film. Get the film processed but not mounted at your local lab. They won't tamper with the exposure during film processing, and you'll get back strips of unmounted transparencies. You can print from these using the Cibachrome/lfochrome process, which is a lot easier than printing from negatives and produces more consistant results. Setting up a home darkroom is a lot easier than you might think, and is a rewarding hobby in its own right. You can buy entire darkroom kits on eBay at bargain prices. All you have to worry about then is convincing your wife that those weird chemical smells are quite pleasant once you get used to them, and that it's OK for the bathroom to be off-limits for most of the day. The third alternative is to go digital. You'll have complete control over the entire photographic process, and printing on a home computer with a good inkjet printer is a lot easier than converting your bathroom into a darkroom. Despite what some die-hard Luddites might tell you, the results are every bit as good. I did this five years ago and I haven't used a film camera since. SignatureCliff Smith www.cliffsmith.co.uk > > > Is my camera's exposure compensator useless? > > > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > So, is my camera's spot meter useless too? Well, your camera meter will give you the proper exposure, but automated labs will try to tinker with it. If you don't use the meter at all, your images will be too far off for compensation. The answer to this issue is to have your film processed by a custom lab (the way it used to be done) and avoid these automated (1-hour) labs. Even if you agree to over night service, they use the same automated, 1-hour machine. Signature* * * To reply, remove numbers from address. Stan, New Orleans http://www.neworleansphotographs.com http://www.atneworleans.com http://www.sbeckart.com/sbeck >> > > Is my camera's exposure compensator useless? >> > > [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] >Even if you agree to over night service, they use the same automated, >1-hour machine. Or shoot on slide film. More contrasty, less dynamic range than negs and the photolabs can't screw with the exposure. All this means it's a great medium for learning the art or a new technique. You can still decide to develop your own slide film to save the wait and screw ups from the mounting monkeys. -- Owamanga! Yeah, found that too. You can exposure bracket all you want, and when they come back they all look the same. At my Photolab, they charge for a "Pro" service to stop this. Joke hey! > Is my camera's exposure compensator useless? > > I read somewhere that any exposure compensation you do in-camera won't > be noticeable once you get your prints back from the photo lab. > Yeah, found that too. You can exposure bracket all you want, and when they > come back they all look the same. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > I read somewhere that any exposure compensation you do in-camera won't > > be noticeable once you get your prints back from the photo lab. Sucks don't it? >> Yeah, found that too. You can exposure bracket all you want, and when >> they [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Sucks don't it? The high street 1-hour photolabs are designed to deal with photos taken by your average happy snapper who doesn't know one end of a camera from the other, not for an enthusiast who likes to experiment. They provide average results from average photos. If you want a more specialised service you'll have to look a little harder, and unfortunately you'll probably have to pay extra for it. Of course if you get a digital camera and do your own printing, you won't have this problem. SignatureCliff Smith www.cliffsmith.co.uk >Of course if you get a digital camera and do your own printing, you won't >have this problem. Alternatively, a decent entry-level film scanner and a good photo inkjet offer both the palate of film types and the flexibility of digital workflow. SignatureCentral Maryland Photographers' Guild: http://www.cmpg.org > The high street 1-hour photolabs are designed to deal with photos taken by > your average happy snapper who doesn't know one end of a camera from the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Of course if you get a digital camera and do your own printing, you won't > have this problem. Unless you get your digital prints done at the lab, in which case will be auto-adjusted also. Unless you tell them not to. What I do when experimenting is stated elsewhere but at the risk of repeating: 1: Shoot a color/exposure bar and ask the lab to to a contact proof sheet balanced for daylight. You will then see all those little frames from dark to light with "wrong" colors/exposures. 2: Pick the frame and tell the lab to make the larger print to look like the small contact. 3: You can also shoot a roll of slide unmounted at the same time and instruct the lab to make the print from the negative to match the slide. Thus you only shoot a max of two rolls and one final print. FINALLY: Yes color darkrooms are much easier to set up (print tubes up to 20x24 print size) and with the tubes you are only in the dark for the length of time it takes you to load the tube. AND IT IS FUN! and not much longer than your B&W lab. I still have my darkroom even though I have not done prints from 1992!...except with my grandson making prints for his friends. Yours, Tom > Is my camera's exposure compensator useless? > > I read somewhere that any exposure compensation you do in-camera won't > be noticeable once you get your prints back from the photo lab. |
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