Canon EOS 3 and Chrome(Positives)

Hi people =)

I have a Canon EOS 3, never used chromes(positives) in my life...

I would like to know, with Fuji Velvia 50 and Provia 100,400, do I need to

make any exposure compensation?

 

Thank you very much!

do nothing different than you do with negative film

Do keep in mind that you have consideralby LESS exposure latitude with "chromes" than with color negative film.

Jason, Walter, thank you very much =)

Regarding VELVIA I made the experience that one should use it rated at ISO 40 or even 32. Be aware that dark areas, especially in harsh sunlight, easily result in structureless black on the slide. But Velvia is great in soft morning and evening light. Franz

Yup. Provia can be rated at the nominal speed unless you need really bright slides. Velvia's actually ISO 40.

I do agree with Franz and O.S.

 

Jorge

I shoot chromes almost exclusively (on an EOS-3). Be aware, as an earlier poster noted, that you have MUCH LESS exposure latitude than you do with print film. I shoot Fuji film exclusively. Velvia is fine at ISO 50, many rate it at ISO 40 (as mentioned by others). Shoot a roll at each and see what you like. Provia is fabulous as well. I find Astia to be extraordinary for Portraits - mostly this is what I shoot.

When I first started shooting chromes, I shot many, many rolls and bracketed heavily, kept notes and learned how much exposure latitude I had to work with. A 1/2 stop is quite noticeable on Velvia. A 1/3 stop is noticeable and probably represents about the limits of exposure latitude (at least for me) that chromes offer.

 

The downside of chromes is the lack of exposure latitude. The upside is that the photo dweeb at the lab doesn't get to dictate what your results look like. If the image is poorly exposed, it's YOUR fault - unless, of course, they screw up the developing (they push/pull it by mistake). So, I found that shooting chromes really helped my photography, because I could see the "REAL" results of what I did. There wasn't someone making adjustments at the mini-lab to make my prints look acceptable. If the image was too dark, then I didn't expose the frame properly. The same goes for too washed out. This is where the bracketing comes in. And shooting a few rolls will help you understand what's going on.

 

Your EOS-3 has one of the better built-in metering systems available today, so get familiar with what it can do, if you haven't already. The spot meter in mine is right on with what my Sekonic L-508 meters. The multi-segment metering modes are useful in a vareity of situations, so keep those in mind too. Of course, when shooting under studio strobes, I meter by hand, but it's no less important, especially when shooting chromes.

 

BTW, Velvia now comes in ISO 100 as well. And the new "F" fujichromes have even finer grain than their predecessors (e.g. Provia 400F).

 

Beware - you'll find that nothing compares to looking at a chrome on the light table under a loupe! You may find that you never want to go back to dull, flat, lifeless print film....

 

Happy shooting!

Also be aware that a small batch of very early EOS-3s suffered from a mis-calibrated meter (you can find info on this elsewhere on photo.net). I happen to have one of those cameras - I could send it in to be recalibrated, but haven't gotten around to it yet. My camera's meter underexposes by 2/3 stop - which I fix by adjusting effective ISO for the film 2/3 stop slower.

 

It's always a good idea to calibrate your meter, anyhow, and decide for yourself if you need to make any compensation. Minor variations occur in any camera design, and the latitude of modern negative films cause them to be less susceptible to minor variations in exposure than chromes... There's a lot of info here on how to calibrate your meter using a single roll of slide film, which seemed to work pretty good for me :)

 

HTH...

 

Dave

I'll pass this little morsel that has been very handy and accurate for me.

 

The palm of you hand stays the same tonality all year round. It is about 1 stop brighter than a gray card. Regaredless of skin color, I am told. For me it's one stop.

 

So, if you want to get a good starting point, meter your hand in the same light and at the same angle to the camera as your subject(set the meter to center weighted) and then stop down a stop. I have shot many a landscape this way and it has worked well.

 

As for exposure compensating- velvia rated at 32 is very common and so is 100 at 80 and 400 at 320 but test for yourself to make sure.

I did not read all the answers, so maybe this has already been said, but...

your EOS 3 gives you the option to compensate exposure by 1/2 stop steps or 1/3. 1/3 gives you more precision and it totally makes sens with slides.

I shoot Provia 100F mainly and I think the EOS 3 with its metering precision is a great tool. One thing I use all the time is this:

I lock the exposure on something I assume represents a good spot for metering. Then I move the camera around and it shows me how the other zone of the images are over or under exposed -In the viewfinder, there is one square that represents the locked exposure and another one at the right, the under/Over exposition-. If you stay in a +1/-1 range, you should be fine.

Happy shooting,

Steph-