Can an external light meter replace push or pull processing for film?

Asked 8/7/2019

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If I use an external light meter and choose a different ISO setting on the meter, can that replace the need to push or pull film? Or should the meter always be set to the actual ISO of the film in the camera?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

6y ago

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No, it does not.

A given film has a given sensitivity, expressed as ISO. What this means is that, if processed normally, then there's a relationship between the amount of light which falls on a given area of the film and the density of that area after it is processed. This relationship is generally monotonic (more light means darker) but not linear or proportional: in particular it is somewhat 'S' shaped, so that the relationship between light and density flattens off both at the top of the curve and the bottom. So, for instance, however much light you expose the film to it will only go so dark after development.

If more light falls on the film than it is intended for (it is overexposed) & you process it normally the resulting negatives will be very dense, and detail will be lost in the highlights as a lot of the information will be squashed up into the top (shoulder) of the 'S'. To deal with this you pull the film in development which makes the negatives less dense & preserves some detail in the highlights, at the cost of negative quality.

If less light falls on the film than it is intended for (it is underexposed), then if it is processed normally the resulting negatives will be very thin and detail will be lost in the shadows as information is squashed into the bottom (toe) of the 'S'. To deal with this you push the film in development which makes the negs denser, recovers some detail in the shadows, again at the cost of negative quality.

A meter gives you some information about the light conditions, and setting the ISO on the meter will let it tell you what exposure is appropriate for a film of that ISO. It will not change the ISO of the film. If you set the meter, say, to have an ISO a stop more than your film, then your film will be underexposed by a stop. If you set the meter to have an ISO of 1 and use Tri-X, it will be overexposed by about 8 stops.

[Disclaimer: yes, I've oversimplified the film-sensitivity thing somewhat.]

Originally by user82065. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user82065

6y ago

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AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

No. An external light meter does not replace push or pull processing.

The meter’s job is to measure scene brightness and suggest exposure settings. In normal use, you set the meter to the actual ISO of the film you loaded, because that ISO represents the film’s sensitivity when processed normally.

If you set a different ISO on the meter, you are not changing the film’s sensitivity—you are only telling the meter to recommend more or less exposure. That means you are intentionally overexposing or underexposing the film.

Push and pull involve development changes as well as exposure changes. Pushing usually means giving less exposure and then extending development; pulling usually means giving more exposure and then reducing development. Those development changes affect density, contrast, and highlight/shadow behavior, which a meter alone cannot do.

So: use the meter to measure light, and set it to the film’s real ISO unless you intentionally plan to over- or underexpose as part of a push/pull workflow.

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6y ago

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