Can practicing with a DSLR in full manual and a handheld meter help me prepare for shooting film?
Asked 6/23/2019
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I’m planning to start shooting film later this year and want to practice beforehand. If I use a DSLR only through the optical viewfinder, set ISO/aperture/shutter manually, and meter with a handheld Sekonic instead of using the camera’s meter or live view, will that give me a realistic feel for shooting film? Or do film stock characteristics and development/printing make film different enough that I really need to learn by actually shooting and processing film?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
7y ago
2 Answers
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Your ideas may be useful for practice, but consider these points on the basis of the particular film camera you will be using:
- Does it have built-in metering? That is not uncommon.
- Does it have autofocus? That is less common, but possible.
- Will you be shooting color, monochrome (B/W)or a combination? Negative or slides?
- B/W has the greatest exposure latitude, and the effective ISO can be changed a bit in development.
- Color prints offer some latitude during printing.
- Color slides are the most demanding.
BTW, one advantage of film over electronic cameras at low temperatures is that extended "low noise" (well, low reciprocity failure) shots are possible, such as capturing astronomical objects. Actually, an electronic sensor works well in the cold, but batteries, motors and other items on the digital camera may have problems.
Originally by user35542. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user35542
7y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes—using a DSLR in full manual with a handheld meter is a useful way to practice the exposure side of film photography. It helps you learn to read light, meter scenes, and work without relying on live preview or a histogram.
That said, it only prepares you for part of the film workflow. Film also varies by type and stock: black-and-white generally has the most exposure latitude, color negative also has some flexibility, and slide film is the least forgiving. Development and printing/scanning also affect the final result, so you can’t fully simulate the whole film experience with a DSLR alone.
Other differences depend on the film camera itself—some film cameras have built-in meters or even autofocus.
A good way to prepare is to practice metering and manual exposure now, while also adopting a slower, more deliberate shooting process: compose carefully, think before pressing the shutter, and get used to having a limited number of frames. For development and printing, reading up on the basics is the main preparation; the real learning comes from actually shooting and processing film.
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